Wanless, Glenbard South cruise

Now we know why nobody at Glenbard South panicked when starting quarterback Kevin Marshall went down with a broken finger on his throwing hand two weeks ago.

Junior Trace Wanless clearly is not your average backup QB.

Wanless threw for 5 touchdowns and ran for another as the Raiders pounced on Kaneland for a 47-31 homecoming football victory in Glen Ellyn on Friday night.

"He's a gutsy kid and a heck of an athlete. He really has a high football IQ, as I like to say, and it really showed tonight," Raiders coach Dan Starkey said. "Just a fantastic game offensively. We needed a big game from our offense because Kaneland is so dynamic and they can score so quickly. Luckily our offense really bailed us out by putting some points on the board."

"That was a really good team," Knights coach Tom Fedderly said of Glenbard South (4-2, 2-1 Western Sun Conference). "We knew that we were going to have our hands full tonight. What can I say? They made plays and we didn't."

Wanless made many of them, though he had plenty of help too.

"That felt good," he said, smiling at hearing what he and his teammates had accomplished. "That was a shock to me. (Running back Curtis Ford) ran a great game, and it's all due to the offensive line. They blocked tremendously. That really opened things up."

Ford had 20 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown.

"Kaneland is a passing team, and they can score very quickly," Wanless said. "With this kind of score, it just shows you that we're a team that can compete with anyone."

The Raiders' confidence is sky high. Their only losses came at Glenbard West and Geneva, both of which remain undefeated.

"Right now we're pretty pumped up to play. We want to get after Yorkville next game. We want to show them what we can do," Wanless said.

Now with four wins Wanless knows the Raiders "just need one more to clinch the playoffs, yeah."

Marshall, the homecoming king, hopes to return at linebacker next week, but he won't be able to throw anytime soon, so it's Wanless' job for a while.

Kaneland quarterback Joe Camiliere threw 3 touchdown passes himself, but it wasn't enough against a powerful Raiders team.

Kaneland had to be feeling good going into halftime, having scored twice in the final 3:09 of the second quarter. But the Raiders put up 3 third-quarter touchdowns and while holding Kaneland to 1 first down.

"I thought we really came out and played well to start of the second half in all phases of the game," Starkey said. "I hate to give up 31 points defensively, but they can score so quickly."

"We felt good going into halftime and we thought we'd come out and play right away," Fedderly added. "But to their credit they came out and scored on the opening drive and that set the tone."

It didn't help that the Knights (3-3, 2-2) lost sophomore Blake Serpa with a first-half ankle injury.

"Obviously, Blake is a big part of our team," Fedderly said. "We're hoping he's OK. But we were really happy to see some kids step up."