Michael Champagne throws four TD passes as Glenbard South rolls past Streamwood, stays unbeaten

STREAMWOOD – After successfully procuring their first win of the season and in Upstate Eight Conference play over archrival Elgin last week at home, Streamwood coach Keith McMaster and his assistants had to come up with a dual strategy in order to find a winning formula against UEC co-leader Glenbard South as they sought to once again defend the Millennium Field home turf and get to the .500 mark.

Defensively, they needed to draw up a successful plan for containing a Raider offense that entered the Friday’s game averaging 49 points a game in earning a 3-0 start while finding the right timing on offense that could keep the opposition’s high-powered attack on the sidelines.

Despite a strong effort on both fronts, the Sabres would fall short of their objective as Glenbard South prevailed 49-20 to remain in a three-way tie with Bartlett and South Elgin atop the Upstate Eight standings.

Glenbard South (4-0, 4-0) plays them both over the next two weeks, starting with a road game versus the Bartlett Hawks next Friday.

“We knew that they (Streamwood) would fight, that their offense would frustrate our defense the first half,” Glenbard South Head Coach Ryan Crissey said.

“I mean you’re thinking, Oh my goodness. We knew we’d be in a dogfight, but credit to the coaching staff, credit to the players to keep it together and come out with a good victory.”

That win came by withstanding early rolls of dice by the host Sabres (1-3, 1-3). Streamwood attempted a pair of onside kicks to start the game with the first one being a success that led to a 4-yard Genaud Phillips touchdown run that gave the Sabres a 6-0 lead 53 ticks into the contest.

Then South began the first of its nine possessions with the result being three consecutive scores that had them up 21-6 with 6:19 left in the opening half.

Raider quarterback Michael Champagne connected on two of his four TD tosses to Owen Gibson (8 yards) and Gabe Danguilan (23 yards) plus he threw in a 6 yard scoring dash to the end zone.

Still, the Sabres cut the deficit to 21-12 just before halftime as John Ray bulled in from the GBS 1.

Raider runner Jalen Brown (18 carries, 183 yards) took over as he scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground (12 and 19 yards) while gaining 152 yards in the second half.

Glenbard South ended up totaling 509 yards of total offense as Champagne threw for 224 yards with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Cam Williams and a 20-yarder to Danguilan, along with running for 67 yards on his own.

Champagne gave the credit to his offensive line for their success as a unit.

“Our O-line has been great this year with (both) the run game and the pass game,” Champagne said.

“Especially today picking up blitzes. There were times when maybe I didn’t see a guy blitzing off the edge and they picked them up. I’ve had great protection this year.”