Oak Park-River Forest coach John Hoerster has made it well known that his goal is to develop a football program in the mold of a team such as No. 8 Lincoln-Way East, the Huskies’ season-opening opponent Friday night.
OPRF took a giant leap toward that goal as senior quarterback Lloyd Yates threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more as the No. 20 Huskies stunned the host Griffins 49-34 in Frankfort.
Yates, a Northwestern recruit, was 7-for-13 for 146 yards and rushed 17 times for 185 yards.
“This is huge; we’re really excited to get the momentum going,” Yates said. “We were definitely the underdogs, but that’s OK with us. That’s how it’s always been. I thought our offense was definitely capable of this. Our receivers did a great job and our line did a great job.”
After falling behind 7-0 on Lincoln-Way East’s opening scoring drive, a near 45-minute lightning delay appeared to have little impact on Yates and the Huskies. Yates moved the offense 92 yards in nine plays following the delay, capped by a 19-yard scoring strike to Cole Fields to tie the score.
A Nathan Goodwin interception set up a quick Oak Park-River Forest score two plays later on Antonion Cannon’s 36-yard run. The Griffins came right back with quarterback Mike Weller (31-for-46, 284 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs) scoring from the 1 on fourth-and-goal to knot the scoreat 14-all.
One play later, Yates lobbed a perfect pass to Ke’Juan Ratliff for a 50-yard score. East tied it one last time on a Weller-to-Paul Gossage 2-yard touchdown pass late in the second, but Yates had the back-breaker three plays later, taking an option keeper 67 yards up the middle for a score and a 28-21 halftime lead.
It was more of the same for Yates in the third as he capped back-to-back scoring drives with touchdown runs of 11 and 7 yards to stake the Huskies to a 42-21 lead midway through the third.
Lincoln-Way East made things interesting late, with Weller hitting Gossage for a 2-yard score and diving in from the 1 for a touchdown to draw the Griffins to within 42-33 with 3 minutes, 27 seconds remaining.
The Griffins had the ball near midfield in the closing minutes for one last shot, but Oak Park-River Forest’s Dallis Flowers intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 57 yards for touchdown to seal the win.
Player of the game: Lloyd Yates, Oak Park-River Forest, 7-for-13, 146 yards, 2 TDs; 17 carries, 185 yards, 3 TDs.
Key performers: Oak Park-River Forest — Antonio Cannon, 13 carries, 110 yards, 1 TD; Ke’Juan Ratliff, 5 catches, 79 yards, 1 TD. Lincoln-Way East — Alex Kraft, 24 carries, 127 yards; Mike Weller, 31-for-46, 284 yards, 3 TDs; Paul Gossage, 13 catches, 113 yards, 3 TDs.