Glenbard East defense accepts the challenge, shuts down Streamwood triple option to stay unbeaten

STREAMWOOD – Glenbard East found the solution to stopping Streamwood’s triple option offense.

The Rams held the Sabres, who compiled boxcar number rushing yards in their first two games this season, to a total of 116 yards in a 39-7 Upstate Eight win Friday night at Millennium Field.

“Their run game is awesome,” said Glenbard East coach John Walters. “I think our defense accepted the challenge of what Streamwood had done in the previous two weeks and they were going to take a lot of pride in stopping the run game.”

Glenbard East’s offense was the one on the roll. The Rams gained 359 yards, 193 on the ground and 116 in the air. Senior quarterback Connor Cerkas completed 11 of 19 passes with three touchdown strikes. John Seybold led East’s ground game, gaining 111 yards on 12 carries and a TD.

“On the offensive side, it was just about us getting into a rhythm,” Walters said. “Once we found our stride, we were able to move the ball around and be a multidimensional offense.”

Streamwood’s backfield suffered a blow late in the first quarter when running back Mickey Estrada left the game with an injury.

Glenbard East (3-0, 3-0) capitalized on Streamwood (1-2, 1-2) miscues to score its first touchdown with 1:57 left in the first quarter. The Rams recovered a fumble on Streamwood’s 23-yard line. On Glenbard East’s first play of the ensuing drive, a roughing the pass call moved the ball to the Sabres’ 11-yard line. On the next snap, Nikolas Kostov swept to left and crossed the goal line.

The Rams widened the lead to 13-0 on their first possession of the second quarter. A 5-yard scoring pass over the middle from Cerkas to Kyle Tyszkiewicz (4 receptions for 42 yards) capped a 54-yard, 6-play drive.

Glenbard East ended the half with its third TD of the night. Dimitri Hritz scampered 3 yards to put the Rams up 20-0 with 3:47 left in the half.

Glenbard East extended its lead early in the third quarter when Cerkas connected with Tyszkiewicz for a 24-yard score.

Walters singled out the senior’s play.

“Kyle is a hardworking kid. He does everything right,” said Walters. “He’s kind of like an unsung hero for us on offense. It was nice to get him a couple of touchdown catches.”

The Rams added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The first was a 22-yard pass from Cerkas to Dailen Zollicoffer with 7:30 left. The second was a 46-yard run by Seybold at the 3:16 mark.

The Sabres did have one highlight reel play. Issac Martinez returned a kick 84 yards for Streamwood’s only score late in the fourth quarter. The senior workhorse accounted for most of the Sabres’ yardage, gaining 111 yards on 23 carries.