High school football: Riverside Brookfield heads to playoffs with best record since 2001

RIVERSIDE – Ryan Swift had a big game for Riverside Brookfield’s football team, and there was a simple explanation for it.

“I just follow our great O-line,” Swift said. “Most of the time I’m untouched and I’m just running. God’s blessed me with size and I use it.”

Swift, a senior, made things look easy in a 35-21 win against Glenbard South on Oct. 23. He rushed for 93 yards and four touchdowns, and his 20-yard touchdown pass to Dean Zigulich with 9:15 left put the Bulldogs ahead for good at 28-21.

Jake Campbell then recovered a fumble at the 9-yard line on the Raiders’ next play from scrimmage, which Swift turned into a clinching 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down.

The Bulldogs’ win was big on two fronts. Not only did it improve their playoff seeding as their record moved to 8-1 on the season (4-1 Metro Suburban West), but it gave them their highest regular-season win total since 2001 and avenged a first-round playoff loss to the Raiders last fall.

“We definitely remembered last year and how we finished,” Swift said. “And you don’t want to head into the playoffs losing. We played great scoring 35 points against a really good team.”

The Raiders’ Johnny LaPonte and RB’s Zigulich each had interceptions in the end zone, and RB’s Sam Kay blocked a punt.

Two of the Bulldogs scoring drives started inside the Raiders 10-yard-line, including one at the 1 after a dropped punt snap in the second quarter. A blocked punt set up another RB possession at the 19, but the Raiders forced a turnover on downs.

Glenbard South’s Tyler Carli returned from a six-week absence from a collarbone injury to start at quarterback and threw for 172 yards. The senior had a 7-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 14-14, capping a drive in which he had big completions to Javonis Hawkins (23 yards) and Peter Jeske (12 yards on fourth-and-9).

Carli’s return was spoiled when he left in the third with a potential reaggravation of the collarbone injury.

Sophomore Jack Crouch again ably filled the void.

Crouch ran for 66 yards on eight carries, including a 25-yard dash on his first carry and a 17-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 21-21. He also had a 45-yard pass to T.J. Springfloat.

“They were really just keying on [running back Sean] Cooke so I held the ball a few times and ran,” Crouch said. “It was a little scary [after Carli’s injury], but I knew what I needed to do. I needed to get it done and contribute to the team.”

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Week 10 matchup

Who: St. Ignatius at Riverside Brookfield

When: 7 p.m. Oct. 30

Where: 160 Ridgewood Road, Riverside

Records: St. Ignatius 5-4, RB 8-1

Outlook: The Bulldogs storm into the playoffs having won their last three games by an average of nearly 20 points per game. They are the No. 3 seed in the northern half of the 6A playoffs. The No. 14 Wolfpack's record is slightly deceiving as its four losses came against teams with a combined a 31-5 record. St. Ignatius topped a 6-2 DePaul Prep team 14-0 in Week 9 to get into the postseason and improved from a 1-8 record in 2014.