Donato Gatses has no quit in him.

Glenbard North‘s talented senior running back carried the ball 34 times for 264 yards and scored five touchdowns during the Panthers’ 39-20 DuKane Conference victory over Wheaton North Friday night in Carol Stream.

Bounding back from last weekend’s loss to St. Charles North, the playoff-bound Panthers improved to 6-3 overall, 4-3 in the DuKane.

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow night (when the IHSA playoff pairings are announced),” Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens said about the importance of the win. “Just for momentum sake, it was important coming off last week.”

Trailing 14-12 at halftime, the Panthers found the end zone on their first four second-half possessions to seize control.

Quarterback Kyle Melody (16 of 19, 156 yards, two TDs) tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Zechariah Morris (six catches, 65 yards), capping an 8-play, 70-yard drive, as the Panthers took the lead for good, 18-14 early in the third quarter.

Following a 3-and-out defensive series, Glenbard added to its lead when Gatses scored on a 9-yard run to extend the margin to 25-14 with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons narrowed the gap to 25-20 on Burke Neibch’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Kading (4 catches, 101 yards) late in the third quarter.

Glenbard North put the game out of reach with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Gatses raced around the left side for a 29-yard score to make it 32-20, and linebacker Zach Hvorcik’s interception helped set up Gatses’ 5-yard touchdown run off a direct snap to close out the scoring.

“Donato (Gatses), our offensive line, and Zach (Morris) on the perimeter all did a great job,” said Wilkens. “Offensively, we were better tonight. We passed the ball and we ran the ball well.”

Gatses praised the play of his offensive line — tight end Tyler Hvorcik, linemen Daniel Mahoney, John Kramaric, Mason Bebar, Michal Borzymowski, Wrigley Zamora, and fullback Lucas Kramer.

“I have nothing without my offensive line,” said Gatses, who also caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Melody in the second quarter. “They had five touchdowns today as much as I did.”

“Our offensive line got better tonight,” said Wilkens. “We’ve got a couple juniors out there, and they all played very well against a quality defense.”

Kayden Smith added an interception, as the Panthers’ defense limited the Falcons (3-6, 2-5) to 162 yards of total offense.

“Our defense did a great job against one of the best offensive lines we’ve seen this year, and their running back (Max Serbick) is a stud,” said Wilkens. “It’s a great win to end the regular season going into the playoffs.”

Serbick (22 carries, 52 yards) scored a pair of short-yardage touchdowns and kicked a pair of extra points for the Falcons, who lost senior starting quarterback Jake Johnson to an upper body injury in Week 2.

“It’s rough because we put in so much work,” Serbick said of his high school finale. “It’s a bad feeling.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251024/article/gatses-rushes-for-254-yards-5-tds-in-glenbard-norths-win-over-wheaton-north/