Spartans football moves to 2-0 with win over Deerfield
Glenbrook North senior running back Reese Marquez and his Spartans football classmates had a vision.
"We're taking this year more seriously and so that's exactly what we're doing right now," he said. "It shows, this is the result - we're 2-0. I can't be more happy."
A victory Friday at Conant would further clarify the vision. Meanwhile, on Sept. 2, the Spartans were celebrating a 23-13 Central Suburban League crossover win in Northbrook over Deerfield. Glenbrook North's 2-0 start is its first since 2019.
"It feels great," said left guard Max Mulvihill. "We haven't been that before, at least in my high school career. I'm really excited to see what the team can do."
Against Deerfield (1-1), in a game Glenbrook North coach Matt Purdy called "The battle of the Lake-Cook McDonald's," Glenbrook North led 17-0 at halftime, limiting the Warriors to 16 offensive plays, 1 first down and 21 total yards.
"We couldn't get in a rhythm," said Deerfield coach Steve Winiecki.
"I think defensively we played really well," he said. "They had the ball almost the entire first half. We had some breaks go against us, a couple fourth-down plays we missed tackles, we should have got off the field. For what happened, I thought we played well defensively. Offensively we couldn't get rolling."
On Glenbrook North's first offensive series Spartans junior Jack Philbin converted a third down-and-11 by sweeping 17 yards for the first down. Sophomore quarterback J.J. Schlenhardt broke a run 22 yards, and once past midfield he completed three straight passes to set up Marquez's 8-yard touchdown run, spinning off a tackle attempt.
Kicker Griffin Yoss gave the host a 7-0 lead at 6:43 of the first quarter. The scoring drive consumed more than 5 minutes over 82 yards.
Holding the Warriors to a pair of three-and-outs, Glenbrook North got the ball back early in the second quarter with great field position. A Deerfield penalty gave the Spartans one first down, Marquez's one-handed catch and 14-yard gain on fourth-and-11 earned another.
From Deerfield's 7-yard line, Schlenhardt faked a handoff to Marquez and kept it, following the right side of his line - center Pat Mahoney, guard Laith Salim and tackle Matt Gasior - to score.
Yoss' kick capped another 5-minute drive for a 14-0 lead. The senior left-footer added a 34-yard field goal for Glenbrook North's 17-0 halftime lead.
"I was really happy with how we came and played on both sides of the ball," said coach Matt Purdy. "We were physical, we were locked in, and we really executed the game plan to the best of our abilities in all three phases. They've got a lot of talented kids, and I'm happy with what our kids did in the first half, especially."
Especially because Deerfield got right back into the game on its first possession of the second half.
Marching 81 yards, including a 24-yard pass to Luke Pollack from another sophomore quarterback, Mac Jones, the Warriors themselves converted a fourth-down chance on a 17-yard pass to wide open Quinn Schimanski to keep the drive going.
Jones capped it when under pressure he rifled the ball just over coverage to Andrew Breger for a 19-yard touchdown. Tommy Guczal's kick trimmed the margin to 17-7 at 6:25 of the third quarter.
"Once we all got kind of into the game our O-line stepped up big time, they helped us," Pollack said. "Mac Jones stepped up big time, he did great, and we just started moving the ball more frequently."
Fortunately for Glenbrook North, it scored on the subsequent possession.
Marquez's 50-yard kickoff return put the Spartans in good shape. After completions to tight end Patrick Schaller gained a pair of first downs, on fourth-and-12 from the Deerfield 15-yard line Jones found McCartney Kalmar on a flare pass to the left for a touchdown. Glenbrook North led 23-7 with 2:45 left in the third quarter.
Jones threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Zach Friedman at 7:27 of the fourth quarter. The Warriors defense held on Glenbrook North's next possession, but Glenbrook North linebacker Owen Washlow's fumble recovery stifled Deerfield's own momentum.
The Warriors had one more drive, 55 yards in 13 plays before stalling at Glenbrook North's 30-yard line with 54 seconds left.
"You saw that second half, how much our team grew up and how much better we got in the second half, and how bright our future is," said Winiecki, who has 17 sophomores on the varsity roster.
Unofficially Jones completed 16 of 28 passes for 205 yards. Phelan and Schlenhardt tied for the Glenbrook North rushing lead with 57 yards apiece. Schlenhardt completed 12 of 27 passes for 132 yards, 74 yards to Schaller.
Glenbrook North still wants to alter upon a pattern as it enters Friday's game at Conant, which has scored 67 points in its own two wins.
"We've just got to be cleaner in the second half and rally around what we're doing, which will allow us to be better," Purdy said. "I told the guys we probably played three-and-a-quarter quarters. We've got to get to the point where we're playing four quarters, because as we go down the road there's much bigger things coming up."