Lyons Township's big plays overwhelmed OPRF in a 34-10 road loss Saturday, Oct. 3, dropping the Huskies to 3-4 on the season.

Senior quarterback Liam Brown threw for 242 yards and connected with sophomore Tavion Coleman on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left before halftime, pulling OPRF within 21-10. Maxwell Smith added a 30-yard field goal for the Huskies' other score.

The first half was competitive. OPRF and Lyons Township posted nearly identical offensive totals: 222 yards for the Huskies, 223 for the Lions. But the Lions, ranked No. 9 in Class 8A in the Illinois media poll, broke the game open with explosive plays. A 73-yard touchdown run on their first offensive snap set the tone. Two touchdown passes of 13 and 27 yards, set up by a 63-yard run, pushed the lead to 21-3 before Brown's late first-half strike.

"You get rid of those big plays, all of a sudden it looks totally different," OPRF head coach John Hoerster told the Wednesday Journal. "There's so many drives where we did such a good job moving the ball and just didn't finish in the end zone."

Andrew Heinzmann led OPRF's receivers with 10 catches for 141 yards, including a 32-yard grab that set up Coleman's touchdown. Cameron Minish-Murray added four receptions for 56 yards.

The second half told a different story. OPRF managed just 73 yards and three first downs after the break. On the Huskies' first possession of the third quarter, officials ruled a fumble after conferring on whether Brown was already down. Lyons Township recovered at its own 49 and extended the lead to 28-10.

The defense had its moments. Labrone Neal and Benjamin Lambe combined on a fourth-and-3 sack from the OPRF 10-yard line in the third quarter. Liam Smith, Connor Krumrei, Karson Fields and Neal combined for five additional tackles for loss.

The loss left OPRF at 2-3 in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division. The Huskies had beaten York 24-21 in their homecoming game on Sept. 18 before falling 41-0 at Downers Grove North, ranked No. 4 in Class 7A. Lyons Township improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Silver Division.

OPRF travels to Addison Trail at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9.