Galloping into tonight’s matchup against the 2-1 Maine West Warriors, the Rolling Meadows High School Mustangs are looking to maintain their perfect record before going into division play in week 5.

While the offense has certainly been rolling, the Mustang’s defense has been the glue that has held the team together thus far.

“It really has been great,” senior linebacker Kevin Haltman said. “I couldn’t be more proud of us. We come out with great energy and try to get everyone going right from the start. I can truly say this defense is something else- we play for each other and not for ourselves. I love each one of them as brothers and would do anything for them during football or out of it.”

This past week, senior defensive end Luis Robledo took just the second snap of the game 10 yards for a fumble return touchdown en route to a 48-14 blowout against Main East.

“I was supposed to get the running back if he cut inside, but instead, he ran outside,” said Robledo. “With three other guys in the area, our corner [junior Justin Masters] came down and tackled him, and somehow the ball came free. I just picked it up and started running, and before I knew it the crowd is screaming and all my teammates are celebrating with me.”

Even though defense is such an integral part of the game, it can often be overlooked since it’s not as glamorous as offense.  

“The defense is the backbone of our team, without them we simply can’t win,” senior quarterback Asher O’Hara said. “They have been playing so well lately that it has given the offense a tremendous boost in confidence.”

A big part of that defense has been senior linebacker Justin Thompson. Two weeks ago, in the season opener against Saint Viator, Thompson recorded a team-high five tackles, also adding a sack.

“I worked out with the team in the offseason and tried to get into better shape with the conditioning camp the team had,” Thompson said. “We did agility circuits consisting of grinders, time flips, 40 yard dashes, medicine ball tosses, and slalom drills and those got us into really good shape.”

The defense, through three games so far, has let up only 28 points and have held opponents to mere 99 yards of total rushing. To put that into perspective: senior Kevin Lacosse, who is picking up right where he left off last season, has 85, 145, and 50 yards (he was taken out in the first quarter because of a large lead) in three games so far.