Glenbard West coasts in second half

Despite being outgained 187 yards to 33 in the first half by visiting Glenbard West on Friday night, Hinsdale Central could take some solace in the fact that it only trailed 14-0 at the break.

That all changed in the first 40 seconds of the third quarter.

Hinsdale Central's 40-second nightmare began when Glenbard West's Nick Burrello returned the second-half kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. Then Glenbard West's Zack Marshall recovered a fumble at the Red Devils' 44-yard line, and on the next snap Burrello covered that distance to suddenly make it 28-0, more than enough of a cushion for Glenbard West (3-0, 1-0) to coast to a 28-7 West Suburban Conference Silver Division victory.

"I was just running and the holes were open; the line did a great job tonight," said Burrello, who finished the evening with three scores and 102 yards rushing. He also had a punt-return TD called back by a roughing-the-kicker penalty. "On the kick return we planned out where we would return it and I just saw the hole and ran fast."

Of course, though Hinsdale Central was within shouting distance at the half, the Hilltoppers defense had no intention of letting the Red Devils (1-2, 0-1) back in the game.

For the game Glenbard West allowed just 130 total yards - 94 of which came on Hinsdale Central's consolation touchdown drive after Glenbard West had begun substituting liberally - while 14 of the Red Devils' 49 snaps resulted in zero or negative yardage, with quarterback Alex Hodakowski sacked four times.

"We're bringing a lot of seniors back and our whole attitude is to fly to ball, just be a big white blur flying to the ball out there," said linebacker Beau Warden, who had a personal-high three of Glenbard West's sacks. "We were just getting off the ball and getting after it."

Glenbard West got on the board in the first quarter when Burrello scampered 24 yards to paydirt on the play after Mike Laning recovered a Hinsdale Central fumble. The Red Devils' best chance to score in the first half came early in the second quarter when a short punt gave them the ball at the Glenbard West 29, but the threat was neutralized when Warden brought down Hodakowski for a 9-yard loss on third down. Glenbard West bumped its lead to 14-0 when Justice Odom capped a 45-yard drive set up by Laning's interception with a 21-yard scoring run.

"We have to take care of the ball," said Hinsdale Central coach Mike DiMatteo. "We're doing things the last two weeks that we haven't done in three or four years, like putting the ball on the ground."

Hinsdale Central's score came with just less than five minutes to play when Teddy Kwasigroch found the end zone from 9 yards out. The key play of the drive was Hodakowski's 39-yard hookup with Ryan Kelleher.