York 21
Lyons 20
Other than a 33-7 setback against powerful Hinsdale Central, the Lyons Township football team’s other three losses are by a combined 10 points.
York captured a 21-20 victory over the hard-luck Lions on Friday in Western Springs. Tied at 14-14 midway though the fourth quarter, LT (1-4, 1-2 West Suburban Silver) seized the lead on quarterback Ryan Mitchell’s 32-yard touchdown run with 3:32 remaining. The Lions missed the extra point though, holding on to a 20-14 advantage.
For the fourth time this season, the resilient Dukes (4-1, 2-1) came back to pull out a victory; this time at the expense of the Lions. Quarterback Tom Judge (14-for-30, 220 yards) threw a 26-yard pass to Andrew Johnson (6 catches, 105 yards) who raced into the end zone to square the score at 20-20 with 3:32 remaining. Don Johnson nailed the extra point to provide York its final winning margin.
“Through the course of the season, I think we have shot off all 10 of our toes,” said LT coach Jack Derning. “We had over 300 yards [on offense] and our defense played hard, but giving up big plays at inopportune times killed us. We miss an extra point and had two fumbles to stall drives. We’ve been in every game, but we just can’t afford to put the ball on the ground.”
Similar to earlier losses against Sandburg and Proviso East, the Lions gained early momentum against York when Mitchell (17 carries, 230 yards) broke loose for a 42-yard run that lifted LT to a 7-0 lead with 2:32 left in the first quarter. York evened the score at 7-7 when Judge connected on a 20-yard pass to Zach Preuss in the third quarter. Lyons responded with a scoring drive of its own, capped off on a 2-yard touchdown run from Nick Brown (13 carries, 55 yards).
Amazingly, the Dukes struck back 35 seconds later on an 80-yard run from Judge, who amassed 145 yards rushing, to tie the game once again at 14-14.
The LT defense turned in a relatively solid effort, particularly along the line, which collected five sacks. Rafal Redlinski and Jack Piecuch had two sacks apiece and Pat Thomas also sacked Judge.
“We have to be positive with the kids,” Derning said. “They are feeling bad enough for all of us. It just seems like the football gods haven’t been with us this season.”