Hilltoppers’ Brodner bounces Broncos
Junior RB’s two third-quarter TDs key Glenbard West
Barrington played a virtually perfect game for most of three quarters in establishing a two-touchdown advantage against host Glenbard West on Saturday.
One play changed everything.
Hilltoppers’ junior running back Sam Brodner broke around the right edge for a 41-yard touchdown. The Broncos immediately saw their lead slip away.
“Athletics and momentum are funny,” Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said. “They got it there and we couldn’t get it back.”
Brodner rushed for 173 yards and scored two touchdowns 91 seconds apart in the third quarter as Glenbard West rallied for a 28-21 victory in a Class 8A quarterfinal.
The No. 2 Hilltoppers (120) advanced to next week’s semifinals against topranked Stevenson.
Brodner altered the momentum of the game after junior quarterback Johnny Davidson and the Broncos’ opportunistic defense had built a stunning 21-7 lead at halftime.
Davidson completed 12 of 13 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns and added 73 yards rushing against a stout defense. The Hilltoppers entered not having conceded more than 15 points in a game.
Davidson connected with wideout Scott Miller on a 61-yard touchdown pass that broke a 7-7 deadlock and threw a 40-yard touchdown to Mitchell Pfeiffer late in the second quarter. Defensive end Jason Harris intercepted a deflected pass in the end zone for Barrington’s first score.
Brodner took charge late in the third quarter with the 41-yard touchdown on the Hilltoppers’ trademark jet sweep.
On the ensuing kickoff, special-teams standout Jeremy Pope recovered a fumble by the Broncos on the short kick at Barrington’s 27yard line.
Three plays later, Brodner punished the Broncos (10-2) on a 22-yard sweep around the left side with just over a minute to play in the third quarter.
‘‘That is not normally the way we start,’’ Brodner said. ‘‘We have been down before this year, but not like that.
‘‘We came out in the sec- ond half and executed. We ran the plays the way we are supposed to.”
After lineman Nico Gagliano recorded consecutive sacks of Davidson, Glenbard West engineered the gamewinning drive. Senior quarterback Kyle Kramer, who shook off three first-half interceptions, helped complete the comeback.
Two plays after Brodner went off tackle for eight yards on fourth down, Kramer threw a backside screen that running back Donahvon Vaughn finished for a 20-yard touchdown with 6:43 remaining.
‘‘I didn’t get rattled by the interceptions,’’ said Kramer, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns. “I knew there were people depending on me to help the team come back.”
Davidson marched the Broncos to the Hilltoppers’ 29. Miller was ruled out of bounds on a long pass that marked the only incompletion by Davidson. One play later, Glenbard West lineman Declan Ryan recovered fumble by Davidson.
‘‘Give credit to [Glenbard West],’’ Sanchez said. ‘‘They played very well in the second half, made a few more plays than we did and we were not able to finish on plays the way we did in the first half.’’