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Glenbard East completes perfect regular season

The Glenbard East Rams are undefeated conference champions.

Brett Bushka threw 4 touchdown passes to 4 different receivers as the Rams wrapped up a perfect regular season and the Upstate Eight title by downing Larkin, 42-14, at Memorial Field.

Bushka threw for 176 of his 217 yards in the first half, then the Rams' 3-headed tailback monster took over as Glenbard East played ball control in the second half.

Early on, Larkin, which needed a victory to become playoff-eligible, made the Rams work for everything they got. The Royals took the opening kickoff and marched 68 yards, capped by Angel Garcia's 1-yard scoring run.

After Glenbard East tied it on Bushka's pass to Deon Cook, Larkin moved the ball again, reaching the Rams' 17. But a fourth-down sack ended the threat and led to a run of 42 unanswered points by the Rams.

"It's awesome to make history," Bushka said. "I love all these guys out here, too. It was a great job. It took all 53 to do this and we we've been saying this for awhile. I'm glad everybody else can see it, too. To cap it off at 9-0, it's just a great job by all of us."

The early Larkin score didn't faze the Rams.

"We just had to play Glenbard East Rams football," said Bushka. "We did, and the scoreboard really showed it at the end."

Besides Cook, Bushka threw scoring strikes to Jeremy Johnson, Kurt Csech, and Patrick Crossland.

Jamylenn Miles and Jake Netchin ran for scores for the Rams.

"It's unreal," said Glenbard East coach John Walters. "These kids have worked so incredibly hard to get to this point. They've been through a lot, and they stayed the course, they bought into the process, and now they're 9-0."

The Rams broke the game open in the second quarter, scoring 3 times. Receptions by Netchin and Crossland and a 10-yard run by Netchin accounted for the Rams' 3 scores during the period.

For the game, Bushka completed 14 of 24 for 217 yards. Christopher Whitehead led Glenbard with 71 yards on the ground, all in the second half. Billy Gotsch added 61 and Netchin finished with 54.

Daniel Quirk came up with an interception and Nehemiah Jones recovered a fumble, both ending Larkin scoring threats.

It was that kind of night for the Royals (4-5, 4-5). The Royals reached the Rams' 1-yard line in the second quarter but lost a fumble. They got to the 12-yard line in the third quarter, only to be stopped on downs after 2 incomplete passes.

The Royals closed the scoring on Deujuan Akins' 64-yard run. He burst through the middle and raced untouched into the end zone. That made Akins the Royals' leading ball carrier with 72 yards on just 3 carries. Garcia finished with 70.

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