The Lions had an impressive first round win in the IHSA football playoffs this past Friday and will be playing round 2 on Saturday afternoon, November 9, 2013 at 2:00 against number 2 ranked Toulon at St. Rita’s stadium on 79th and Western. Despite the fact that the Lions played last weeks game on the road, over a two hour drive from Chicago, a contingent of 50 alumni and friends made the trip. With this game being so close to home, let’s do our best to fill the stadium and cheer our Lions on to a big win and one more step to a state championship. The early forecast calls for at least 50 degrees and partly sunny, perfect football weather. We hope to see a big crowd this weekend to cheer our Lions on and give them the support they need to come up victorious once again!
IHSA playoff football: Chicago Leo 36, GCMS 0
As borrowed from paxtonrecord.net
Events which transpired one time in each of the first three quarters Friday night helped determine the outcome in a Class 1A state football first-round game between Chicago Leo and Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.
Leo scored one touchdown per quarter.
GCMS managed one first down per period.
For the Falcons, it was too much of one thing and too little of the other.
Leo posted a 36-0 triumph in a game played mostly in a steady drizzle.
It wasn’t the ending GCMS envisioned for its season, but its one more game than the school played in 2012.
“There’s no other feeling like it,” senior Lane Dueringer said, “especially when everyone is counting you out. There’s not as uch pressure and you can have fun.”
The numbers on the scoreboard weren’t fun, but the rest of the experience qualified.
“Yeah,” Dueringer said. “I had fun.”
GCMS (7-3) was matched against an opponent which was more than its equal in team speed.
“The last few weeks,” GCMS coach Mike Allen said, “We’ve been able to get to the outside. They took that away from us. Our kids weren’t intimidated, but their speed was to their advantage.”
The Lions scored on their first possession, but GCMS put itself in position to create a tie. A 37-yard pass from Ross Royal to Austin Hornstein moved the Falcons to the Leo 14-yard line. Tristan Smith, who led GCMS in rushing (60 yards) advanced the ball to the 10.
Royal’s second-down pass was picked off and returned 90 yards for a TD oby Leo’s Riley McClendon-Gray.
“Throughout the season, we’ve been a big-play team,” Allen said. “Tonight, we had one, but we needed more than that. It wasn’t our night.”
Royal later intercepted a Leo pass in the end zone, one of two the Falcons picked off. Tyler Hinshaw had the other.
Allen credited the team’s 16 seniors with getting the program headed back in the right direction after a year’s hiatus from the playoffs.
“The senior leadership was tremendous,” Allen said. “The biggest thing is the younger kids saw how our seniors led, their expectations, how they treated each other.
“These kids were an incredibly classy group of young men. From the next week after last season was over, they were in the weight room. They did everything we asked of them.”
GCMS totaled 168 yards, 84 in each half. Royal completed 7 of 12 passes for 64 yards. Hinshaw and Austin Hornstein each had two receptions.
Hinshaw was second to Smith in rushing with 47 yards.
Dueringer said Leo has the traits that could lead to more success in the Class 1A playoffs.
“They are big, strong and fast,” he said.
GCMS moved deep into Leo territory on its second possession of the third quarter, fueled by a 46-yard run by Smith.
However, a fumble at the Lions’ 27 marked the Falcons’ final turnover. Leo used more than 6 minutes on a 12-play scoring drive that put the visitors in command, 21-0, with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter.
IHSA Class 1A playoffs
First round
Chicago Leo 36, GCMS 0
LEO 7 7 7 15 — 36
GCMS 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring summary
LEO — Jones 5 pass from Giles (Anderson kick)
LEO — McClendon-Gray 90 interception return (Anderson kick)
LEO — Shorter 20 run (Anderson kick)
LEO — Prince 7 run (Anderson kick)
LEO — Conley 8 run (Davis run)
Team stats LEO GCMS
First downs 19 6
Rushes 33-256 31-162
Pass Att-Comp-Int 8-21-2 7-12-2
Total yards 335 185
Fumbles 0 1
Interceptions-yds. 2-90 2-18
Punt returns-yards 6-0 3-0
Kick returns-yards 1-25 6-40
Total return yards 115 58
Punts-yards 3-74 6-148
Penalties-yards 9-55 3-35
Time of possession 26:01 21:59
Individual stats
RUSHING — L, Conley 9-65, Hopkins 9-54, Prince 3-43, Giles 5-40. G, Smith 4-59, Hinshaw 10-47, Hixson 5-15, Rinehart 1-4, Royal 11-3.
PASSING — L, Giles 8-21-84. G, R. Royal 7-11-70, Hinshaw 0-1.
RECEIVING — L, McClendon-Gray 3-42, Adewole 2-21. G, Hornstein 2-45, Hinshaw 2-4, Johnson 1-7.
TACKLES — Smith 11, Rosenbaum 7, Hinshaw 7, Girkin 6, Davis 6.
Good Luck Lions.