The Lyons Township football team wanted to set the tone by scoring on its opening possession against Oak Park.
On the contrary, the opportunistic Huskies recovered an LT fumble during the first play from scrimmage and never looked back en route to a 35-31 upset win Friday at Bennett Field.
Three plays after the Lions’ miscue, Oak Park running back Tony Stapleton (45 carries, 264 yards) scored on a 13-yard run to put the Huskies up 7-0 at the 10:52 mark of the opening quarter.
“We won the toss, took the ball and wanted to score,” LT coach Kurt Weinberg. “We have scored a lot of points this year, but we haven’t scored on our first possession. Giving up the ball on our first play was obviously a killer.”
Oak Park surged to a 21-6 lead courtesy of a Stapleton 1-yard touchdown plunge and Darnell Lee’s 96-yard touchdown kickoff return. The Lions got on the scoreboard when quarterback Ryan Mitchell broke free for a 47-yard scamper into the end zone, making the score 14-6 with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Mitchell rolled right and threw a 31-yard strike to Keenan Deer, cutting the Huskies’ advantage to 21-13. Oak Park responded with an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped by Stapleton’s 3-yard run to make it 28-13 with 6:24 left until halftime.
Lyons (3-2, 1-2 West Suburban Silver) struck back when Nic Brown (7 carries, 95 yards) scored on an 11-yard run to pull the Lions within 28-19 at the 4:05 mark. After an Oak Park (2-3, 1-2) turnover allowed LT to take over at the Huskies’ 11, Mitchell pushed his way to pay dirt on a 1-yard run, closing the first-half scoring at 28-25. Lyons and Oak Park scored on six straight possessions during the entertaining first half.
“Oak Park had a sense of urgency and we did, too,” Brown said. “It was just a shootout.”
Mitchell, an elusive dual threat, finished 6-for-11 with 113 yards passing and nine rushes for 114 yards.
“I think we’ve proven we can run the heck out of the ball and move it offensively,” Weinberg said. “Our defense stepped up in the second half and got some stops. We just didn’t get it done.”
Stapleton scored his fourth touchdown on a 13-yard run, extending the Huskies’ lead to 35-25 with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
“I have to give my [offensive] line a lot of credit,” he said. “They allowed a lot of good lanes and cutbacks, and I just kept on running hard.”
The Lions stayed within striking distance when Brown raced 50 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-31 late in the third quarter. But the LT offense stalled in the fourth quarter with a pair of turnovers.
