NT_092018

52 | September 20, 2018 | The Northbrook tower Sports
northbrooktower.com
football
Second-half surge leads Glenbrook North past Elk Grove
Martin Carlino, Editor
Glenbrook north VS. elk grove
1 2 3 4 F
Glenbrook North 0 10 7 14 31
Elk Grove 7 0 0 7 14
Top Performers
1. Grant Marino, RB
162 yards rushing, two touchdowns
2. Alex Borczyk, DL
11 tackles, 3 sacks and one forced fumble.
3. Michael Weingardt, DL
7 tackles, one sack and a fumble recovery.
Glenbrook North’s
Week 4 matchup against
the Elk Grove Grenadiers
truly was a tale of two
halves.
After Elk Grove put
together a dominant 82-
yard touchdown drive on
its first possession of the
game, it looked like the
makings of a long night for
the visiting Spartans.
But, a forced fumble in
the second quarter — recovered
by senior defensive
leader Michael Weingardt
— gave the Spartans
their first opportunity to
capitalize on an Elk Grove
turnover.
North followed the fumble
recovery with a 17-
yard touchdown run from
junior Grant Marino, tying
the game at seven.
An Andrew Pollina field
goal in the waning seconds
of the second quarter
closed out the first. The
Spartans entered the half
with a 10-7 lead.
GBN went on to dominate
the game’s final two
quarters by scoring 21
points en route to a 31-14
victory over Elk Grove
on Friday, Sept. 14, in Elk
Grove.
“I would say tonight was
a tale of two halves,” GBN
head coach Bob Pieper
said. “We were killing
ourselves with mistakes
in the first two halves but
… everything we told the
guys at halftime, we fixed
at halftime. … The coordinators
did a nice job with
adjusting and putting some
new stuff in and adjusting
some of our schemes at
halftime.”
The game’s second half
opened with the teams
trading unsuccessful
drives. But the game’s momentum
shifted when Elk
Grove fumbled the ball on
a Spartan punt attempt.
North recovered the ball
at Elk Grove’s 10-yard line
and scored one play later
on another touchdown run
from Marino, giving GBN
a 17-7 lead.
The Elk Grove turnover
was the second GBN
forced on the night, both of
which resulted in Spartan
scores.
“Those were huge for
us,” said Weingardt of the
turnovers. “Everyone on
our defense played great
tonight. The whole defensive
line, linebackers and
defensive backs played an
insane game.”
The Spartans put the
game on ice late in the
fourth quarter when quarterback
Dylan Buckner
delivered a 43-yard strike
to returning senior captain
Ben Kieffer to make the
score 31-14.
“What I saw from our
team tonight is that we
came out complacent but
then in the second half the
energy picked up and our
team picked up,” Kieffer
said. “If we play like we
did in the second half, we
shouldn’t lose a game in
conference.”
The Spartans head into
conference play sporting
a 3-1 record. North
will open its conference
schedule next week on the
road against last year’s
conference co-champion
Maine West. The Warriors
dropped their first game of
the season in Week 4.
“Everybody is 0-0, but
Maine West and Highland
Park tied for the conference
championship last
year, so for a long time we
were the hunted and now I
guess we become the hunters
because we’re trying to
knock them off the top of
that hill,” Pieper said.
Marino thriving in lead
back role
Grant Marino has made
quite the impact at the varsity
level through the first
four games of the season.
The junior running back
put together his best game
of the season in Glenbrook
North’s Week 4 win
against Elk Grove, rushing
for 162 yards on 33
attempts. Marino has already
scored seven touchdowns
and rushed for 377
yards on the season.
“I thought Grant ran
the ball really hard tonight,”
said head coach
Bob Pieper after the Elk
Grove game. “It was one
of his best games as a varsity
running back. He ran
really hard. ... He didn’t let
a lot of one-man tackles.
Junior Grant Marino accelerates into Elk Grove territory after breaking a tackle.
Marino finished the game with two touchdowns as the Spartans defeated Elk Grove
31-14 on Friday, Sept. 14, in Elk Grove. Photos by Carlos Alvarez/22nd Century Media
There were two or three
guys tackling him when he
went down.”
After a one-week absence
from the end zone,
Marino scored twice in
Week 4, helping lead
GBN’s offense to 31 total
points.
“It felt great (scoring
again),” Marino joked after
the game.
Marino credits his first
score of the night to the
work of his offensive line.
“That 17-yard [touchdown]
run can go all to
Nick Mantas,” Marino
said. “Every single part of
it. I ran right off of him. He
put someone on the ground
and I just ran right off of
that.”
Alex Borczyk sacks Elk Grove’s quarterback, causing a
fumble that was recovered by the Spartans.
Injury updates
Several key Glenbrook
North players returned to
action in Week 4.
Kieffer, who missed
North’s Week 3 matchup
against Hoffman Estates,
caught three passes for 53
against Elk Grove.
“Getting back in the
game felt amazing,” Kieffer
said.
The return of the senior
leader, who delivers an
impact on both sides of the
ball, was a welcomed sight
for the Spartans.
“He’s one of the leaders
on our team,” Pieper said.
“We have to stay healthy,
that’s the key and keep
these guys going. Hopefully
we get one or two
back next week.”
Senior Max Luc also
returned to action after an
early exit due to injury in
Week 3.
North was once again
without senior captain
Ethan Quayle. Pieper
hopes to have Quayle
back in his arsenal for next
week’s clash with Maine
West.
“He’s getting closer ...
we hope to have him back
next week,” Pieper said.
The Spartans did get
some bad news regarding
junior Andrew Koulogeroge.
The junior wide
receiver suffered a broken
clavicle against Hoffman
Estates and will be out for
the rest of the season.