Playoff dreams hit by delay of game

Senior quarterback Tom Coughlin launches a pass Friday during the first half of Glenbrook North's 13-10 loss to Niles North. The game was suspended at halftime and resumed Saturday.
(Tamara Bell/Staff Photographer)

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The Glenbrook North Spartans now know how the Chinese water torture works.

The drip, drip, drip and lightning of Friday's storms forced the homecoming crowd to return Saturday to see how the football team's playoff hopes would survive.

But with the chance to send the final game of the regular season into OT, Glenbrook North missed a 27-yard field goal and Niles North escaped with the 13-10 victory.

Not since the 2006 season has Glenbrook North finished with a losing record and not made the IHSA playoffs. Those hopes looked very much alive late in the fourth quarter when Spartans QB Tommy Coughlin (5-of-17, 120 yards) tossed a 55-yard pass to Mason West, who ran to the 10. When the drive fizzled, Jimmy Schmidt was called in to attempt a field goal on the muddy turf, but missed.

"We should have scored at the end," Coughlin said. "That last play I threw (on third down), the player just slipped. The field was terrible. Nothing you can do about that. We all played our hearts out. We played hard."

"We had a chance to kick the field goal and go into overtime," GBN coach Bob Pieper said. "It was a nice try. We also had a shot at a touchdown on the play before."

Glenbrook (4-5, 3-2) wound up in a three-way tie for second in the Central Suburban North with Niles North and Deerfield.

"When the season began, I didn't think we would wind up 4-5," Coughlin said. "It was disappointing, but it was great playing with these guys."

After thunderstorms hit the North Shore area Friday, officials decided to suspend the game at halftime. It resumed Saturday afternoon at the start of the third quarter with the Spartans leading 3-0 on Schmidt's 37-yard field goal.

Glenbrook North extended the advantage to 10-0 when Paul Jung ran in from the 7 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.

Niles North climbed back on a 37-yard TD pass from Mike Granato to Michael Dotson.

Spartans defensive back Adam Robinson broke his left leg on the play and was taken to a local hospital. Following a lengthy delay, Glenbrook North blocked the extra point.

"It was difficult to come back today and get our heads back into the game," Pieper said. "The kids did a nice job. They were ready to go.

The visitors completed their comeback when Terry Turner (19 carries, 142 yards) capped a seven-play drive by running in from the 4 to put the visitors ahead 13-10 with 3:35 remaining.

"Turner is a great back," Pieper said. "Everyone in the conference keyed on him all season."

If Glenbrook North had won, the Spartans had enough playoff points to qualify for the playoffs. The Spartans earned 40 playoff points; the final at-large school had 36.

That's just one more reason why Pieper call the season a what-if year.

"We made some mistakes that came back to haunt us," he said. "We have about 30 juniors coming back and a solid sophomore class. Hopefully, they will start work hard and be ready for next year."

Niles North 13

Glenbrook North 10

Star Performances

Tom Coughlin: 5-for-17 for 120 yards passing.

Paul Jung: 24 carriers for 100 yards, 1 TD.