The Lyons Township High School football team once again took another West Suburban Conference Silver Division frontrunner to the brink on Oct. 15.
The Lions scored first and regained the lead again in the second quarter before host Glenbard West scored three unanswered touchdowns to prevail 28-20.
The Lions (6-2, 3-2 in Silver) finish the regular season at home at noon on Oct. 22 battling for third in the WSC Silver against Downers Grove North (6-2, 3-2), which also challenged the Hilltoppers (7-1, 4-1) and first-place York (8-0, 5-0). The Lions lost to York 27-14 on Sept. 24.
Only 3:06 into the game against Glenbard West, Danny Pasko scored on a 4-yard run to put the Lions ahead 6-0. The extra point was unsuccessful.
Quarterback Ryan Jackson and Graham Smith then connected on an 8-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter for a 12-6 lead after the two-point conversion failed.
Glenbard West pulled ahead 14-12 by halftime and scored twice in the third quarter for a 28-12 advantage. With 3:09 left, Pasko scored on a 2-yard run and Jackson passed to Nico Henley for the two-point conversion.
Jackson was 20 for 30 passing for 180 yards with Travis Stamm (8 catches, 74 yards) and Smith (6 catches, 56 yards) the top receivers. Jack Cheney rushed for a team-best 25 yards on seven carries.
Pasko also had 13 tackles at linebacker. Other defensive leaders were James Georgelos (10 tackles), Eddie Tuerk (7 tackles, one for loss), Cooper King (6 tackles, tackle for loss) and Jack Falls (2 tackles for loss).
LTHS cross country
The state-ranked LTHS girls were third (79) and the state-ranked boys fourth (71) at the WSC Silver Meet on Oct. 15 at Katherine Legge Memorial Park in Hinsdale. LTHS plays host to IHSA Class 3A regional meets for both the boys and girls on Oct. 22 at the South Campus.
Senior Catherine Sommerfeld achieved the highest of her three top-16 all-conference finishes by taking third (17:27.3 for 3.0 miles). She was fifth last season and ninth in 2020.
“It’s a really competitive conference so placing well is really exciting,” said Sommerfeld, just 2.1 seconds from second place. “Just coming back [from injury], I think I kind of had a mental patch I wanted to get over and I think I did that. Looking forward, I want to be more competitive, but I want to practice my mental focus.”
Senior Charlotte Lange (18:40.3) and junior Julianne Melby (18:45.9) were 17th and 18th, followed by senior Scarlett Lestina (20th, 18:54.1) and juniors Anna Bylsma (21st, 18:55.1), Kristina Findley (23rd, 19:08.3) and Madison Findley (26th, 19:12.3).
Three LTHS boys were all-conference – juniors Cillian Henning (5th, 14:59.0) and Nick Strayer (10th, 15:20.7) and senior Aidan Collins (11th, 15:22.7). Senior Matt McGovern (15:51.3) and junior Ruben Guevara (15:57.9) were 22nd and 23rd and junior Maksym Washchuk (16:24.0) and senior Michael Farrell (16:33.7) were 30th and 32nd.
The third-highest finishing junior, Henning was .5 from fourth place and improved from eighth in 2021.
“It was definitely what I was going for, and in a conference like this it was a pretty good race,” Henning said.
This was the first all-conference honors for Strayer and Collins, who in 2021 were respectively 18th and 19th.
“I was able to close that [gap], not as much as I would have liked, so we definitely still have room to improve,” Strayer said.
LTHS tennis
After Lyons Township High School sophomore girls tennis players Ginny Gibbs and Mia Graziano lost the second set of their doubles match 6-0 at the IHSA Class 2A Sectional on Oct. 14, they needed a boost.
“[LTHS coach Dave Robare] kind of gave us a little bit of hype for the third set,” Graziano said. “That really helped us get the encouragement and get the energy up.”
The Lions’ No. 1 doubles team this season nearly rode that momentum all the way to the state meet. They won that and another match before losing in the quarterfinals — one victory from a top-four, state-qualifying finish — 6-3, 6-2 to Downers Grove South senior Niki Hermanova and sophomore Antosia Olechowska.
Graziano had some 2021 varsity experience, including No. 3 singles at the conference meet. This was Gibbs’ first varsity season.
“[Losing in the quarterfinals] was a little disappointing but given we’re both sophomores, it’s a pretty big accomplishment and we’re pretty proud that we got to the third round,” Gibbs said.
The Lions’ other three entries also came one victory from state — juniors Sofija Grujic, the No. 5 seed, and Scarlette Rahman in singles and senior Molly Burke and junior Maddie Rowen in doubles. They lost 6-0, 6-1 or 6-0, 6-0 to top-four seeded opponents.
Gibbs and Graziano were among four doubles teams that played an additional match in the 18-team draw. They won that match 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 over Downers Grove North and then 6-3, 6-1 over Riverside-Brookfield seniors Lara Huns and Olivia Dvorak, the No. 6 seed.
“Going into the [quarterfinals], we were hoping we would win, but overall I think we tried our best and had a positive attitude throughout the day,” Graziano said.
LTHS soccer
The Lions (13-5-3), seeded No. 1 in the Hinsdale Central Sectional, will play for the IHSA Class 3A Argo Regional title at 6 p.m. on Oct. 21 with hopes of advancing to the sectional semifinals at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 25.
LTHS ended the regular season Thursday with a 7-1 win at Argo. The Lions finished West Suburban Silver play with a 3-2 loss to Glenbard West on Oct. 11. The Lions and Hilltoppers tied for fourth in the WSC Silver at 3-3.
LTHS swimming and diving
LTHS will compete at the West Suburban Conference Silver Meet on Oct. 22 at Hinsdale Central.
The Red Devils, which shared second at state last year, defeated the visiting Lions 102-84 in their Oct. 6 dual. Event winners were Kylie Thompson (100-yard backstroke in 1:01.41) and the 200 freestyle relay of Maggie Adler, Audrey Cavaliere, Ella Jean Kelly and Becky Phillips (1:37.86).
The Lions’ last competition was New Trier’s Trevian Invite on Oct. 8, which featured six of the top-eight teams at 2021 state.
The 400 free relay (Adler, Cavaliere, Kelly, Phillips in 3:37.93) was third.
Lindsay Forebaugh (100 butterfly in 59.16), Adler (100 free in 54.13) and the 200 free relay (Adler, Libby Langan, Grace Karan and Phillips in 1:40.79) were fifth.
