RED DEVIL REDUX

Hinsdale Central vs. Lyons Township 2017: Retold Rivalry week, at any competitive level, is arguably the biggest week of the season. Typically forged out only meant more to the players, but also had a different feeling on the field. Connor Bauer, senior quarterback in 2017, said the by John Olsen play to their strengths, but they still wanted to remain aggressive. “We ran the ball a little more in general of geographical proximity, rivalry games games against LT were more intense, with that year, but against LT, we tried to attack mean so much more to fans and players players giving everything to win. “It got them and do what we did best and use Luke alike. This is no different for Hinsdale really physical, everyone’s giving their all,” [Skokna] as much as we could,” Bauer said. Central and Lyons Township (LT), two Bauer said. “Everyone gives their all every “He was that power back that just made schools that are only four miles apart and game, but you find a little more drive when plays, and we relied on him.” are some of the fiercest high school rivals it’s a game against LT.” Central also planned to change their in the area. In the week leading up to the game formation and run a lot of Wildcat, with

On October 13th, 2017, Central and LT between Central and LT, competition running backs, such as Skokna and Oakey, faced off in one of the most competitive between the two schools had already taking direct snaps and running the ball. games in the history of the rivalry. In an started off the field. Students from each side For LT, they were 6-1, with their only extremely close matchup, The Red Devils challenged each other to see which school loss coming at the hands of Glenbard West. ultimately prevailed 21-20 over the Lions. could raise more money for hurricane relief Averaging 28.1 points per game and led by The game still lives fresh in the minds in Puerto Rico. According to the Chicago senior QB and three star recruit Ben Bryant, of those who played in it, due to how it Tribune, more than $5,000 was raised. LT’s offense posed a very real threat to played out, as well as the circumstances The student body not only made an Central’s defense, which was only allowing surrounding the rivalry. impact outside of the stadium, but also in an average of 14.5 points per game. To deal

Luke Skokna, junior running back at it. Oakey said that the atmosphere created with this, Bauer said Central tried to put the time, said the Central vs. LT rivalry was by the fans made the games against LT the Bryant under as much pressure as possible special to him for multiple reasons. “[The best games he played in. and tried to force him to make mistakes. rivalry] means a lot to me,” Skokna said. “[The game against LT] was definitely Given the way both teams were playing “Not only is LT our rival school, but my the most fun game of the year,” Oakey coming into this game, it would no doubt be one of the most competitive and compelling games between the two schools in recent history. Central had won the last 3 meetings between the two sides by a combined score of 116-65, and LT was eager to snap that losing streak. With a 4-0 record on the road so far coming into this game, the Lions had a good chance of coming out with a win. Bauer said everyone worked harder at practice that week in order to give themselves the best chance at winning. “Everyone studied the plays a little more, worked a little more in practice, and Junior running back Luke Skokna (7) not only rushed for 178 yards against LT, but also completed Photo from HC Football watched a little more film,” Bauer said. “We just wanted to give our all throughout the a 2-point conversion with a pass, showing both his versatility and impact on the HC offense. week so that we were ready to take them on dad and his eight siblings all went to LT. He said. “The stands for both teams were Friday night.” always jokes about how LT has the tougher jampacked, and they had confetti, baby The game kicked off on an ominous kids, so I really just wanted to go out there powder, signs, you name it. It was definitely Friday the 13th in October, with somewhat and prove something.” the best atmosphere that I played in.” of a horror story unfolding on Central’s

Garrett Oakey, senior wide receiver Heading into the game, which would be first possession. Oakey went down with an and running back at the time, also said the played at Dickinson Field, Central was 5-2, ankle injury, meaning that Central would rivalry with LT was meaningful because coming off of a 14-9 loss away at Glenbard have to adapt to injuries once again. of how long the players on each team had West. It could be argued that the biggest “I got tackled funny, and ended up known and faced each other. “[The rivalry] loss Central suffered wasn’t on the field, but getting a Grade 3 ankle sprain,” Oakey said. meant everything to me and to a bunch off of it, as both starting quarterback Matt “I was on crutches and couldn’t play the rest of guys on the team,” Oakey said. “We’ve Rush and starting center Joe Monahan were of the game, and that was probably the most grown up playing them since elementary out for the LT game. This forced Central to devastating moment of my high school school with the Hinsdale Falcons.” adapt their offense to cope with the injuries. career. I had been working for four years to

The games between Central and LT not Bauer said the injuries forced Central to play that game against LT my senior year

28 | Perspectives

and beat them at home, and to have that happen in that moment was just a shame.”

