Lyons Football in Third Straight Quarterfinal, Beating O'Fallon 42-27

Three years ago, the Lyons Township Lions had never in the history of the school gone to an Illinois state football quarterfinal. Now they're heading to their third straight.

The Lions (7-4) traveled five hours downstate on Saturday to knock out the O'Fallon Panthers (8-3), 42-27, increasing their win streak to five (and two playoff wins) since a 2-4 start and earning another bid to the third stage of the postseason dance.

Sophomore star Leonard Ross bulled for two touchdowns, Zachary Mahoney and Jemari Birks each added another and Jake Elliot drilled four field goals; meanwhile, the Lions' defense tallied five turnovers (three fumble recoveries and two Kevin Pikul picks) to shut down the Panthers' comeback efforts.

Mahoney had an off-day throwing (5-of-17 for 104 yards), but made up for it on his feet with 22 runs for 133 yards and his TD. Ross also ran for 168 yards on 27 carries and a TD.

The versatile Matt Harris caught three passes for 45 yards, threw one for 22 yards, carried once for another 22 yards, returned two punts eight and 15 yards and a kickoff 24 yards, and had five tackles and two assists to boot.

Connor Onion also had five tackles, Jimmy Heim, Jimmy Mitchell and Patrick Kelley had four and an assist apiece. Kelley, John Phillipp and Benjamin Grissim each recovered a fumble. On special teams, Luke Nelson contributed a 79-yard punt, and Birks a 42-yard kickoff return.

"We were really executing on offense and a lot of guys pitched in," Coach Kurt Weinberg told STLhighschoolsports.com. "We did a good job keeping them off-balance."

Next, the Lions face an old rival: the powerhouse Mt. Carmel Caravan (10-1), who ended Lyons Township's first trip to the quarterfinals in 2010 and are coming off a 41-6 win over Simeon Career Academy. One difference this year: the game will be on Lions turf, at Bennett Field.

LT, a 15-seed, is the last remaining 8A team in the playoffs ranked lower than a 4-seed.