Lyons Tramples Hinsdale Central During 'Blackout'

A crowd of more than 5000 fans doused in all black were on hand to see the Lyons Township High School football team triumph over perennial rival Hinsdale Central High School by a score of 34-17 to bring its record to an impressive 4-0, with a 2-0 West Suburban Silver Conference record.

The Lions were in fine form in the annual blackout game, an event in which all LT fans are instructed to wear all black to distract and taunt opponents—last season, Lyons fell to Yale's John Whitelaw and company at Hinsdale's Dickinson Field 56-42.

Coach Kurt Weinberg, however, maintains a calm approach towards any matchup, even one as a big as Central. Weinberg responded to Patch via e-mail.

"[Hinsdale Central] is a huge game, no question," Weinberg said. "But we try very hard to have a one game mentality. It has a lot of inherent importance, but we try to focus on the team at hand."

Such a mindset was generously rewarded as LTHS comfortably defeated its arch-enemies in a solid all-around performance. A respectable away fan contingent was disappointed to see the Lions go ahead early in the first half courtesy of junior Jamie Jones first rushing touchdown of the night.

A surge of Devil energy opened the second quarter as the opposing defense, led by senior linebacker Keith Hahn, shut down the LT offense before blocking a punt attempt. Though the Devils were held to a field goal, they were gifted a second chance deep in the red zone as Kelley fumbled inside his own 20 yard line. The away side didn't mistake its redemption opportunity, and a rushing touchdown made the score 10-7 in favor of the Devils.

But the Lions bounced back just before halftime in a drive that would re-energize the team for the remainder of the game. Following a 34 yard return from sophomore superstar Matthew Harris, senior quarterback Brian Kelley led the Lions downfield and found senior receiver Chris Klotz in the endzone with less than a minute to play.

Chaos in the student section, electricity on the sidelines. 14-10 at halftime.

Standout defensive lineman Tom Callahan asserts that the Lions were strong on defense in the first half, dismantling a strong offensive line.

"Everybody did their job and we shut their team down," Callahan said. "Their two Big Ten [bound] offensive lineman didn't make an impact on the game."

Lyons came out of the break ready for more, and following another defensive stop, a Kelley touchdown run extended the lead 21-10.

The fourth quarter spelled the end for the Devils, as another time consuming drive from LT resulted in Jones' second touchdown carry of the night. Jones would add another rushing touchdown to his evening's total, and was imposing throughout, amassing 100 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns.

Hinsdale did get a consolation touchdown with minutes remaining, but the game had long been decided. 34-17 the final score in front of another intimidating LTHS student section.

"When you are in front of all those people, you just want to get out there and hit someone, and that's exactly what we did," said senior wide receiver Dylan Fiedler, who caught four passes for 36 yards. "I want to say thank you on behalf of the team for all the support."

LTHS next faces conference opposition in Oak Park-RiverForest High School away from home next Friday, and Fiedler said the team must stay focused.

"We'll enjoy the win, but we have a lot of tough games ahead of us, so we have to keep our heads straight," Fiedler said. "Overall, we're looking for nothing less than conference champs."