by Roy Taylor, Daily Herald Correspondent

Glenbard South quarterback Tim O’Shea and his offense executed a second-quarter option fake so precisely, it may have been the fourth period before opposing Yorkville football players—and the crowd—realized exactly what happened.

O’Shea’s resulting 50-yard touchdown run brought the trailing Raiders within one point of host Yorkville. And after scoring 30 more unanswered points, Glenbard South (2-5, 2-3 Western Sun Conference) defeated Yorkville (2-5, 1-4) 40-14.

“That’s just our offense executing the way it should,” O’Shea said of the play. “It’s a read play, so if the guy I’m reading comes in, I’ll pull it out and run. Sometimes we suck in the whole defense and that’s almost what happened this time.”

O’Shea and the Raiders trailed 7-0 in the second quarter until his touchdown run brought his team to within one point. Then on the following possession, O’Shea hit a streaking Will Hill for a 46-yard touchdown pass, putting Glenbard South up 12-7 at halftime.

Aside from the two touchdowns, the Raider offense struggled in the first half. They punted twice, turned the ball over and had a drive stall on successive long penalties. In the second half O’Shea’s unit rebounded, scoring 4 unanswered touchdowns in dominating fashion both in the air on the ground.

“We didn’t have our timing down in the first half, and for whatever reason in the second we were able to hook up on the passes instead of missing guys short and long,” O’Shea said.

O’Shea finished his impressive outing with 108 passing yards and 165 on the ground.

After intermission, the Raiders scored four touchdowns rushing. Two of them came from Nick Summers, who rushed for 144 yards on 9 carries. O’Shea added a second touchdown run, as did Mike Klich.

“I haven’t gotten the ball that much this year, so it was nice. But getting a win was better,” Summers said. Commenting on his team’s rebound following last week’s loss to Kaneland, he said “We definitely needed a win this week, and this boosts our confidence.”

Glenbard South head coach Dan Starkey reflected on the second-quarter turnaround. “We struggled both offensively and defensively in the first quarter, but especially the defense rebounded. We had some key stops, and our special teams pulled off a fake punt that was real critical,” he said.

“This is a sign of a real mature team when the offense or defense can pick up the slack for the other when needed. We feel like we’re a real good team, and we just have to go out these last few weeks and prove it,” he added.