With Oakey going down, Skokna said he knew he would have to step up and shoulder the load, and try to make plays wherever he could.

“Garrett and I split reps, so [when he got injured], I knew I would just have to do whatever I could for the team," Skokna said. Whether that be in Wildcat, at running back, kick returner or punt returner, I was just going to get it done.”

It wasn’t all bad for Central, as Skokna opened the scoring with a five yard TD rush. That, along with an extra point from senior Quentin Wallace put the Red Devils up 7-0 before the end of the first quarter. With the defense stifling LT’s high-powered offense, Skokna was able to get into the endzone again to put Central up 13-0 before halftime.

Skokna said that overall, the team was happy with how they played and the position they were in at halftime.

“We were playing smash mouth football, we were winning the battles up front and in the trenches, and we were playing good defense, so we were pretty confident,” Skokna said.

Bauer said that although Central was in the driver’s seat, there was still work to be done and mistakes to be fixed.

“We weren’t satisfied with only a 13 point lead,” Bauer said. “We wanted to fix the little things that we were messing up on throughout the half. LT had a really good offense that year, and while the defense had done a really good job [keeping LT’s offense scoreless], we knew we needed to produce more than 13 points if we wanted to win.”

At the start of the third quarter, LT was able to finally get things going on offense, with Bryant unloading a 52 yard passing TD to bring the Lions within six. Running back Tyrone Smith then scampered 14

yards into the endzone to put LT up 14-13 at the end of the quarter.

Skokna said LT had started to understand what Central was going to do on offense, and that prevented them from scoring in the third quarter.

“They figured out that we were going to just run Wildcat the whole game, so they started stacking the box and blitzing,” Skokna said. “We knew we would then have to start chipping away, getting four or five yards each play.”

The Red Devils’ defense held strong, led by junior linebacker Aidan Cruickshank, who recorded 14 tackles throughout the game. In the 4th quarter, a fumble recovery by senior defensive end Caleb Lagestee at the LT 17 yard line put Central’s offense in prime scoring position.

Two plays later, Skokna would score his third TD of the game on a 12 yard rush. He then threw a pass to senior tight end Matt Bjorson to complete the two-point conversion. This put Central up 21-14 with just under five minutes left in the game. Skokna would accumulate 178 rushing yards on 34 carries throughout the game, stepping up big when the team was being ravaged by injuries.

Bauer said performances like this from Skokna weren’t out of the ordinary, and to get this kind of performance from him in such a big game was great.

“He was the guy we went to when we needed to run the ball, and he just [did well] week in and week out,” Bauer said. “He just turned it on that game, and it was good to see him show out especially against LT.”

The Lions’ offense roared to life once again, scoring on a two yard rush from Bryce Moskiewicz with just over a minute remaining, which brought the scoreline to 21-20. Instead of kicking the extra point, LT elected to go for two, which meant the game would be decided on this single play.

Central’s defense was able to hold firm again, and got enough pressure on Bryant to disrupt the two-point attempt, keeping the Red Devils ahead by one.

LT chose to onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, and were able to recover, meaning the Central defense would have to make one last stand. They did just that, and the Devils were able to claim a 21-20 victory, clinching a playoff berth and extending their winning streak over LT.

Getting the win over the rival team always means a lot for the players, but for Skokna it meant even more because of who was in attendance.

“[Winning] meant a lot to me,” Skokna said. “I had an older brother who lived in California at the time, and he was there. I was trying to put on for him since he had been the one training me since I was a little kid. It was just a team effort, and we put it together and got the job done.”

LT won their final regular season game 31-14 against Oak Park River Forest, but got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Curie. The Red Devils would also go on to win their final regular season game, triumphing 42-7 over Hinsdale South. Additionally, they won their first playoff game against Stevenson before being eliminated in the second round by Loyola Academy.

In the context of the season, the win against LT was likely Central’s biggest moment, and Oakey said he couldn’t have been happier for his teammates and to have won, given the circumstances.

“The guys played awesome,” Oakey said. “We had three main guys go down, and you can just roll over and [accept defeat] in that situation, or you can persevere and find what’s deep down inside of you and do what you need to do to win. That’s what we did, and I couldn’t have been more proud of the [team].”

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