Glenbard West blows by Oak Park

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:14PM

Glenbard West scored four second-half touchdowns routing West Suburban Silver rival Oak Park 42-0 Saturday afternoon at Duchon Field. The Hilltoppers remained unbeaten with a 4-0 record.

"I'm extremely excited the way we played," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "Oak Park is good football program and a well coached football team. We struggled a bit the first half, but played very well both offensively and on defense the second half."

The No. 3 Hilltoppers (4-0) took a 7-0 lead at 3:06 of the first quarter as sophomore running back Kendall Johnson broke through the middle for a 45-yard touchdown run. The Huskies (1-3) struggled on offense for most of the first quarter with only 11 yards of total offense to show for their effort.

Quarterback Mike Matthew dove in from the 1-yard line with 9:50 remaining in the half, giving Glenbard West a 14-0 advantage. Oak Park's best scoring opportunity was a second quarter 26-yard field goal attempt that drifted wide left. The Hilltopper defense continued to dominate, holding the Huskies to 16 yards rushing for the entire first half.

"I thought we played OK the first half, trailing by just two touchdowns," said Oak Park head coach Jim Nudera. "But playing well for an entire game has been a problem for us so far this year. It is something we need to continue to work on."

Second half action saw Glenbard West to take control of the game. A 52-yard, Nick Burrello (13 carries 125 yards) reverse put the Hilltopers on the Huskies' 13 yard-line on the first play of the third quarter. That set up a Matthew-to-Mark Hiben, 11-yard touchdown pass at the 10:56 mark. After a successful Avery Balogh extra point, the Hilltoppers were ahead 21-0.

"You could drive a truck threw the holes the offensive line were making today," said Burrello. "It's fun running behind those guys, it starts and ends with our offensive line, I give all the credit to them for the success I had today."

Oak Park got a wake up call on the ensuing kickoff as the Hilltoppers pulled off a successful onside kick with excellent field position at the Huskies 36 yard-line.

"We have to congratulate Glenbard West. They are a fine football program and played well in all fazes of the game today," said Nudera. "We have to try and find a way to play well for all 48 minutes of a game."

Glenbard West took a commanding 35-0 lead with 5:05 remaining in the quarter as Matthew recorded his second touchdown pass of the afternoon, this time hooking up with 285 lb Tommy Schutt for a 10 yard strike.

"That was fun," said Schutt of his first touchdown reception. "We worked on that play over the summer and it was nice to see it go for a score."

The Huskies would drive to the Glenbard West 28-yard line late in the third, but an Andrew Larkin interception of Huskies' quarterback John Phelan pass attempt ended any scoring opportunity for Oak Park.

With most of reserves playing the fourth quarter the Hilltoppers would score once more with 5:25 to play and just as important, preserve the shutout with a 42-0 victory.

"We are playing well defensibly," said Hetlet. "We let up some late scores in a couple of other games this year, so it was nice to see our second team keep their first team out of the end zone."

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