The Lyons Township football team rolled into Oak Park Stadium on Friday night with an undefeated record, while the Huskies had dropped three of their last four games. Records can be deceiving.
Although LT escaped with a 14-9 victory, the Huskies (1-4, 0-3 West Suburban Silver) controlled the line of scrimmage and were well-positioned to pull off the mild conference upset.
Trailing 7-3 midway through the fourth quarter, OPRF orchestrated an incredible 12-play, 80-yard scoring march to pull ahead 9-7 with 6:35 remaining. The stirring drive called for three consecutive measurements on 10-yard runs. Running back Zach Draus (34 carries, 181 yards), who got the starting call because Tony Stapleton (injury) was unavailable, carried the ball 11 times during the series.
“Zach fought all night long,” OPRF coach Jim Nudera said. “Our offensive line did a great job and he was running strong for us.”
On their ensuing possession, the Lions (5-0, 3-0) scored when senior quarterback Brian Kelley threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Fiedler over the middle to retake the lead for good at 14-9 with 3:30 remaining. The Huskies’ final offensive series stalled deep in their own territory forcing them to punt with under two minutes left in the game.
“After losing [to Glenbard West 42-0] our pride took a hit,” said OPRF linebacker Joe Donlan, who had an interception. “We scouted LT and knew about all their scoring threats like [Matt] Harris, [Brian] Kelley and [Alex] Sewall. We gave a great effort but came up a little short.”
The Huskies rushed the ball 40 times for a 4.8 average and collected 18 first downs on the evening.
“I knew this was going to a very tough game,” LT coach Kurt Weinberg said. “We’re just happy to get out of here with a win.”
The Huskies travel to Hinsdale Central on Oct. 2 for their next game.
Read more coverage of this game in the Sept. 29 print edition of Wednesday Journal.