Glenbard East ‘unstoppable’ in division-clinching victory at Glenbard South

Glenbard East made a statement with a stunning 41-7 Upstate Eight Conference East Division-clinching road victory over Glenbard South on Friday evening in Glen Ellyn.

“We’re a dangerous team when we’re all connected,” said two-way standout Amonte Cook. “We’re pretty much unstoppable when everybody is locked in and has got their mind on one thing.”

The Rams defense was definitely connected in Week 8. They put together a convincing performance and held the Raiders without a first down until deep into the fourth quarter, with the only Glenbard South scoring drive occurring with less than a minute to play.

“I think right now we’re coming into our own defensively,” said Rams coach John Walters. “We’ve been kinda searching for ourselves all year long and I think everything is (finally) clicking.”

“We’re really starting to make plays, interceptions, turnovers, (tackles for loss),” Walters added. “Our guys are playing a little hungry.”

Cook helped set the tone in that regard, as he was responsible for the game’s first score after he stepped in front of a Raiders pass and took it 50 yards to the end zone.

“My coach told me to scoot up a little bit because he saw that pass coming,” Cook said. “I saw the receiver break down … I took the ball, and took it to the crib.”

The home crowd fell silent as Cook raced off into the distance with 2:15 to play in what was initially a fairly quiet opening quarter.

However, business picked up for the potent Rams offense from that point.

Glenbard East quarterback Michael Nee found receiver Chris Renford on a 42-yard touchdown strike as the Rams took a deep shot on the first play of their next possession. Not long after that, Kedrick Dennis punched it in for another Rams score on a 5-yard carry.

In the blink of an eye, it was 20-0 Rams and they did not look back.

“Glenbard South is a good program,” Walters said. “They’re well-coached, they’re disciplined, and we felt like we needed to take advantage of any opportunity that we had. We wanted to be aggressive early in the game.”

Within a busy second quarter, Rams running back Val Heredia scored on a 1-yard plunge to make it 27-0, and then defensive lineman Sam Walton snatched a Raiders pass out of the air before rumbling into the end zone for Glenbard East’s second defensive touchdown of the night.

“I just saw that they were trying to run a screen,” Walton said. “I dropped one before in another game and this time I was not going to drop it.”

It was his first varsity touchdown.

Dennis added another touchdown in the second half on a 39-yard scamper that started a running clock at 41-0.

“They couldn’t keep up with us,” Heredia said. “They were getting tired and we took advantage of that.”

With victory in hand, the Rams were eager to celebrate an outright Upstate Eight East title as time rolled off the clock.

“It’s just so cool that we were able to do it in eight games,” Walton said. “Especially to do it against our rivals at Glenbard South.”

“It means a lot, it means a lot to the school, to coach Walters,” Cook added. “It just shows how hard we want it and if you work you can really get what you want.”

That being said, they were quick to note that there is unfinished business ahead.

“We’re a good team, but we can’t have that mindset, though,” Dennis said. “We gotta keep playing the next team and dominate.”