Glenbard East, on TD with two seconds left, wins wild finish at Willowbrook

VILLA PARK – A go-ahead touchdown with just under 21 seconds remaining sent the home Willowbrook crowd into a frenzy.

Just a short time later, it was the Glenbard East side that was delirious.

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After a 57-yard kickoff return by Amonte Cook, Michael Nee found Muhammad Musleh for a 23-yard score with two seconds left to give the visiting Rams an improbable 30-23 victory.

The two-point conversion pass from Nee to Cook capped the thrilling season opener, which saw the teams meeting for the first time since 2015.

”We obviously let up a touchdown late in the game,” said Musleh, who finished with four catches for 69 yards. “But Amonte had that great return all the way down (the field) and then the coaches trusted me and Mike trusted me. We got it done with a go route.

”This is a great way to start the season. It’s crazy. It’s surreal.”

The Warriors had taken a 23-22 lead on a one-yard TD run and two-point conversion by Aidan Kuehl. That capped a 58-yard drive in just under a minute that came after Glenbard East broke a 15-all tie with a 43-yard touchdown strike from Nee to Cook with 1:11 left.

Nee finished 20-of-37 through the air for 317 yards and three scores in his debut. He connected with Chris Renford for a 57-yard TD in the second quarter.

”This is our crosstown rival,” Nee said. “And our mindset was we had to get this win. They scored with 20 seconds left but we weren’t about to give up. We were going to keep fighting. We had the confidence to go down and score no matter how much time was left.”

The Rams got on the board first with a safety and also had a one-yard TD run from Valentino Heredia to take a 15-8 advantage into halftime.

”This is a great crosstown rivalry and it certainly didn’t disappoint,” Glenbard East coach John Walters said. “It was an all-around great game. It was well-played on both sides. Nobody deserved to lose.”

Jabonise Reed completed 18-of-33 passes for 252 yards for Willowbrook, tossing a 23-yard score to KJ Rhodes and a 55-yard touchdown passto Charlie Siegler.

Siegler had five catches for 96 yards and Rhodes finished with eight receptions for 86 yards.

Lyons 38, Prospect 21: Danny Carroll rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns and Lyons rode a strong start past Prospect.

Wheaton North 23, Providence 22: Shane Diericx caught a fourth-down pass from six yards out as time expired and managed to fend off a hard hit near the goal line to reach the end zone for the winning touchdown, giving Wheaton North a wild win over visiting Providence.

Naperville Central 24, Hinsdale Central 13: Aiden Clark ran for 290 yards and two touchdowns and Naperville Central overcame an early interception and Hinsdale Central touchdown to beat the Red Devils.

Wheaton Warrenville South 35, Glenbard South 10: Owen Yorke rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns and Luca Carbonaro ran for two TDs as Wheaton Warrenville South dominated Glenbard South.

Downers Grove South 33, Metea Valley 15: Keon Maggit Jr. returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and Daniel Mensah stepped in after an injury to rush for three TDs in Downers Grove South’s win.

Downers Grove North 42, O’Fallon 0: The Trojans won the game at Illinois Wesleyan.

Montini 49, Hyde Park 0: Isaac Alexander had two interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown, and also a 5-yard TD run for Montini. Israel Abrams threw a 29-yard TD pass to Santino Florio and Jeremiah Peterson also scored a touchdown.

Nazareth 37, Kankakee 30: Logan Malachuk threw a 46-yard TD pass to Jake Cestone with 3:46 left as the Roadrunners won a wild one in LaGrange Park.

Batavia 35, Glenbard West 28: Nathan Whitwell ran for 179 yards on 35 carries and three touchdowns for Batavia. Teyion Oriental ran for two TDs and returned a punt 87 yards for a third score for Glenbard West.