Hello LIONS faith-full, we here in the LIONS Den have been a little behind so we have two weeks to catch up, bear with us as we bring you up to speed.

                Lions Den Weekly (Week 6) – this week in football was a little crazy to say the least. No refs, no teams and our boys just looked flat. Here is the rundown.

                Mighty Might LIONS Report LIONS 0 Spartans 33

Well the score just about sums this one up, the Spartans of Romeoville came at our young LIONS with a big and fast team and it was all our young men could do to hold them at bay. But as always there was some good LION football being played. An excellent open field tackle by #25 Connell was huge and saved the LIONS from another Spartan TD. Big performance in the D line was produced by #34 Ustich and #21 Rapp that forced the Spartans to run outside into some nice open field tackling by #12 McGovern and #1 Bogardus and big sticks turned in by #54 O’hara, #20 Freeland and #4 Gratz. #10 Haese and #24 Pinkowski did rattle off some nice runs but like I mentioned before this good Spartan ball club was just a little too much for our young hero’s.

                Pee-Wee Lions Report (3-2) LIONS  2  (2-2) Bandits 0  

No this game was not won by a safety, the mighty Bandit ball club got to the scales late on a miscue as to where they were playing this week and combined with the no refs problem that I mentioned earlier unfortunately turned into a forfeit for the Bandits. The game was played as a dress up scrimmage game.  The coaches took this opportunity to try some new stuff that worked and found out that some of it did not work. The unofficial score of this game was Bandits 24 – LIONS 6. But as I say it was just a scrimmage.

                Lions Den Weekly (Week 7)  

This was homecoming for our young lads as they enjoyed their last home game of the season and what a great day it was to be a LION. From the bon-fire the night before (thank you Coach Haese) to the games during the day (great job boys and great football) the homecoming cook out and celebration afterwards (thank you Board Members and Coach’s Hulsey and Vaupel) and especially and most importantly to the MOMS for all that you do. But hey, let’s talk some football!

                Mighty Might LIONS Report   LIONS 0  Warriors 19

Boy O’ Boy O’ Boy I still am having a hard time understanding this one. Our fierce young LIONS came out of the gates roaring and charging at the Warriors and looked great as they stopped the Warriors time and again in the early going of the game. It was #8Patrick and #4 Gratz (2 sacks and a caused fumble) continually harassing the Warrior backfield along with #12 McGovern and #34 Ustich, a big fumble recovery from #7 Howe put the LIONS in great shape as Coach Ohara’s defense appeared to firing on all cylinders. The LIONS mighty “O” looked good also with #54 O’hara, #20 Freeland, #10 Haese and #24 Pinkowski pressing the ball down the field and thumping away at that good Warrior “D”, but then!!!   Our tough young men played well but somehow came out on the short side of the stick as the Warrior defense just would not break for us in the red zone and they held us at bay. A couple of big breaks by the Warriors put points on the board for them and they snuck out of the jungle with a “W”

Next week wraps up the Mighty Might season with our boys back in Algonquin to take on the Argonauts. Keep the fire burning boys we all believe in you.

                Pee-Wee LIONS Report (4-2) LIONS 13 (1-5) Warriors 6 (Double Overtime)

Holy smokes and holy cow what a game, double OT, homecoming and a LION win. What else can I say but DEFENSE,DEFENSE,DEFENSE. The LION “O” looked flat the first half of play against a good Warrior “D” and it showed as the Warriors took the lead into halftime 6-0 when a receiver snuck behind our coverage and burned us for a TD. The coaches took the boys at half time and fired them up! But the Warriors smelling a victory in the air for them did not leave anything to chance, so now, THE BATTLE WAS ON! The LION offense played ball control in the second half and attacked the warriors with the short game when finally very late in the third period #38 Weiss (short yardage specialist) ran over the backs of #69 Vaupel (tackle) #27 Rapp (guard) and #5 Beard (center) for the score from 4 yards out that knotted the game up 6-6 the extra point kick attempt was wide right and we were in a 4th quarter dog fight for the game. The mighty LIONS DEFENSE came up huge as they turned away the Warriors as the front “D” line of #12 Roewer, #31 Johnson, #21 Anderson, #27 Rapp, #69 Vaupel and backups #88 Glickenburger, #5 Beard and #28 Johnson left the Warriors nowhere to run and no time to throw as they combined for 6 sacks and 3 passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage and constant pressure on the Warrior QB. But the Warrior defense proved to be just as menacing as they continued to halt every LION offensive drive in the fourth. Then came overtime and the short game. Ball spotted at the 10 and 4 tries to score, our first attempt put the ball down to the two yard line and the Warriors held. Now it was their turn and the LIONS never let them inside the 5. Round 2 - #38 Weiss (Mr. short yardage) rumbled over the big 3 (#69,#27,#5) for 5 yards. 2nd down and five. Again! was the call from Coach Craft and #38 plowed it ahead for another 4, 3rd and one. Again! Came the call and #38 Weiss punched in the go ahead score 12-6. But Coach Craft was not done yet as he called for it again and #38 tacked on the extra point 13-6. Now it was up to Coach Johnson and that “D” to put the game to bed, and they did just that as they continued to attack the Warriors and pushed them back from the goal line that culminated with a big sack from #12 Roewer and #31 Johnson.

Now that’s football! and what good game played by both teams. The LIONS (5-2) will conclude the regular season against the Algonquin Argonauts (0-7) this Sunday 10/17

And then it’s PLAY-OFF time that’s right fans our boys are in the state play-offs this win guaranteed them a spot and a shot at November football.

One game at time and good luck LIONS on your run for the STATE title.

GO LIONS / LION PRIDE