After spending the first three weeks of the season away from Oak Park Stadium, the Oak Park and River Forest High School football team played its home opener against Lyons Township High School on Sept. 16.
The Huskies led early, but two costly turnovers in the second quarter turned the tide for good as the Lions rolled off 31 consecutive points en route to a 38-13 West Suburban Conference Silver Division victory.
In the first quarter, OPRF quarterback Jack Gooch (11-of-22, 99 yards, 2 INT) tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Martin — the eighth time this year that the duo has connected for a score.
However, late in the second quarter, fumbles by Eric Evans and Gooch on consecutive possessions swung the momentum towards LTHS. Gifted short fields, Lions quarterback Ryan Jackson threw touchdown passes of 7 and 10 yards to give LTHS a 17-7 halftime lead.
Two more scores by the Lions (4-0, 2-0) in the third quarter put the game away. Lemer Burnett had a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Huskies (2-2, 0-2).
OPRF was held to 187 yards of total offense. Evans led the Huskies in both rushing (11 carries, 82 yards) and receiving (3 catches, 38 yards). On defense, Sam Gray had a team-high 11 tackles, including two resulting in losses.
The Huskies will try to get back into the win column Sept. 23 when they visit Hinsdale Central.
