Glenbard W. 41, Addison Trail 27

Glenbard West likes to pick up yardage the old fashioned way -- by earning it.

Glenbard West used a power rushing attack to control Friday's West Suburban Conference crossover football game against Addison Trail. Led by talented running back Bryant Venson, the Hilltoppers rushed for 396 yards in a 41-27 victory over the host Blazers on homecoming in Addison.

Venson accounted for 201 of those yards on 19 carries and also notched 4 touchdowns, including an impressive 41-yard sprint late in the fourth quarter.

"Coach fired us up at halftime," said Venson, whose team led only 14-7 at break and got hurt by some costly penalties. "We needed to pick up our play. The line really came to play."

In addition to Venson, backs Michael Markese and Kane Keirnan churned for 79 and 37 yards, respectively, on hard running through the middle of the defensive line. Markese had an 11-yard touchdown run, and Matthew Hassan also ran in a score. When Venson had the ball, he hit the holes quick in the inside and also used his speed to get around end to record big gains.

"Our running game has been steady all year," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "We can pound with the best of them. Bryant is a great athlete."

Hetlet said the Hilltoppers (3-2) wanted to work on some things offensively with the passing game but with the running game working off time on the clock, they stuck with what has carried them through the season so far.

Addison Trail (1-4) showed some offensive firepower. Quarterback Zach Maxwell showed a lot of poise in the pocket while wingback Vince Beachem gave the Glenbard West secondary fits with this routes. Beachem pulled in 9 receptions for 132 yards, including touchdown catches of 25 and 41 yards.

"The kids did some nice things on offense and scored some points," said Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet. "We had problems stopping the power game and the perimeter game."

Parpet felt the turning point of the game came when the Hilltoppers scored less than a minute into the third quarter. Venson had a big run during that drive and Markese scored. The Blazers, however, did counter by getting a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Michael D'Ambrose, who finished with 114 yards and scored again as time ran out on the game.

Venson lifted his team following D'Ambrose's score with back-to-back touchdowns of his own.

-- Brian Pitts

Leyden 24, Willowbrook 21: On paper, it looked as if Willowbrook was the favorite at Leyden on Friday night.

After all, the Warriors were a Class 7A state-ranked team a week ago.

On the field, it appeared to be something different.

The Eagles gave the home fans their money's worth on Friday night as they were treated to some exciting football and a 24-21 West Suburban Gold comeback win in Northlake.

And Leyden (4-1, 3-0) remained in the game the entire way and looked as if it belonged there.

"That's a great win for us -- holy cow," said Leyden coach Tom Cerasani. "I think we did come in as the underdog. They had some good kids -- they were big up front. But I'll tell you what: our kids had a lot of heart tonight and that came through."

Going into the fourth quarter down 21-14, the Eagles put together a long steady drive after the Warriors gave up the ball on downs.

The conservative drive lasted 18 plays, more than seven minutes and took advantage of two Warriors' penalties at separate third-and-goals from well inside the 10.

Finally, senior running back Josh Serrano poked into the end zone on a 3-yard carry to tie the game at 21-21 with 4:11 to play.

After holding the Warriors to just four plays on the following drive, Leyden had another chance and Serrano (36 carries, 134 yards) marched the football to the 9 to set up Mike Feldmann's 26-yard go-ahead field goal with 40 seconds left.

"Josh is a special kid," Cerasani said. "He plays 100-percent on every snap -- offense and defense. He never came off the field tonight. He's unbelievable. To me, it's the best game he's played all year."

The ensuing drive ended with a T.C. Cartwright interception as the clock ran down.

"It's the second (win) that came down to the last second, Cerasani said. "That's big."

Willowbrook (3-2, 1-2) played just as solid a game and mounted its own comeback in the third quarter.

Down 14-7, the Warriors wasted no time on their first drive. On the fifth play, Wayne Bolden caught a 60-yard bomb from QB Kevin Pohl -- their second TD connection of the game -- to make it 14-14.

The Warriors went ahead 21-14 on their next possession that ended with Pohl's 7-yard toss to Emilio Salinas.

"They had a great team. Leyden did a great job," said Willowbrook coach Mark Olson. "They played hard and did some good things. We didn't capitalize when we needed to and (Leyden) made some big plays."

Pohl threw for 209 yards for the Warriors while Brandon Martinez rushed for 70 yards on 10 carries.

"We just have to get ready for (Addison Trail)," added Olson. "It's not a positive day. We lost. I take the blame."

Leyden's first 2 touchdowns were the result of a couple of passes of 80 and 37 yards from quarterback Tim O'Connell to Sam Cochiaro. O'Connell collected 188 yards in the air. Cochiaro caught 4 of those for 135 yards.

With the momentum in their favor, the Eagles are going to focus on next week.

"We're going to take it one game at a time," Cerasani said. "We've got Proviso East next week. They're a good football team. We'll see what happens."

-- Bill Swick

Fenton 55, Elmwood Park 21:ŒA week after struggling offensively in a loss to Metro Suburban Conference foe Ridgewood, Fenton's football team put that game firmly in its rearview mirror on Friday.

The Bison routed Elmwood Park 55-21 on homecoming night in Bensenville, in an MSC game whose outcome was never in doubt.

"We executed much better, controlled the line of scrimmage, and we picked up blitzes this week," said Fenton coach Mark Farrell. "It was nice to see the guys go out there, execute, and have some fun playing football."

No one likely had more fun than Ricky Prignano, who not only threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for two more, but also intercepted a pass at the Fenton goal line and returned it 73 yards to set up Fenton's fifth touchdown.

"We got the offense rolling," Prignano said. "We practiced better this week, and we had a lot of good blocking tonight."

Fenton (2-3, 1-1) led 20-0 after a quarter and 42-7 at halftime while racking up 194 rushing yards thanks to Prignano and running backs Tyler Sabala, Casey Mohr, and D.J. Anderson.

Sabala had touchdown runs of 1, 4 and 6 yards in rushing for 98 yards. Anderson finished with 81 yards on the ground and 1 touchdown. Brandon Moriarty and Derek Potuszynski also caught touchdown passes of 8 and 20 yards, respectively.

"It was really a well-balanced attack," Farrell said.

The Bison finished with 372 yards of offense and held the Tigers to 37 rushing yards.

Mroz and Mick Niemirski led a defense effort with multiple sacks each. Frankie Lazzara had an interception, and Benji Sciullo and Brandon Woodlock also earned their coach's praise after the win.

"(Niemirski) had an outstanding game. He must have had 4 sacks," Farrell said. "He's really a wide receiver, but he can run and he gives you that speed on the edge."

Mroz had a pair of sacks and couldn't have had more fun against the shotgun-style offense Elmwood Park bused into Bensenville. Mroz and crew kept Tigers quarterback Eddie Anderson on the run throughout the contest.

Anderson stayed in the shotgun all night in going 15 of 27 for 244 passing yards, but he rarely had time to stand in the pocket.

"That was just fun," Mroz said. "You're teeing off, and getting a sack just feels awesome."

"Now we've got to build on this, and sweep conference."

-- Gary Larsen