[singlepic id=2318 w=320 h=240 float=left]It was slightly chilly when the fans finally left Basrak field around 10:30 last Friday night, but the cold didn’t matter. No one noticed the cold as they rejoiced in the warm glow of (the new field lights, and) the Niles West football team’s first victory.
Niles West won their season opener (for the first time since 2003) against Westinghouse 49-20 on the heels of a monster game by junior Jake Glotzer ( 116 yards on 14 carries), and eight interceptions thrown by the opposition.
Head coach Scott Baum said that he was happy with the win, but that the team still had room to improve.
“A win is a win. It’s definitely something we wanted to do,” he said. “I think it’s the first time we’ve won the opener since 2003. I feel we played well, but we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
The game started off slow for the Wolves who were burned on an 86-yard touchdown pass by Westinghouse Quarterback Eugenio Dejesus, and failed to capitalize on both a blocked punt recovered at the Westinghouse 24, and an interception by junior Anthony Underwood at midfield.
The Wolves (who were down 7-6 after the first quarter) began to turn it around after the opening quarter of play. They led by two (14-12) at the half, and began to pull away almost as soon as the second half started.
The second half was full of Niles West scoring, junior starting Quarterback Mike McGivern had two QB sneak touchdowns, and both Underwood and junior Tommy Williams had interception returns for touchdowns.
Niles West’s extremely young team also had offensive contributions from sophomore Nick Johnson (who scored on an eight-yard pass from MiGivern), and Glotzer who ran for more than half of the teams total yards, and a 35-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
The biggest story of the game was the Niles West defense. After giving up one long touchdown pass to Westinghouse, the Wolves had five different players (Williams, Glotzer, Underwood, and seniors Aladin Bihorac and Andrew Sandiego) record interceptions, which kept the Westinghouse offense in check the rest of the game.
