The Lyons Township football team knew that navigating through its “ranked teams triangle” of Stevenson, Downers Grove South and Glenbard West without a loss would be a tricky proposition. Downers South provided the first bump in the Lions’ perilous early schedule as the Lions fell 28-0 to the Mustangs on Friday night.
“It’s a huge disappointment and embarrassing,” LT coach Kurt Weinberg said about the West Suburban Conference crossover loss. “Downers South is a very good team, but we weren’t close to our best effort.”
The Mustangs scored a pair of touchdowns during a two-minute span of the first quarter to grab a 14-0 lead. After a poor LT punt, Downers South quarterback A.J. Simoncelli threw a 33-yard pass to wide receiver Kaylon Miller, placing the ball at the Lions’ 3-yard line. Running back John Wauer scored on the ensuing play to give the Mustangs a 7-0 lead with 6:24 left in the first quarter. Danny Leach added a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown minutes later.
Lyons (1-1) squandered a couple of opportunities to get back in the game. On a third-and-goal at the Downers South 7-yard line late in the second quarter, LT quarterback Connor Onion mishandled the ball which resulted in a turnover. Early in the fourth quarter, the Lions moved the ball down to South’s 1; however, senior running back Jaime Jones was turned back on fourth down.
Onion completed 18-of-39 passes for 254 yards, while wideout Rennick Thompson (7 catches, 96 yards) led the Lions’ deep receiving corps. Matt Harris and Jones each had four receptions for 59 yards. The Lions had more than 300 yards of total offense but couldn’t find the end zone.
Downers South running back Josh Williams (20 carries, 195 yards) sealed the Lions’ fate when he broke loose for a pair of touchdown runs in the last five minutes of the game. Matt Thomas and Billy Cramsie led the LT defense with six tackles apiece.
“Defensively, I thought we played pretty well,” Weinberg said. “Williams is one of the best running backs I’ve seen. It’s hard to contain a player like him the entire game.”
The Lions host Glenbard West on Friday (7:30 p.m.). Last year, LT upset the Hilltoppers 31-13 to earn a three-way share of the West Suburban (Silver) Conference title with Glenbard West and York.
“Glenbard West remembers what happened last year,” Weinberg said. “They are a great football team. We have to play better this week or it could get ugly.”
