The Glenbrook South football team held the New Trier Trevians to zero points while putting 27 up on the scoreboard themselves last Friday night. This victory allowed GBS to move into the second round of the IHSA division 8A playoffs facing Lyons Township tomorrow night.
The Titans ended their regular season with a 7-2 record culminating with a loss at Maine South. This record gave GBS the fifth seed, and despite the final game loss, senior quarterback Mac Zabriskie still feels that his team is one of the best.
“They’re the number one team in the state,” Zabriskie said. “So losing to them wasn’t terrible for our ego. We knew that we were still a good team.”
Senior captain Michael Demos, who plays both offensive and defensive tackle, was not happy with the loss, but was impressed with his team’s ability to put points on the board at any time in the game.
“We were down big at halftime,” Demos said. “It just shows the character that we have by coming out and scoring two touchdowns [in the third quarter].”
Coming out of the locker room, Zabriskie completed a deep play-action pass to senior wingback Billy Pappas, followed by a defensive stop on Maine South. The next offensive possession ended with Pappas in the end zone again, only the pass came from senior wide receiver and safety Sully Stadler on a trick reverse-pass play.
“I think we just executed better, and came out more physical in the second half,” Zabriskie said.
After the 45-21 loss, Demos knew that they could not dwell on it for too long and that the focus in practice had to remain on succeeding in the playoffs.
“When things get down, people look up to me to make sure the intensity and focus picks back up,” Demos said.
There was nothing but intensity, especially in the second quarter of the first round dual against New Trier, according to Zabriskie. After coming up empty on the first three drives, the offense was sparked by a defensive player BJ Hoekstra who came up with a big sack followed by a blocked punt by Demos.This allowed senior running back Kevin Schroeder to pound the ball in from the 25-yard line.
According to Demos, “the defense played unbelievable”. Also in terms of offense, the only time they did not move the ball was because of their own mistakes and not because of New Trier’s defense, Zabriskie noted. Overall, the team was very excited to get a shutout win in the playoffs.
“There is nothing better than shutting out New Trier in the playoffs,” Demos said.
Moving forward, Zabriskie feels that if the team can put forth their best effort all four quarters, they will be capable of beating any team in the state.
“If we can play a complete game for 48 minutes, than we can give a lot of teams a run for their money,” Zabriskie said. “I think we can advance into the quarterfinals and then most likely play Loyola, who is one of the top teams in the state.”
