The Glenbard East football team’s five-game winning streak ended with Friday night’s (Oct. 9) 38-28 loss at Riverside Brookfield in what amounted to the Upstate Eight Conference’s East Division championship game.
The Rams completed their division season with a 5-1 record. Riverside Brookfield moved its division record to 5-0 with Friday’s victory. The Bulldogs, who are 7-1 overall, will complete their regular and division seasons with this week’s game at Glenbard South. If Riverside Brookfield wins that game, it is the outright division champion. If the Raiders upset the Bulldogs, there would be a three-way tie at the top of the division, with Glenbard East, Riverside Brookfield and Glenbard South claiming a share of the Upstate Eight East title.
Glenbard East (5-3 overall) will wrap up its regular season with this Friday’s home game against South Elgin (7-1 overall) of the Upstate Eight Conference’s West Division.
Friday’s loss marked the Rams’ first intra-division or intra-conference loss in over three years. On Sept. 1, 2023, South Elgin beat Glenbard East 17-14 in an Upstate Eight Conference game in Lombard. That game took place when the conference included 10 teams and no divisions. The Upstate Eight Conference expanded to 14 teams, and two seven-team divisions, before the start of the 2024 season.
The Rams posted unblemished 6-0 division records in 2024 and 2025. They sealed their 2025 championship by beating the Bulldogs 45-43 in a memorable battle in Lombard. Glenbard East’s Moises Velazquez kicked a game-winning 48-yard field goal on the game’s final play to lift the Rams to the victory and the 2025 division title.
Riverside Brookfield received the opening kickoff of Friday’s game and drove 80 yards for a touchdown. The Bulldogs’ drive featured a 69-yard run down to the Rams’ 4-yard line. Riverside Brookfield scored on a 4-yard touchdown run on the next play. The extra-point kick gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with 10:17 left in the first quarter.
Riverside Brookfield added to its lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 3:18 to play in the opening quarter. The extra-point kick raised the Bulldogs’ lead to 14-0.
Glenbard East delivered a 76-yard scoring drive on its next possession. The Rams scored when senior Malachi Miller took a handoff from sophomore quarterback Carter Pohlman, ran to his right, and fired a long pass. Senior Mason Wright caught Miller’s pass near the Bulldogs’ 20-yard line and weaved into the end zone for a 47-yard touchdown reception. Velazquez, who is in his senior season, made the extra-point kick to trim the Bulldogs’ lead to 14-7 with 1:50 to play in the first quarter.
Riverside Brookfield made a 27-yard field goal with about eight minutes left in the second quarter to increase its lead to 17-7. The Bulldogs added a 1-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds left in the first half. The ensuing extra-point kick helped Riverside Brookfield to a 24-7 halftime lead.
The Rams scored on the third quarter’s first play from scrimmage, when Pohlman fired a 67-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Diamond Chew, who was wide open when he caught the ball near the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line, and sprinted into the end zone. Velazquez made the extra-point kick to cut the lead to 24-14 with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
Riverside Brookfield pushed its lead to 31-14 with a 1-yard touchdown run and the subsequent extra-point kick with 6:49 to play in the third quarter. The Rams responded with a 65-yard scoring drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by senior Montii Perry. The extra-point kick trimmed the Bulldogs’ lead to 31-21 with 3:30 left in the third quarter.
Riverside Brookfield scored its fifth touchdown of the game on a 21-yard pass with 6:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. The extra-point kick pushed the lead to 38-21.
The Rams scored the game’s final touchdown on Miller’s 25-yard touchdown reception from Pohlman with 5:27 to play. Miller caught a pass behind the line of scrimmage and sped down the middle of the field and into the end zone. Velazquez added the extra-point kick to close out the scoring.
The Rams will learn their post-season plans when the IHSA releases this year’s playoff pairings this Saturday evening, Oct. 17.
