The Glenbard East football team’s winning streak reached four games following Friday’s 55-14 Upstate Eight Conference East Division victory over Ridgewood in Norridge. The Rams moved to 4-2 overall and 4-0 in the division with their win. The Rebels of Ridgewood fell to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in division play.
Glenbard East scored three unanswered touchdowns in the first quarter of Friday’s contest and held a 21-0 lead after the opening 12 minutes. The Rams tacked on three more touchdowns during the second quarter on their way to a 41-14 halftime advantage.
Ridgewood scored both of its touchdowns on interception returns. The Rebels intercepted a Glenbard East pass and made a 40-yard return for a touchdown early in the second quarter. The ensuing extra-point kick cut the Rams’ lead to 21-7. A 26-yard interception return for a touchdown helped Ridgewood trim Glenbard East’s lead to 35-14 with less than two minutes to play in the second quarter.
Senior Montii Perry scored the Rams’ first touchdown of the evening on an 8-yard run in the first quarter. Senior Moises Velazquez added the extra-point kick to give Glenbard East a 7-0 lead.
Sophomore quarterback Carter Pohlman threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Diamond Chew with a little more than one minute to play in the first quarter. Ridgewood blocked the extra-point kick, leaving the Rams with a 13-0 lead.
Senior Mason Wright hauled in a 13-yard touchdown reception from Pohlman with four seconds left in the opening quarter. Junior Connor LaCount ran the ball into the end zone on the two-point conversion attempt to boost the Rams’ lead to 21-0.
Senior Mishun Williams broke a 28-yard touchdown run in the middle of the second quarter to help Glenbard East raise its lead to 28-7. Moments later, after an interception and 25-yard return by sophomore Jayden Avalo, junior Ethan Sowell delivered a 26-yard touchdown run. Velazquez added the extra-point kick to move the lead to 35-7.
The Rebels cut the Rams’ lead to 35-14 with their second pick-six play of the second quarter. Glenbard East scored the final points of the first half on LaCount’s 18-yard touchdown pass to junior Dan Gara. The Rebels blocked the ensuing extra-point kick.
LaCount threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Chew in the third quarter to help the Rams raise their lead to 48-14. Williams scored Glenbard East’s eighth touchdown of the night when he ran 10 yards into the end zone with about two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The extra-point kick from Velazquez closed out the scoring. The Rams’ lead of at least 40 points triggered a running clock for the rest of the game.
Glenbard East will try to extend its winning streak to five games when it faces West Chicago (2-4 overall, 1-2 in the division) in this Friday’s division meeting in Lombard. The Rams will travel to Riverside Brookfield for an Oct. 9 division clash that will likely decide this year’s Upstate Eight East champion. Glenbard East will finish its regular season with an Oct. 16 home game against South Elgin in an Upstate Eight crossover game. South Elgin moved to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference’s West Division with Friday’s 48-0 victory at Streamwood.
