Glenbard East shocks Willowbrook with quick drive, TD with two seconds to play
A go-ahead touchdown with just under 21 seconds remaining sent the home Willowbrook crowd into a frenzy.
Just a short time later, it was the Glenbard East side that was delirious.
After a 57-yard kickoff return by Amonte Cook, Michael Nee found Muhammad Musleh for a 23-yard score with two seconds left to give the visiting Rams an improbable 30-23 victory.
The ensuing 2-point conversion pass from Nee to Cook capped off the thrilling season opener, which saw the teams meet for the first time since 2015.
“We obviously let up a touchdown late in the game,” said Musleh, who finished with 4 catches for 69 yards. “But Amonte had that great return all the way down (the field) and then the coaches trusted me and Mike trusted me. We got it done with a go route.
“This is a great way to start the season. It’s crazy, it’s surreal.”
The Warriors had taken a 23-22 lead on a 1-yard run and 2-point conversion by Aidan Kuehl.
That capped off a 58-yard drive in just under a minute which came after Glenbard East broke a 15-15 tie with a 43-yard touchdown strike from Nee to Cook with 1:11 left.
Nee finished 20-of-37 passing for 317 yards and three scores in his debut, also connecting with Chris Renford for a 57-yard TD in the second quarter.
“This is our cross-town rival,” Nee said, “and our mindset was we had to get this win. They scored with 20 seconds left but we weren’t about to give up. We were going to keep fighting. We had the confidence to go down and score no matter how much time was left.”
The Rams got on the scoreboard first with a safety and also had a 1-yard TD run from Valentino Heredia to take a 15-8 advantage into halftime.
“This is a great cross-town rivalry and it certainly didn’t disappoint,” Glenbard East coach John Walters said. “It was an all-around great game, it was well-played on both sides. Nobody deserved to lose.”
Jabonise Reed completed 18-of-33 passes for 252 yards for Willowbrook, tossing a 23-yard score to KJ Rhodes and a 55-yard touchdown to Charlie Siegler.
Siegler had 5 catches for 96 yards and Rhodes finished with 8 receptions for 86 yards.