Jackson provides the action for Glenbard North
Glenbard North's Phil Jackson remained a humble football player after his team's 42-14 victory on the road against West Chicago Friday night.
The senior running back ran for 202 yards on 11 carries, ran for 3 touchdowns, and caught a screen pass from quarterback Mark Ng that he turned into a 61-yard touchdown reception. But he kept things in perspective for the 5-0 Panthers.
"It all starts at the (offensive) line. None of that happens when you don't have a good line, and we have a good line," Jackson said. "Towards the end of the season, individual efforts won't work. You have to be a team."
Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens knows that his team still has plenty to work on in the remaining four weeks of the regular season.
"I was looking for consistency this week, and we didn't get that," Wilkens said. We're still striving for that (consistency)."
Glenbard North (3-0 DuPage Valley Conference) scored first when defensive back Alex Mendez tackled West Chicago running back Bradley Wilson in the Panthers' end zone for a safety. Glenbard North extended its lead to 9-0 on the ensuing drive when running back Evin Natick scored on a 25-yard touchdown run.
A 60-yard touchdown run by Jackson, followed by a 43-yard interception return for a score by Austin Siperly, put the Panthers up 22-0 at halftime.
However, West Chicago's offense began to click on the opening drive of the second half. Quarterback Josh Stein orchestrated an 8-play, 72-yard drive, culminating in a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Stein. Wilson carried the load during the drive, rushing for 55 yards on 4 carries.
"That's a great team we just faced," West Chicago coach Paul Reinke said afterward. "They're well-coached and they're a top 10 team in the state of Illinois. For periods of time, we went toe-to-toe with them, and I'm proud of our kids for that."
After Jackson's aforementioned 61-yard screen pass went for a touchdown, putting the Panthers up 28-7, West Chicago (0-3 DVC) scored its final touchdown of the night on a 21-yard pass from Stein to Sean Paler near the corner of the end zone, cutting the Panthers' lead to 28-14.
Two more touchdown runs by Jackson, one for 52 yards and the other for 22 yards, made for the game's final score as West Chicago fell to 1-4 on the season.
"The score is what it is, but there were periods of the game where we were clawing our way back into it," Reinke said. "To do that against a team like Glenbard North, I can't say enough about how hard our kids competed tonight."