The Oak Park and River Forest High School football coaches looked at film of the Huskies’ 27-3 win over visiting Lyons Township and assuredly found a few mistakes. Emphasis on few.
There were a few dropped balls on special teams returns and a couple of pass interference calls, football’s equivalent to the difficult charge of block call in basketball. Other then those minor mistakes, the Huskies turned in (to borrow a soccer term) a clean sheet statistically.
Overalll, the Huskies played nearly perfect football.
“We put together four quarters of great football,” OPRF coach John Hoerster said. “It wasn’t without flaw. We tell our kids there’s no such thing as a flawless football game.
“Everybody stepped up. Guys played their hearts out against a really good football team in Lyons Township.”
Senior quarterback Jeremy Hunt completed 16 of 23 passes for 136 yards and rushed 10 times for 61 yards. He also accounted for three touchdowns, one passing and two rushing.
Even more impressive, he inflicted all this damage on the Lions without both of his contact lenses for a significant portion of the second half.
“My contacts fell out around the third quarter,” Hunt said. “On the touchdown where Terrance Roundy scored, I had no contacts in. I got them back about halfway through the fourth quarter.”
Junior running back Terrance Roundy was a workhorse, racking up 173 yards and a touchdown and 31 carries.
The offensive line of Phil Saleh, Ethan Lemons, Sharmore Clarke, Jacob Hale and Amir Tillis is probably the most underrated unit on a loaded roster. They continually provide Hunt ample time in the pocket and are physical yet nimble in rush blocking.
“Our offensive line does a heckuva job,” Hunt said. “They love contributing to the team’s success. They pick up blitzes and the holes they make are unreal. I’ve only been sacked like twice this year.”
Compared to LTHS, OPRF had more total yard on offense (407 to 82), more first downs (22 to 7) and won the time of possession battle (33:21 to 14:39).
Defense bounces back
Defensively, senior linebacker Rolliann Sturkey camped out in the LTHS offensive backfield. He recorded 7.5 tackles, including 3.5 for loss. And 1.5 sacks. Relative newcomers Evan Kavanaugh (5 tackles), John Mitchell (4.5) and Davin Colvin (4) made an impact. Sophomore linebacker Cedric Cheatham also fared well in his varsity debut.
As expected this time of the season, OPRF is dealing with some injuries, notably to top players like running back Michael Houston and defensive tackle Austin Maxwell.
“We played awesome,” OPRF linebacker/running back Ryan Molina said. “This was a bounce back win that we really needed, especially going (to Hinsdale Central) where we have a chance to maybe win conference and take momentum into the playoffs.
“We have a ton of guys ready to play. There’s a lot of athletes on our team who are just willing to play and everybody puts the work in during practice.”
Props are in order for defensive coordinator Tim Fischer as well. After allowing 56 points and over 625 yards to Glenbard West in Week 7, which Fischer described as “hugely disappointing and atrocious,” the Huskies bounced back in dominant fashion against a highly regarded LTHS offense.
“We didn’t really do much differently this week (compared to preparing for Glenbard West),” Sturkey said. “We just had a bad game against Glenbard.
“I could tell this week just by everybody’s attitude we would be ready. We had high tempo practices and we proved we’re still one of the best defenses.”
OPRF shut down LTHS quarterback Ben Bryant (5-for-17, 40 yards), and running back Reggie Terrell (14 carries, 39 yards). the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Bryant has drawn recruting interest from schools like Wisconson, Central Michigan and Iowa.
“We know Ben Bryant is a really good quarterback so we had to apply pressure on him,” Sturkey said. “That was the one thing we had to do and we got it done.”
LTHS linebacker Jack Walton finished with a game-high 17 tackles and promising sophomore Hareson Willis had 13 as a few bright spots for the Lions.
In terms of scoring, OPRF methodically expanded its lead against the Lions (6-2, 3-2). Hunt capped off a 9-play, 65 yard drive with a 6-yard run to put the Huskies up 6-0 at the 7:19 mark of the first quarter.
Nathan Rusk kicked a 30-yard field goal with 6:19 left in the second quarter, accounting for the Lions’ only points of the game.
Hunt threw an 8-yard slant pass to Davion Talbert that extended the Huskies’ lead to 13-3 with 34 seconds remaining until halftime.
After OPRF held the Lions to a three-and-out to open the second half, the former put together a signature scoring drive of 80 yards on 15 plays over five minutes that culminated with a 10-yard run by Roundy to make the score 19-3.
Hunt added a 27-yard run midway through the fourth quarter which essentially sealed the 27-3 win.
The victory gives OPRF an opportunity to earn a share of the West Suburban Conference Silver Division. Hinsdale Central (8-0, 5-0) leads OPRF (7-1, 4-1) by a half-game in the conference standings. The Huskies’ last conference title came in 1998.
“It’s for conference and a great matchup,” Hunt said. “We’re definitely going to come out strong.”
The teams square off Friday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Hinsdale. If the Red Devils win, they are the outright champion whereas an OPRF victory secures co-champs.
Win or lose, the Huskies will turn their attention after the regular season finale to the IHSA seeding show where OPRF will discover its path in the Class 8A playoffs.
“We’ll get together, break some bread and watch the (IHSA seeding) show,” Hoerster said. “This time of the season is so much fun for the kids and the community.
“We have great energy as a team right now. If this string of games we’re going through doesn’t prepare us well for the playoffs, I don’t know what will.”