The Glenbard East football team rolled to its fifth straight win when it defeated West Chicago 41-8 in Friday’s (Oct. 2) Upstate Eight Conference East Division game in Lombard. The Rams moved to 5-2 overall and 5-0 in division play with their Senior Night victory over the Wildcats, who dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the division.
Glenbard East scored three first-quarter touchdowns and held a 20-0 lead over West Chicago after one quarter. The Rams scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to build a 34-0 halftime lead. Glenbard East scored its sixth touchdown of the game early in the third quarter to boost its lead to 41-0 and trigger a running clock for the rest of the contest, which took place in clear and cool weather.
Shortly after receiving the game’s opening kickoff, the Wildcats turned the ball over on a fumble. Glenbard East senior A.J. Triplett recovered the fumble at the Rams’ 40-yard line. On the ensuing play, sophomore quarterback Carter Pohlman flipped a short shovel pass to senior Malachi Miller, who raced into the open field and down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown reception. Senior Moises Velazquez made the extra-point kick to give the Rams a 7-0 lead with 10:15 left in the first quarter.
Moments after senior Max Stachura recovered another West Chicago fumble, senior Montii Perry delivered a 15-yard run to increase Glenbard East’s lead to 13-0 with 7:10 remaining in the opening quarter. The Rams couldn’t execute a clean snap and hold on the ensuing extra-point attempt, and Velazquez was unable to attempt a kick.
The Wildcats coughed up another fumble later in the first quarter, shortly after starting a drive at their own 10-yard line. After a few players had a chance to make the recovery, Glenbard East junior Austin Siebert pounced on the loose ball in the end zone to notch the Rams’ third touchdown of the evening. Velazquez made the extra-point kick to raise the lead to 20-0 with 2:07 to play in the first quarter.
Pohlman and Miller connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass with 8:05 left in the second quarter. Perry delivered a 20-yard touchdown run with 4:59 remaining in the first half.
“You want to be able to get off to a fast start, and we were able to do that,” said Glenbard East coach John Walters after Friday’s victory. “Our defense is pretty good. They’ve played really well all year.”
Junior quarterback Connor LaCount threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior Mason Wright to complete the Rams’ first drive of the second half. Wright made a leaping catch at the goal line to pull down the pass and score Glenbard East’s sixth and final touchdown of the night. Velazquez then made the extra-point kick to give the Rams a 41-0 lead with 8:52 left in the third quarter.
West Chicago scored its only touchdown on a 62-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 remaining in the game. The Wildcats tacked on a successful two-point conversion run to account for the final points of the night.
The Rams will travel to Riverside Brookfield (6-1 overall, 4-0 in the division) this Friday to face the Bulldogs in what amounts to be this year’s division championship game. Glenbard East will complete its division schedule with the contest. The Rams will close out their regular season with an Oct. 16 home game against South Elgin of the Upstate Eight Conference’s West Division. The Bulldogs will end their regular season with an Oct. 16 division battle at Glenbard South.
“We’ve won five in a row,” said Walters. “Our guys have some confidence. Now we’ve got to go out and just continue to play good football.”
