Glenbard East 21, Oak Lawn 9

Glenbard East had every reason to be tired and a bit down.

The Rams played Willowbrook on Monday because the game had been rescheduled due to the bad weather last week and they lost that contest. Four days later, they found themselves back on the field in a nonconference football game Friday at Oak Lawn.

But behind the play of running back Toney Greene, wide receiver Jason Callahan, quarterback Jack Merrithey and others, Glenbard East bounced back with a 21-9 victory over the host Spartans.

"It was a short week and we lost a physical game," said Glenbard East coach Dennis Lueck. "This game was real physical too, but we responded well."

Perhaps no one was more physical than Greene, who rushed for 151 yards on 27 carries. His hard-nosed running helped the Rams (1-1) move down the field and control possession time. On a number of plays, the junior left the Oak Lawn tacklers wobbly after delivering punishing blows.

"I consider myself a bouncer, but I like to punish people up top when I have the chance," Greene said. "I like to set a good example for the underclassmen running backs."

Greene did punch it in for a touchdown from 9 yards out in the third quarter. His plunge up the gut capped a 16-play drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes of game clock. Also key during that march was the play of Merrithey, who showed a lot of poise despite being only a sophomore.

Scrambling away from would-be sackers, Merrithey hit wideouts Nick Hogan and Aaron Stanton for key gains along the sidelines. But his best drive of the game came in the waning moments of the first half.

Following a fumble recovery, Spartans kicker Jeff Norris ended a drive by nailing a 28-yard field goal to give the host a 9-8 lead with 1:25 remaining before intermission.

After getting the ball back, Merrithey was sacked on the first play, but he got right back up and connected with Stanton for a 14-yard completion. Four plays later, he zipped in a pass to Callahan on a slant route for a 14-yard touchdown reception as 17.9 seconds remained to give the Rams a 14-9 lead.

"(Merrithey) did a good job for us," Lueck said. "That was a big drive for us. It was a real momentum changer. He handled the pressure well."

"He knows what to do with the ball and is going to be great for us," Callahan said of Merrithey, who finished with 144 yards on 13-of-16 passing.

Callahan also had a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. On defense, backs Brandon Spinner and Mike Kuderna picked off passes for Glenbard East.