Deerfield, down 14-0 at halftime and facing its second loss of the season, came to life in the second half Friday night against host Glenbrook North.
A 58-yard touchdown run by Bill Kerstein and two long scoring drives gave Deerfield (3-1) an 18-14 nonconference victory as it enters its Central Suburban League North Division season. Glenbrook North is 3-1.
”It`s a classic group of kids,” said Deerfield coach Paul Adams.
”We`ve been around a long time. We didn`t want to show any panic in the first half. I think it was just a great effort by a group of young men who refused to give up. It was just determination.”
It didn`t take long for Deerfield to get untracked in the third quarter. Kerstein`s long run was the first play of the second half.
Deerfield closed the gap to 14-12 on its next possession, the Warriors driving 58 yards in 10 plays. A key play was a 15-yard Glenbrook North penalty that moved the ball down to the Spartans` 33-yard line. Seven plays later, quarterback Phil Marks tossed 6-yard scoring pass to Andy Walvoord.
Britt Trukenbrod dropped what would have been a Deerfield touchdown pass later in the third quarter, but the Warriors went ahead on their next series. They put together a 13-play, 60-yard drive culminating with Marks` 2-yard TD run to make it 18-14 with 5 minutes 40 seconds left in the game.
Fullback Bill Bertram carried five times on the drive for 23 yards, and backfield mate Gerry Bauler added 22 yards on three carries.
”We won one half, and they won one half,” said Glenbrook North coach Sam Samorian. ”That`s all there was to it. The trouble was, they got a few more points than we did.
”We have to be a big-play team. We`re not as physical as they are. They`re Cadillacs and we`re Ford guys. They kept ramming Cadillacs in there and just wore us down. They physically beat us.”
Glenbrook North`s Brian Hallenborg returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. Then quarterback Paul Rogan put the Spartans ahead by two TDs with a 25-yard scoring run off the option with 3:19 left in the first quarter. ”We got off to a bad start,” Adams said. ”You can`t let a guy run 90 yards with the opening kickoff. That gets them up.
”This can`t do anything by help our ballclub. We may be in another situation in another game where adversity could happen, and they would know they could strike back.”
Despite the loss, Samorian was still hopeful about the Spartans` season.
”We start a new year next Friday night,” he said, referring to Glenbrook North`s opener in the Central Suburban League`s South Division against New Trier.
Deerfield, the Class 5A state runner-up last year, begins its CSL North season against Niles West next week.
