Stay Connected with YourSeason
Tigers can’t hold on in loss to Glenbard South
Updated: September 24, 2011 1:00AM
All the fanfare for homecoming was there, but the win almost wasn’t.
Glenbard South’s 21-point fourth quarter eased the tensions of the Raiders’ faithful and secured a 35-21 victory over upstart Elmwood Park on Friday night in Glen Ellyn giving the Raiders a win in their Metro Suburban Conference debut.
“I thought we did a couple of decent things in the first half, but we just shot ourselves in the foot with that fumble right before the half,” said Glenbard South head coach Jeremy Cordell. “At the half I called the kids out, and I liked how we responded.”
Elmwood Park’s Carlos Sandoval put the Tigers (2-3, 0-1) up 21-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 4-yard run on second-and-goal to finish off yet another sustained drive, but then the game got crazy.
The Raiders (2-3, 1-0) would tie the score when Wesley Sanders returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards despite having trouble getting control of the ball to start off the play. Then Ayman Blan intercepted Patrick McNulty’s pass on the following Elmwood Park drive to set up the Raiders at the 29 yard-line. Zach Smith scored from 4 yards out to regain the lead for the home team. Glenbard South forced a punt and Matt Loos scored 76 yards on the first play from scrimmage to make it a two-score game.
“Coach challenged us at halftime to step up,” Loos said. “Sanders’ kickoff return was the turning point of the game and the momentum shifted straight to us.”
Sanders was effective from scrimmage as well, running 18 times for 107 yards while Loos ran for 93 yards on four attempts. Quarterback Tyler Padera took off 10 times for 59 yards on the night. He also connected with Matt Jeske for a 34-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring in the first quarter. The Raiders re-took the lead at 14-7 with 1:36 left in the second quarter on Elven Walker’s two-yard run and Loos’ two-point conversion.
Sandoval scored all three of Elmwood Park’s touchdowns going in from 29 yards out to help stake the Tigers to a 7-6 lead as well as punching it in from the 1 with 2.4 seconds left in the half. That score was set up by a Jonathan Batula fumble recovery and return down to the Raiders’ 6 with just 19.9 seconds remaining in the first half.
“We played three quarters of good football and then we had a special teams breakdown,” said Elmwood Park head coach Luis Arroyo. “One of these days the Tigers will learn how to finish games.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment