Glenbard West defense shuts down York

With Glenbard West missing its starting quarterback and middle linebacker, York had visions of upsetting the second-ranked Hilltoppers Saturday afternoon in Glen Ellyn.

But that was before the Dukes met one of the state’s stingiest defenses.

Glenbard West posted its third shutout of the season in a 45-0 victory, limiting the Dukes to 103 yards of offense, 50 of which came on a run by Ken Boesenberg on York’s first play.

The Hilltoppers scored 42 points off of six York turnovers – four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Alex Emanuel had two of those interceptions, returning the first one 28 yards for a score to give Glenbard West a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Emanuel said.

The win clinched a share of the West Suburban Silver championship for Glenbard West (8-0, 5-0).

York (5-3, 3-2) appeared poised to spoil Senior Day for the Hilltoppers, shutting down the Glenbard West offense on the first series. That momentum, however, was short-lived as Mike Marston intercepted a Joe Lucca pass on York’s first offensive play, which then led to a 24-yard TD run by Kendall Johnson on a sweep to give the Hilltoppers a 7-0 lead.

On York’s fourth possession, a Nathan Marcus sack of Lucca forced a fumble, which was then recovered by Ruben Dunbar and returned to the Dukes’ two-yard-line. It only took one run by Joe Zito to reach the end zone, giving Glenbard West a 14-0 lead.

The Hilltoppers had four sacks and blocked a 50-yard field goal attempt by Sean McDaid in the first quarter. Lucca left the game in the second quarter with an arm injury and returned late in the fourth quarter when Andrew Iwaszkiewicz, his replacement, injured his foot.

“Their defense is lights out,” said York coach Bill Lech. “They outplayed us in every single phase of the game.”

With a strong wind at his back, Dan Cavazos kicked a 47-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter to give Glenbard North a 24-0 halftime lead. Facing the same direction in the second and third quarters, the senior kicked several of the kickoffs through the uprights from 70 yards away.

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