Tough-luck season ends without playoffs for Lions

Lyons Township senior Matt Lakis has always looked forward to watching the Illinois High School Association's football pairings show on television.

He didn't tune in Saturday night, however, after the Lions saw their season come to end with a 23-10 loss to Downers Grove North earlier in the day.

"After the loss, I didn't want to focus on football at all," Lakis said. "I'm sure I'll catch some games, but the playoffs are not that big of a deal to me now. It's just not the same not seeing the LT name in the brackets."

LT finished with a 3-6 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs after six straight appearances.

"Sure, that's a disappointment," LT coach Jack Derning said. "It's probably more disappointing to the seniors than to me. Personally, I'm really proud of the seniors and what they accomplished. They're quality young men and played as hard as they could. We were a young team and our inexperience just showed through in the end."

LT, which finished fifth in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division with a 2-4 mark, suffered a number of tough losses, falling to playoff qualifiers Sandburg (17-14 in overtime), Proviso East (20-14) and York (21-20).

The Lions, who faced six playoff qualifiers this season, also gave undefeated and Silver Division champion Glenbard West one of its toughest games in a 28-14 loss.

"Things just didn't go our way," Lakis said. "We were on the bad side of luck most of the year. I feel as a team we did become close as a group. Anytime you lose, you get something out of it and learn from your mistakes and hardships. We learned life lessons about overcoming adversity."

In Saturday's game, LT took a 7-6 lead when junior quarterback Ryan Mitchell scored on a 31-yard run 10 seconds into the second quarter. But Downers North (5-4), which needed a win to qualify for the playoffs, got a field goal and touchdown run to take a 16-7 halftime lead.

The Lions pulled within 16-10 by the end of the third quarter thanks to an 18-yard field goal by Ethan Guenther, but Downers North put the game out of reach when Jermal Jones raced 64 yards into the end zone on a fourth-and-one play with 7:36 left in the game.

Lakis, a free safety, and senior defensive tackle Pat Thomas were the only returning starters for the Lions this season. Lakis, who was a strong safety last season, admits it was a difficult senior season.

"I'd have to say the season was kind of disappointing individually," Lakis said. "I had a good junior year and was hoping to build on that, but I don't think I progressed like I wanted to. I think I grew as a captain and person and that was big to me. I'm happy with myself in that respect."

LT graduates a strong senior class, but will return plenty of talented players, including Mitchell, offensive linemen Tim Brockman and Wes Ott, running back Nick Brown and linebacker Jack Piecuch.

"I'm excited about what's going to happen at LT next year," Derning said. "Unlike this year, we have some quality kids that have seen a lot of game time and our sophomore team went undefeated in conference. If everyone dedicates themselves in the off-season, I think we'll be back in the playoffs next year."