Downers Grove North junior Baker Glomb spent four quarters Saturday sweating it out between the tackles at linebacker.

Game on the line, he put on his other hat. Glomb is also the Trojans’ kicker.

He proved up to the task.

Glomb drilled a 22-yard field goal as time expired, as Downers Grove North pulled out an 11-8 win over Morgan Park at Gately Stadium in Chicago.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” Glomb said. “I was playing my butt off the whole game at linebacker. Had to come in there and do the job and be there for my team.”

Glomb had little time to process his thoughts before the kick. Downers Grove North burned its last timeout following a running play on first-and-goal.

As the seconds ticked off after Owen Lansu’s completed pass to Max Troha, Glomb and the kicking unit quickly rushed on the field.

The kick was true.

“We practice that kick in practice all the time. I was ready for it,” Glomb said. “I feel like I’m in my own world at that moment. Linebacker, you have to pay attention to everything else around you. But when I was kicking I just pay attention to myself, stay poised and make the kick.”

Downers Grove North started the game’s last drive at its 41-yard line with 4:25 left after Joe Lasota pressured Morgan Park quarterback Ronald Smith to force a fourth-down incompletion.

Lansu, who struggled to get into rhythm for much of the day, found it late.

Downers Grove North’s senior quarterback and Minnesota recruit completed 7 of his 9 passes on the final drive with third-down conversions to Troha and Jacob Vroman.

“At the end of the day, it boiled down to we had a group of guys we were finally able to get on the field that were healthy, put something together cohesive,” said Lansu, 11 of 26 for 116 yards for the game. “Once we got the ball moving we were OK.”

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Downers Grove North at Morgan Park Downers Grove North's Connor Crowley (21) celebrates a defensive stop during football game between Downers Grove North at Morgan Park Saturday, Aug 30, 2025 in Chicago. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local)

Lansu’s first two completions of the drive, and three total, went to Illinois recruit Will Vala. The senior tight end, who plays both ways, only had one catch before the final drive.

“Get it to the kid who has a scholarship to Illinois is a good call,” Downers Grove North coach Joe Horeni said. “He was playing a lot of defense.”

Lansu and Vala are two of three Big Ten recruits on the roster, Purdue-bound lineman Aiden Solecki the third, on a Downers Grove North team with high expectations.

The Trojans, coming off a quarterfinal appearance, were co-No. 1s with Batavia in the preseason Associated Press Class 7A poll.

But Morgan Park was a tough matchup out of the chute.

The Mustangs were able to control possession in a low-scoring game behind a massive offensive line. William Smith’s 64-yard touchdown run in the first minute of the second quarter gave Morgan Park an 8-0 lead.

Lansu, one of the state’s top quarterbacks, misfired on eight of his first 10 attempts with an interception. One of his top targets, Oliver Thulin, had to leave on a couple of occasions with apparent cramps.

Morgan Park was in part a mystery to Horeni, but he did know its defense had 6-foot-7, 250-pound edge Carmelow Reed, a Mississippi commit and transfer from Rich Township.

Downers Grove North was finally able to get on the board in the final minute of the first half on Kevin Jay’s 2-yard TD run. Lansu’s conversion pass to Thulin tied it.

“They’re very talented,” Horeni said of Morgan Park. “I thought the size would be there. Defensively they were just really tough up front. We had to manipulate ways to find a way to move the ball.”

Horeni’s own defense, meanwhile, bent but didn’t break.

Elijah Lewis stuffed a fourth-and-goal run to turn away a Morgan Park 14-play drive that ate up half of the third quarter. Lasota’s big play set the stage for the final drive.

The Trojans also held Morgan Park receiver Nasir Rankin, a four-star Illinois recruit, to two catches for minus 1 yard.

“With the dynamic guys they have on offense our kids toughed it out, a lot of guys playing both ways,” Horeni said. “Proud of our guys.”

Guys like Glomb, who played soccer growing up and latched on as a kicker in eighth grade when his football team had the need.

“Baker is a junior who we have known about for a long time that can kick the ball,” Horeni said. “Why not have a good time to do it at the end?”

A good time, and a good win to get.

“I know we have a lot of returning starters but we have a lot of stuff throwing at new guys,” Lansu said. “Week 1 against a good team, for us not a good matchup, we’re lucky to get out of here with a win and move on to the next.”