York responds to loss in big way, knocks off previously undefeated Glenbard West

York lost more than a game a week ago, with senior quarterback Dominic Alfano suffering a broken collarbone in the defeat to Downers Grove North.

But the Dukes responded in a major way Friday, knocking off previously unbeaten Glenbard West 21-20 in Elmhurst to keep their West Suburban Silver conference championship hopes alive.

Henry Duda’s 56-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter put the Dukes up for good and Hunter Stepinach blocked the potential tying extra point with 3:29 remaining to preserve the win.

Duda finished with 136 yards on 28 carries after being held to 36 yards on his first 18 attempts.

“This was a great bounce-back from last week,” Duda said. “We knew we didn’t play our best game (last week). I’m proud of this team, Zack (Assaad) really stepped up. We talked all week, it wasn’t about the score, it was about how we play and proving to ourselves that we can make a (playoff) run. This was a great win.

“That’s a good defense over there, they are very disciplined. You have to try to wear them down. All the credit to our O-line, they made the blocks on that play and I just hit the hole.”

Making his first varsity start after taking over the reins from Alfano shortly before halftime against the Trojans, Assaad played like a seasoned veteran.

The junior completed 14-of-22 passes for 136 yards, connecting with Simon Kodosky for a 21-yard strike to kick off the scoring in the first quarter and later finding Colby Baird for a 5-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-apiece at the end of the third.

“Coming in last week, it was obviously a bit of a shock,” Assaad said. “But this week, I couldn’t have done it without Dom. I told him, I need your help; he helped me a lot with the film breakdown. He was such a great sport about it. And then I couldn’t have done it tonight without Henry and our offensive line.

“This is huge. We needed some momentum going into the playoffs and we finally played a full four-quarter complete game.”

With DGN losing to Lyons, the Dukes’ opponent next week in the regular season finale, York (6-2, 4-1) now sits atop the league standings with the Hilltoppers (7-1, 4-1).

“Having Henry back there is good for us,” said York coach Don Gelsomino, “he’s really hard to stop. And Zack was incredible, what a good kid. I’m really proud of him. Our defense made some stops; we had some good plays on defense. Their (Glenbard West) offense is one of the hardest offenses to stop.”

Glenbard West scored on a trio of runs, 5-yarders by QB AJ Rayford and Max Hetlet and a 4-yarder by Jamarcus Kelly, who rushed for 74 yards on 17 carries. Rayford was 8-of-14 through the air for 124 yards and Bryce Ellens caught four passes for 52 yards.

“There was nothing we were shocked about,” said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet, whose team finishes up against Proviso West at home. “They are a good football team. We killed ourselves in the first half with penalties. We played so undisciplined and they had a great gameplan coming in on offense. We were working behind the chains the entire first half. There is a lesson to be learned, congrats to York.”