Senior Owen Matela and his Lyons Township High School football teammates weren’t just thinking about the final minutes of last year’s Homecoming loss to rival Hinsdale Central.
After the Lions prevailed 38-28 Friday on the Red Devils’ home field, years of frustration turned to pure elation for the senior class.
“We never beat them from youth football to high school so we had this game circled on our schedule,” Matela said.
“It feels amazing to come out with a W. Obviously, they had some big plays but we had more big plays. The key to the game was the (offensive) line, just running the ball every play.”
Quarterback Brendan McCabe rushed for two touchdowns and 126 yards and passed for two TDs and 218 yards as the Lions (4-0, 1-0 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division) jumped to a 14-0 lead and answered every time the Red Devils (2-2, 0-2) closed the gap.
Last year, Hinsdale Central won 29-26 after LTHS led 19-14 in the fourth quarter. The Lions had won the previous three varsity matchups.
On Friday, four of the Lions’ five touchdowns were more than 60 yards. Still, the players had enough energy afterwards to leap a fence and join LTHS fans from the stands in triumph.
“You see your best friends and you want to celebrate with them. It means a lot to them and it means a lot to us for them to come here and show out and chill out,” McCabe said.
“We know what happened (last year). We kept it in our mind during the game. We couldn’t let them get back in the game. That’s exactly what we did. They kept responding and we kept responding so it was great.”
The Lions, ranked No. 5 in Class 8A last week in the Illinois Media football poll, now play host to Glenbard West (2-2, 1-1), ranked No. 5 in 7A before losing 24-14 to undefeated Downers Grove North (No. 3 in 7A).
LTHS coach Jon Beutjer praised the offensive line of center Luke Vaupell, guards Liam Corrigan and Mason Price, tackles Charlie Harrington and Edwin Martinez and tight end Matela.
“They grind in the trenches, our tight ends and wings (too). Really, the offensive line is where it all starts,” Beutjer said.
“That was a big one (to win), on the road. I was proud of how our kids responded. We would score and then they would score. Up until this point, we haven’t really been able to throw the ball, which is such a nice element to add to our offense.”
After a punt pinned the Lions at their 3-yard line, senior running back EJ Kuhlman (143 rushing yards) had runs of 16 and then 81 for his TD and a 14-0 first-quarter advantage.
McCabe set the big-play tone on the opening drive. His 73-yard TD run came after splitting defenders before finding the left sideline.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to make a play and that’s what happens,” McCabe said.
When Hinsdale Central closed to 14-7 just 1:18 before halftime, Jack Williams returned the kickoff 41 yards to the 45. After a 23-yard pass to Matela, Wolfie Ketterling eventually made a 42-yard field goal 12.4 seconds before halftime.
The biggest play was arguably after Hinsdale Central opened the second with a 70-yard TD strike and closed to 17-14.
McCabe threw a 68-yard TD pass to a wide open Tyler Stamm for a 24-14 lead. The Lions led by multiple scores the rest of the way.
“There’s always a little bit of stress when you’re that wide open. When you get one and take advantage of it, it just feels the best,” Stamm said.
“Two years ago, I watched my brother (Travis) and our whole team come here and do the exact same thing. I love home games but to come over here and be able to put them away (feels great).”
The LTHS defense then came through. Brady Koren had an interception at the 10 and back-to-back pass breakups by Nathan Fitzgerald and Ina Collins contributed to a missed 35-yard field goal.
LTHS then pulled ahead 31-14 on an 84-yard TD strike to Lincoln DeMauro on third-and-14. McCabe’s 23-yard TD run opened a 38-21 lead with 5:41 left.
The pregame Salute to Service night commemorated the 9/11 attacks and honored military personnel and relatives of players from both teams.
That included LTHS freshman football coach Keith Bailey, LTHS personnel Kevin Comstock and Scott McClintock and relatives of LTHS players Aidan Webster (James Farnan II) and Cole Harris (Peter Sisco). Singing the national anthem was Jim Cornelison of Chicago Blackhawks fame.
Webster’s honored grandfather usually attends his games.
“It’s really nice because a lot of people sacrificed a lot for us to be able to be where we are right now and he was a part of that. I really look up to him for that,” Webster said.
RBHS girls volleyball
The Riverside Brookfield girls volleyball team had another strong invitational performance as they finished fourth out of 12 teams at the Downers Grove South Invite Saturday.
RBHS (10-8) beat Fenwick and the host Mustangs while losing to Oak Park and River Forest and Joliet West in three sets and Lockport in two.
Senior outside hitter Mackenzie Sloger and sophomore libero Sage Roldan were named to the all-tournament team.
Last year, Lockport was third in Class 4A after beating OPRF in the super-sectional and Joliet West in the sectional finals. Fenwick reached super-sectionals in 3A.
“We work hard, hustle and have a competitive drive. This tournament had a lot of hard and challenging teams and we performed so well,” RBHS coach Caitlin Staib-Lipinski said.
“I am incredibly proud of this team. We needed to make aggressive plays in the right moments without being timid and it worked for us this tournament.”
The Bulldogs previously finished second at the Hoffman Estates Tournament Sept. 5, losing to 3A sectional finalist Belleville East after three two-set victories.
At Plainfield North’s Crimson Invite Aug. 28-29, they reached the Gold bracket for the first time in Staib-Lipinski’s five seasons as head coach and finished seventh overall. Sloger was named all-tournament.
Sloger leads the team with 163 kills, 25 aces and 202 service receptions. Other stats leaders include Roldan (150 digs), sophomore Elsie Crist (354 assists) and senior Asha Ponnappan (36 total blocks).
