The Glenbrook North football team’s last postseason victory came in 2007 against Fenwick in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs. Since then, the Spartans have lost in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Tenth-seeded Glenbrook North extended its postseason drought to five games with a 60-59 double-overtime loss to 23rd-seeded Bradley-Bourbonnais in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs on Friday, Oct. 30, in Northbrook. However, Spartans senior Nick Karis was proud of his team in defeat.
“I really don’t think this game was lost,” he said. “I think we played our hearts out. I can’t ask for anything else. Sure there were some things here and there where some guys made mistakes, but that’s going to happen. It happens with every team, so I don’t think this game was lost at any point and everyone left it all out on the field. In my mind, this season as a whole was a complete victory and changed my life and will forever change my life.”
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Without Glenbrook North junior TJ Weinzimmer’s two fourth-quarter touchdown catches (59 and 9 yards), the Spartans (8-2) may have lost the game in regulation.
“TJ played a hell of a game today of course,” Karis said. “He’s unbelievable just like the whole receiving corps is. TJ played his butt off and made insane catches for us, which is awesome.”
Weinzimmer’s 59-yard touchdown grab and Mitch Schermerhorn’s 2-yard conversion run put the Spartans on top 38-31 with 9:08 left in regulation. However, the Boilermakers took a 45-38 advantage with 1:58 remaining in regulation thanks to two consecutive scores — a 13-yard Colin BeDell touchdown catch and a 57-yard Camron Harrell touchdown run. Glenbrook North’s two-minute drill ended with a Weinzimmer 9-yard touchdown catch. That tied the score at 45 and sent the game to overtime.
“We had actually never done a two-minute drill before, so I had a lot of fun doing it,” Glenbrook North junior quarterback Kevin Burnside said. “I could have thrown the ball a little bit better, but the line picked up blitzes well and everything worked well on that drive and that’s how we were able to come back and put it into overtime. We went on the field and we knew we were going to score from the start.”
An 8-yard Donnie Ringo touchdown run for the Boilermakers (7-3) and a 5-yard Karis touchdown catch sent the contest into a second extra session. A 10-yard Karis touchdown run put the Spartans back on top, 59-52, but a 3-yard Harrell touchdown run and Davin Senesac’s 2-point conversion catch ended the Spartans’ season.
“I think they knew if we went to a third overtime that we would have beaten them, so I don’t think they had the juice left, so they just went for it all on one play,” Burnside said.
The Spartans failed to hold onto a 16-point lead early in the third quarter. Glenbrook North was in front 30-14 less than a minute into the second half, but the Boilermakers recorded 17 unanswered points to take their first lead of the contest at 31-30. Harrell scored two rushing touchdowns (3 and 71 yards) and Joshua Lazaro added a 20-yard field goal during the run.
Despite the loss, Glenbrook North coach Bob Pieper was happy with the team’s record and Central Suburban North championship. A year ago, the Spartans finished 4-5 and did not qualifying for the playoffs.
“This one game’s not going to define our season,” he said. “They were 8-2 and they won conference and went undefeated in conference and made the playoffs and it was a great exciting game in the playoffs. They have a lot to be proud of.”
Todd Marver is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.