In its’ return to the postseason after a brief one-year hiatus, Glenbard West wanted to start off fast Saturday.

The Hilltoppers did that and much more.

Scoring eight touchdowns in the opening half, Glenbard West cruised to a 63-21 victory over Willowbrook in the opening round of the Class 7A playoffs at Duchon Field.

With the win, the Hilltoppers (9-1), who captured the outright West Suburban Silver Conference title, are set to host league counterpart Downers Grove North next weekend.

The two familiar foes squared off in Week 4 with Glenbard West prevailing 35-21, though Trojans’ quarterback and Minnesota-commit Owen Lansu did not play due to injury.

Jamarcus Kelly led the way against the Warriors, scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 103 yards on 15 carries in two quarters of action.

“Coach (Chad) Hetlet gave us some motivation,” said Kelly, who scored on runs of 2, 2, 25 and 11 yards. “He said it’s one week at a time and now that this game is over, we will turn our focus to Downers Grove North. We wanted to get outside and make their secondary tackle. They (Willowbrook) have a lot of good players but we just kept hitting the holes and wore them down on defense.

“I think what makes us special is our next play mentality. If we mess up, we will talk about it and what happened, but it’s on to the next play. And also, how physical we are.”

AJ Rayford tossed a pair of touchdown passes, a 29-yarder to Brady Johnson and a 45-yarder to Jaylen McMiller shortly before halftime. Rayford was 7 of 12 for 145 yards and Johnson caught three passes for 73 yards.

“I think we executed on offense pretty well,” Johnson said. “In the first half, we started hot which is great. But we have some things to work on because Downers Grove North is a great opponent. We know Coach Sigs (John Sigmund) will come in with a great game plan. We just have to execute like we did today.

“What’s great is how tight we are on offense, even outside of football. And it’s such a physical group. We have a lot of weapons with our running backs and wide receivers and you combine that with the physical way our O-line plays, that is what makes us tough.”

Max Hetlet had a 1-yard TD run and Bryce Ellens added a 3-yard score and tallied an interception on defense. Max Bakken rounded out the scoring with a 7-yard scamper in the third quarter.

Jayden Daniel also contributed a pair of sacks.

“I thought we executed well,” said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet, whose teams had reached the playoffs for 16 straight seasons before falling a win short last fall. “The offense started fast and the defense played well. They have a lot of skill on offense but we were able to keep it in check and get a solid lead.

“Downers Grove North is a super challenge for a second-round game, plus we played them already. They know us inside-and-out and we know them. It should be a great football game.”

Willowbrook (5-5), which was in the postseason for the ninth consecutive year, got a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Jahonise Reed. The senior, who threw for 153 yards, connected with Otis Powell for a 39-yard strike and Josiah Marlowe for a 36-yard score. Anthony Leo initially got the visitors on the board with a 2-yard TD run early in the second quarter.