Young Tigers 'Didn't Capitalize' on Glenbard West Turnovers

A few days before Sunday morning’s nationally televised ESPN2 showdown at Red Grange Field opposite Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet said the Hilltoppers could ill afford to commit turnovers if they wanted to come out on top.

Well, Glenbard West coughed up the football four times. Yet the Hilltoppers prevailed, 21-7, and in the process, handed the Tigers their first loss in nearly two years.

What happened? Head coach Ron Muhitch’s club experienced difficulty taking care of the football, too, with three turnovers. And when the Tigers did have offensive opportunities, they weren’t able to cash in.

Trailing 7-0, the Tigers gained some much-needed momentum just before intermission when senior defensive back Grant Meyer recovered quarterback Justice Odom’s fumble on the WWS 1-yard line that thwarted a Glenbard West drive which would have put the Hilltoppers up by two touchdowns.

WWS appeared well on its way to getting back into the game after Odom fumbled in the backfield during the first play of the second half. Senior defensive end Mark Rooney scooped up the loose ball at around Glenbard West’s 12-yard line and barreled forward to the 5.

Here’s the sequence of plays that followed: First-and-goal from the 5—a 2-yard loss. Second-and-goal from the 7—a 1-yard gain. Third-and-goal from the 6—new WWS quarterback Thaddeus Armstrong scrambled four yards to the Hilltopper 2-yard line.

Then on fourth down, Glenbard West linebacker Andrew Larkin tripped senior running back Patrick Garner in the backfield. Garner’s momentum carried him forward, but Glenbard West unfortunately wrapped him up short of the goal line.

Afterward, head coach Ron Muhitch said if he had it to do all over again, he likely would have drawn up that fourth-down play differently, handing the ball off, instead, to Northwestern recruit Dan Vitale rather than have Vitale block on the play.

“But we still had a run-through,” Muhitch noted. “We had a linebacker (Larkin) run right through (the line). Patrick made a heckuva play. If he stayed on his feet, he might have scored there. Those are the what-ifs that we always face coaching kids that are young.”

Young Tigers

The 2011 Tigers are young, indeed. Although he's senior, Armstrong was more or less a backup last year at Ottawa High School, a team that made the Class 5A playoffs in 2010. Ryan Graham, who saw action in one series at quarterback on Sunday, is a sophomore. The entire offensive line is made up of juniors.

“I struggled to call a play today,” Muhitch said. “I really did because every play we called, somebody had a run-through or a scheme mistake. We practiced it, but to be honest, you can’t practice lack of experience. An all-junior line, a brand new quarterback and basically a brand new offense. I thought it showed.”

Joey Zito dove in from 2 yards out early in the fourth quarter to put the Hilltoppers ahead, 14-0. But midway through the fourth quarter, WWS did capitalize on Glenbard West’s third turnover of the second half—a fumble, recovered by Jack Lipinsky—to make things interesting.

Vitale (47 yards rushing, 25 yards receiving) sliced through the middle on a draw play and scored a 22-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 14-7. The Hilltoppers, however, dashed any hopes of a Tiger comeback as Avery Balogh ran for an 18-yard score with 1:45 left.

Balogh’s TD also was set up by a fumble … on the Tigers’ part.

“I was disappointed that we didn’t capitalize on our defense’s really strong effort today,” Muhitch said. “I thought our defense played really well. The first one (Glenbard West’s first touchdown) is on us offensively giving the ball up on a pick; they go down and score.”

Armstrong's Debut

Armstrong went 11 of 21 for 69 yards and threw two interceptions. The first pick, to which Muhitch referred, took place on WWS’ first offensive series of the game, leading to a 12-yard scoring pass from Odom to tight end Max Bruere.

“Give me Thaddeus with a senior offensive line and it’s a different ballgame,” Muhitch said. “Put Thaddeus with a junior offensive line and (it) is making mistake after mistake. We had so many run-throughs today. He just couldn’t handle the pressure, particularly in running out of the pocket. He just ran out of the pocket and made bad mistakes.

“Give credit to Glenbard. They play aggressively tough defense. Chad told me, ‘We’re not going to back off because you have a new quarterback.’ And that’s exactly what they should do, and that’s what they’re good at. Their D-line is very good and their linebackers blitzed a lot. We knew that was coming, and he (Armstrong) saw nothing but the blitz. That’s an experience problem, and hopefully you get better at what you do because of that.”

The Tigers’ last loss prior to Sunday took place during the second game of the 2009 season—ironically to Maine South, the defending Class 8A champion whom WWS visits Friday night. WWS defeated the Hawks in Week 2 last season during an ESPN televised contest.

Vitale is confident things will be better for the Tigers on Friday.

“I have full faith in our coaches, especially in getting us ready for this next game,” he said. “They really over-prepare us, and I have full faith that they’ll be able to get us ready in time. We have some younger guys, but they soak it all in pretty quick so I think we’ll definitely be ready for Maine South.”

Muhitch is hoping for a different result, as well.

“We sure had our chances as a unit (on Sunday), and we’ve got to be better than that,” he said. “Last year at the Hinsdale Central game (the Tigers’ 2010 season-opening foe), we won 28-7, and I guarantee you Reilly (O’Toole) was sacked nine times in that game. That was an offensive line put together for the first time, but they were all seniors. The next game (of 2010, vs. Maine South), we came back and we played better football. So that’s what needs to happen between now and Friday night.”