NT_091318

42 | September 13, 2018 | The Northbrook tower Sports
northbrooktower.com
Hoffman Estates too much for injured Spartans
Martin Carlino, Editor
Glenbrook North expected
its toughest task of
the young season heading
into its Week 3 matchup
against the Hoffman Estates
Hawks.
But what the Spartans
didn’t expect, was the loss
of several key players on
both sides of the ball, making
the matchup against
the unbeaten Hawks that
much taller of a task.
Playing without senior
captains Ethan Quayle and
Ben Kieffer, while also
losing key contributors
on offense, defense and
special teams during the
game, was a daunting set
of circumstances for the
Spartans. North dropped
the nonconference game
by a final score of 42-14 on
Friday, Sept. 7, in Northbrook.
Although the game’s final
score appears to showcase
a lopsided game, it’s
far from indicative of how
close of a game it was for
the majority of the night.
“They’re a very good
team, but I will say —
and I just told the boys
this — I’m proud of the
effort,” head coach Bob
Pieper said. “It was 14-14
in the third quarter with
a chance for us to score,
so I’m proud of them. …
We left four points on the
board in the first half, so
I told the guys at halftime
we won the first, they won
the second quarter … and
we were actually winning
the third when it was 14-
14 and then we gave up a
couple big plays. There’s
no excuse because it’s always
next man up, but we
had a lot of injuries that we
had to face tonight.”
The Spartans opened the
Glenbrook North versus Hoffman Estates
1 2 3 4 F
Glenbrook North 6 0 8 0 14
Hoffman Estates 0 14 7 21 42
Top Performers
1. Hoffman Estates offense
The Hawks’ offensive attack put together a series of
big plays and several game-changing third-down
conversions. The unit scored 35 of the team’s 42
points.
2. Avery Burow, WR
Six receptions, two touchdowns, 130 yards receiving
3. Grant Marino, RB
Completed a 63-yard pass on a Glenbrook North trick
play.
game’s scoring late in the
first quarter when quarterback
Dylan Buckner
capped off an impressive
drive with a 17-yard touchdown
pass to sophomore
Avery Burow, making the
score 6-0. North failed to
convert the extra point.
Hoffman Estates answered
North’s touchdown
drive with one of its own.
The Hawks’ quarterback
tossed an 11-yard touchdown
pass to make the
score 7-6 with 10:19 left in
the first half.
North’s next drive ended
in a punt, which gave
Hoffman a start to its drive
at its own 18-yard line. After
two first-down conversions,
North forced a turnover
on downs.
GBN’s ensuing drive
derailed after a penalty
on third down and set up
Hoffman with good starting
field position at its
own 42-yard line. The
Hawks scored four plays
into the drive on a 40-yard
touchdown pass with just
over two minutes left in
the half. The game entered
halftime with a 14-6 score.
The Spartans put together
their best drive of
the game to start the second
half, going 73 yards in
four minutes of game time.
Buckner finished the drive
with a 36-yard touchdown
strike again to Burow, his
second of the night. Buckner
and Burow again connected
for the two-point
conversion, evening the
score at 14.
But, in less than a minute
of game time, Hoffman
Estates put together a
three-play, 73-yard touchdown
drive of its own to
take a 21-14 lead.
Trailing by seven late
in the third quarter, the
Spartans dug into their bag
of tricks to catch the talented
Hawks’ defense off
guard. Buckner tossed a
screen pass to junior Grant
Marino in the backfield,
who then fired a pass to
a streaking Burow. The
play was good for 63 yards
and set up the Spartans at
Hoffman’s 23-yard line to
start the fourth. But, North
eventually turned the ball
over on downs.
From that point on, the
game was all Hoffman,
as the Hawks put together
another big drive and capitalized
on two North turnovers
to add on 21 fourthquarter
points.
Glenbrook North wide receiver Avery Burrow runs alone down the sideline en route
to one of his two touchdowns during a 42-14 loss for the Spartans against Hoffman
Estates on Friday, Sept. 7, in Northbrook. Carlos Alvarez/22nd Century Media
By game’s end, the
Spartans lost junior Andrew
Koulogeorge, and
seniors Owen Sybert and
Max Luc, among other key
players to injuries. Already
without two of its top players,
the class 6A semifinalists
from last season
overpowered a short-handed
North team.
“It was [a tougher task]
coming in to begin with because
two of our captains
and best players were out,”
Pieper said. “You take
Kieffer and Quayle off our
team and it’s a tough task
coming in, but that’s why
I’m so proud of them. We
were right there with them
I thought. Last year this
was a semi-finalist team
who had 11 wins last year.
So I thought we played as
hard as we could, I loved
our game plans on both
sides of the ball, it changes
when you have guys hurt
but I thought we played
pretty hard for like twoand-a-half
quarters.”
Quarterback Dylan Buckner looks to complete a pass.
The Spartans will next
travel to face Elk Grove
Friday, Sept. 14. The
matchup is the team’s last
nonconference game of the
year.
Injury Updates
Following the game,
Pieper provided updates
on some of the team’s injured
players.
Pieper said he expects
both Quayle and Kieffer
back for the Elk Grove
game. Luc, one of North’s
top players on defense,
should also return for the
Elk Grove game, Pieper
said.
Following the game,
GBN’s medical staff feared
Koulogeorge suffered a
broken collarbone against
Hoffman, but x-rays had
not yet been performed on
the receiver, Pieper said.
Sybert is likely to miss the
Elk Grove game with a
possible concussion.