by Roy Taylor, Sun Correspondent

When asked to think of a team that just can’t get over the hump in the postseason, most Chicago-area residents would think of the Cubs. Another team that hasn’t been able to get past the first round of the playoffs has been Glenbard West’s football squad, which advanced to the postseason but lost in its first game the past two years.

That history changed on Saturday, as the Hilltoppers defeated visiting Stagg 43-21 in the opening game of the class 7A playoffs in Glen Ellyn. .

Just a week ago, West pounded visiting Proviso West with a 248-yard rushing performance. Against Stagg, the Hilltoppers opened up their offense with the play-action pass as quarterback Ben Crookston threw for 253 yards and four touchdowns. .

While West’s passing game was the story of the day, running back Jeremiah Marks turned in his usual solid performance, rushing for 103 yards and a touchdown. .

“The play action passes were set up by having a pretty good run game, although we didn’t show what a good running team we are as it turned out,” West head coach John Karpowicz said. “We didn’t do anything different today. We have a lot of confidence in our passing game, but we like to run the football. They were geared up to stop our running game, which gave us some opportunities on the perimeter.” .

West turned the ball over on two Marks fumbles in its first three possessions, but Karpowicz kept utilizing the running back without losing faith. Although Stagg scored a touchdown after the first fumble, the Hilltoppers defense stood strong and didn’t allow the second miscue to result in points. .

West’s defense finished the game with three sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery. .

“They caught us on our heels a little bit on the first drive, but after that we were able to settle down and our defense did a nice job the rest of the game,” Karpowicz said. “Their quarterback (Joe Ganz) scared the heck out of us as we watched film this week. We wanted to keep him in the pocket and not blitz him a lot, which I believe we ended up doing successfully.” .

West started the game strong, then looked to be in trouble soon after. Ben Webster returned the opening Stagg kickoff 42 yards to the Chargers 42, then Marks gained 11 yards on the Hilltopper’s first play of the game. Marks fumbled at the end of the run, however, and Stagg recovered at their own 31. .

The Chargers then mounted an opening drive that looked ominous for West, taking the ball 69 yards on 11 plays and scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run by Ryan Blackwell. With 6:44 remaining in the first quarter, Stagg led 7-0. .

West answered Stagg’s score a little more than two minutes later. .

On its first three plays West gave Stagg a steady dose of Marks, then took to the air for the next two, ending with a 35-yard touchdown strike from Crookston to T.J. Haiges. That tied the score at 7 with four minutes left in the first quarter. .

West’s defense forced a Stagg punt on their next possession, but when the Hilltoppers took over on their own 20, Marks lost a yard and fumbled again, giving the ball back to the Chargers just 19 yards away from a go-ahead touchdown. .

With eight minutes remaining until halftime, the Hilltoppers began to put the game out of reach. On first-and-10 from their 20, Crookston faked a handoff and delivered a perfect bomb to Haiges, who raced 80 yards for a touchdown. West forced a Stagg punt on the Charger’s next possession, and when they got the ball back even more heroics ensued. .

On first-and-ten from their own 34, Marks took a pitch from Crookston then stumbled, avoided several defenders, and lofted a slightly short pass to Webster. The receiver then avoided several defenders and turned the play into a 66-yard score. .

In 26 seconds of possession, West scored 14 points and had pulled ahead of Stagg 21-7. .

West scored again before the end of the second quarter on a 14-yard pass from Crookston to Matt Rienks. .

The Hilltoppers looked to score seven more points before the break but had to settle for two on an odd play. Crookston first hit Haiges for a 34-yard gain, and West called timeout with first-and-goal at the 7. On third-and-goal with 4 seconds left, Crookston forced a pass into the end zone which was intercepted by Stagg’s Ganz. Ganz took the ball out of the endzone, then retreated back past the goal line where he was tackled for a safety. .

The Hilltoppers scored two more touchdowns on a 64-yard fly pattern to Webster and a 1-yard plunge from Marks. .

West travels to Downer’s Grove North for its next playoff matchup, and the Hilltoppers players and coaches are eager to try to avenge their earlier loss at the hands of the Trojans. .

“It was nice to get a home playoff win, and from here we’ll just take it week to week,” Karpowicz said. “Obviously, Downers North is a great football team. We’re very familiar with them, as they are with us, and I’m just hoping for nice weather and to play a good football game.” .

“We had an opportunity to get a win against them earlier in the season and didn’t take advantage of it,” said Haiges, who finished the game against Stagg with 164 yards on four receptions with two touchdowns. “Now we’re going to come back and hopefully get the victory.”