by Roy Taylor, Sun Correspondent

Glenbard South coach Jerry Barton was concerned about Friday’s weather prior to the Raiders’ game with visiting Sycamore. Barton was afraid the field would turn into a quagmire if it rained all day, which is exactly what happened. The messy conditions ended up benefiting South, as its dominating running game sparked a 52-8 defeat of Sycamore.

The Raiders controlled the game from start to finish, rushing for 318 yards along the way. The South ground game was led by Eric Seals, who picked up 103 yards and three touchdowns. Eric Chin added 70 yards and a score, while quarterback T O’Shea passed when necessary, completing five of 16 attempts for 121 yards.

“We have some things to correct, but I’m real happy about how our kids played tonight,” Barton said. “On the other side, those guys never quit and they’ll be fine.”

The Raiders opened the scoring on their first drive of the evening when Seals dove into the end zone from the 2-yard line. The touchdown was set up by three punishing runs by Chin, the Raiders fullback, which was all a part of Barton’s plan.

“Seals did a fantastic job tonight, but at the same time you need to talk about Eric Chin,” Barton said. “We knew we had to get Chin established to open things up for Seals and Holland. We did, and it worked.”

Following the Seals touchdown run, the teams traded punts, then South’s defense helf Sycamore at its 8-yard line for three plays. On the punt attempt that followed, the snap sailed out of the end zone, giving South a safety and an 8-0 lead with 4 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the first period.

“I knew we were going to have an offense that would score points, but I’m really happy about the way our defenders have been playing,” Barton said. “This is the best game they’ve had all year.”

After the safety South regained possession at its 47. Facing a second-and-10, O’Shea hit tight end Tom Neckopulos for a 26-yard game over the middle. Two plays later, Seals dazzled the crowd with a 25-yard touchdown dart to make the score 14-0. On that play, O’Shea faked a handoff to the fullback on the right, then handed left to Seals, who seemed to be in his second gear before the Sycamore defenders saw he had the ball.

Kicker Andy Wernicke missed his second extra point of the night-this one blocked-and the score was 14-0.

In the second quarter, the Raiders score 17 more points. The first six were earned on Seals’ second scoring run on an 11-yard sweep. Two possessions later, O’Shea hit Lee McGinnis on a perfect fly pattern down the right sideline for a 54-yard score. “Our game was so successful, Sycamore started putting nine in the box,” Barton said. “When they did that, we went up top to Lee for the score.”

During the final 4:36 of the first half, both teams exchanged several punts, and with 11 seconds remaining, Kevin Nielsen recovered a Sycamore fumble at the Spartans’ 30. Wernicke was sent in to attempt a 47-yard field goal on the half’s final play. Despite a steady wind, mist and poor field conditions, Wernicke’s kick was good.

Barton said he didn’t have any doubt in his mind about putting his kicker out there.

“He does this every day in practice; he’s fantastic,” Barton said.

Wernicke said he has “hit 57-yarders in practice, but wouldn’t be able to do it in the game without excellent snappers and holders.”

Sycamore scored its only touchdown with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter on a 7-yard pass from Aaron Campuzano to Cruz Loptien. In addition to getting on the board, the Spartans held South scoreless in that period.

But the Raiders added three more touchdowns in the final 12 minutes. Chin scored his touchdown on a 5-yard run, then Tom Minser plunged in from 5 yards out. Minser’s touchdown came one play after he intercepted Campuzano and returned the ball 39 yards.

On its second-to-last possession, South intended to run down the clock when it inserted Steve Jurkovic at quarterback, but Jurkovic scored on an 82-yard option sweep the first time he touched the ball.

Although pleased with the dominant win, Barton doesn’t expect his next opponent, Geneva, to be impressed.

“Geneva has a great team, and they’re going to come after us,” he said. “They’re not going to be intimidated by this.”