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Riverside-Brookfield defeats Glenbard South

After missing most of the season with an injured collarbone, Glenbard South senior quarterback Kyle Carli was back at the helm of the Raiders offense in the final regular season game against rival Riverside-Brookfield on Friday.

Carli played admirably to keep Glenbard South neck and neck with the host Bulldogs on their Senior Night in Brookfield.

But in the third quarter Carli reinjured that collarbone and sophomore Jack Crouch went back in as the signalcaller. Like Carli, Crouch led his team on an impressive drive to match a Bulldogs score, but the Bulldogs were not to be denied on this damp and unseasonably mild night, scoring 2 touchdowns in a 2:27 span of the fourth quarter to pull away with a hard-fought 35-21 victory in Metro Suburban West action.

"It was a little scary," Crouch said about Carli going down with the injury. "I knew what I needed to do. I needed to get it done and contribute to the team. We needed to start running the ball."

And run he did. In the key series in the third quarter, Crouch led his team on a 9-play, 70-yard scoring drive. He showed his scrambling ability by picking up 51 of those 70 yards, including a 24-yard sprint around end and a 17-yard run for the touchdown. After Michael Brosnan's extra point, the Raiders (5-4, 3-1) evened the score at 21 with 2:11 to play in the third quarter.

"Jack can do a lot of great things," said Glenbard South coach Ryan Crissey. "He has the speed."

The Bulldogs (8-1, 4-1) went up in the fourth quarter for good when quarterback Ryan Swift hit Dean Zigulich on a 20-yard pass play for a score. On the first play of the Raiders' next possession, they fumbled the ball at their own 9-yard line. Riverside-Brookfield recovered and four plays later Swift muscled it in from the 1-yard line for a touchdown. Swift, who finished with 94 rushing yards on 17 carries, scored 5 touchdowns on the night, 4 on the ground.

Glenbard South's earlier miscues, including a botched snap on a punt, gave the Bulldogs a short field on a few occasions and the hosts capitalized.

"Back's against the wall, when (the Bulldogs) are working on a short field, it is a lot easier to put points on the board when you have 30 or 40 yards to go as opposed to going 60, 70 yards," Crissey said. "Jack and Kyle did enough to put us in position to win, but we didn't capitalize."

Raiders running back Sean Cooke scored on 1-yard run in the first quarter and Carli also punched in a score from 1 yard out in the second quarter. Carli finished 10-of-19 passing with 173 yards. As a team, Glenbard South had more total offense than the Bulldogs, who got a little revenge. Last season, the Raiders beat Riverside-Brookfield in the final regular season game to win conference and then they eliminated them from the playoffs.

"It is a little extra special getting redemption on a team that has had our number in the past," said Bulldogs coach Brendan Curtin. "We have a lot of leadership within that offensive huddle. The kids were well prepared and executed the game plan very well."

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