No. 2 Hilltoppers Football Runs Over Lyons Township, 31-3

Avery Balogh outran the entire Lyons Township defense. Actually, he outran the entire LT offense, too.

The Glenbard West senior running back put up a whopping 189 yards on the ground, including three touchdown runs of 50, 41 and 39 yards, as the state No. 2-ranked Hilltoppers (3-0) mowed down the Lions (1-2) at Bennett Field Friday night. (Minus penalties, the Lions offense managed only 176 yards.)

It was LT’s “Blackout” game, but while fans darkened the bleachers, the team couldn’t muster either an offensive attack or a way to stop Balogh. The Lions went three-and-out on their first five possessions, and didn’t register a first down in the first 22 minutes of the game.

Meanwhile, Balogh was running unhindered all over the field, scoring first on a sweep, then on a jet reverse that saw him run cross-field through the entire Lions secondary. (The Hilltoppers also scored on a Joe Zito dive and a 37-yard Dan Cavazos field goal.)

He also had a 91-yard dash into the end zone that was called back for one holding call, and a 61-yard run that lost the tail end to another.

“[The offense] opened up holes for me, and I was just trying to take advantage of it. They’re a great unit and I can’t thank them enough,” Balogh said. “There’s no feeling like [running free]. That’s what you look for.”

Lions quarterback Connor Onion was 12-for-26 with 168 yards, but was intercepted three times, first by twin DBs Mike and Matt Marston, then by top recruit and Penn State-bound DT Tommy Schutt on a screen pass gone awry, a play Glenbard West coach Chat Hetlet called “unreal.”

“When [LT] are going to put the ball in the air that much, I think you get an opportunity just as much as those receivers do to make a break on the ball,” Hetlet said of his team’s three picks. “We talked about that all week and I think we took advantage of those opportunities.”

The Lions showed life near the end of the first half, with the defense earning two straight three-and-outs before Onion converted two long third-down passes to Rennick Thompson and Evan Booth. But the drive stalled at the 5-yard line, and the Lions were forced to settle for a 27-yard Luke Nelson field goal.

They then earned a critical fourth-down stop of the Hilltoppers at their own 5-yard line, but couldn’t make anything out of it.

“We’ve just got to get better,” said LT head coach Kurt Weinberg. “That team is better than us, and they showed it in every phase of the game… We had too many opportunities where we had guys in position to make plays and just missed tackles.”

High points for the Lions were Dylante Pleasant (three tackles, one for a loss), Robert Mitchell (recovered fumble, one tackle, three assists), Thompson (two catches for 40 yards), Matthew Harris (seven receptions for 35 yards) and kicker/punter Nelson, who, along with the game’s only Lions points, also had seven punts for a 47-yard average, including a 63-yard bomb in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve got a long season ahead of us,” said Weinberg. “I don’t know if there’s any team in the state that’s had a tougher first three games.”

The game ended with a white flag, as the losing team—LT—knelt out the clock.