If anyone got up from their seat during the first half of Friday’s Class 7A first-round game between Glenbard East and West Chicago in Lombard, they might have missed at least one scoring barrage from the hosts.

The Rams had multiple touchdowns in less than a minute twice over the first two quarters, propelling them to a 63-29 win that will allow them to face Batavia in the second round.

The scoring began when Glenbard East (9-1) took advantage of a botched handle on a would-be punt by West Chicago (5-5) that ended its first possession. Michael Nee (268 yards on 12-of-22 passing) immediately fired a 32-yard touchdown pass to Muhammad Musleh (107 yards on three receptions).

It took only 51 seconds for the Rams to score again. Right after Sam Walton recovered a fumble, Nee hit Musleh for another touchdown from 48 yards out.

“Felt great after the first throw,” Nee said. “And from there on, it was just nice to keep getting completions there and not put them away early but kind of jump on them and pounce on them.”

Nee found Henry Benka for a 17-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. Donovan Brooks then promptly picked off Carter Naranjo at the line of scrimmage for a 20-yard interception return to the end zone.

Walton again recovered a Zolota fumble, and Nee threw to Lucas Freese (126 yards on six receptions) for a 24-yard touchdown. That made it the third Rams touchdown in 25 seconds, increasing their lead to 35-0.

Kedrick Dennis (114 yards on 18 carries) scored the Rams’ final touchdown of the first half on a 17-yard run before reaching the end zone twice more in the second half.

“Our guys are battle-tested,” Glenbard East coach John Walters said. “We’re used to playing in tough and tight games, so we stayed together and just did what we needed to do to win.”

Despite the large deficit, Naranjo refused to fold. While running for 180 yards on 27 carries, he made Glenbard East sweat a bit with four rushing touchdowns from 11, 23, 26 and 16 yards out. This allowed West Chicago to avoid the running clock.

Naranjo’s personal scoring blitz was not nearly enough to overcome the Wildcats’ four lost fumbles, one of which came from him in the third quarter. That one was recovered in the end zone by the Rams’ David Salgado for another Rams touchdown.

“When you’re in the playoffs, you can’t turn the ball over,” West Chicago coach Adam Chavez said. “It doesn’t matter. Playoff football — everybody’s good. Big plays are really what sealed our fate tonight.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251031/prep-football/glenbard-easts-multiple-scoring-bursts-sinks-west-chicago/