Travis Stamm’s big night helps unbeaten Lyons roll

Travis Stamm of Lyons was noticeable in the first half Nov. 8, grabbing a pair of touchdown passes, but the savvy senior noticed something that the average fan likely did not.

The Lions, in his estimation, were flat, even leading Downers Grove South by a pair of touchdowns.

So, like a good captain, he took it upon himself to send a message.

“I made it a point to talk to the guys and say, ‘Look, we’re up by two scores out there and we’re playing terrible. If we go out there and do what we know we can do, we’ll win by a lot.”

They did, cruising to a 63-20 win in the second round of the Class 8A playoffs in Western Springs. Lyons (11-0) hosts Naperville Central (10-1) in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday.

It wasn’t Stamm’s first halftime talk. He recalled speaking up when the Lions trailed Downers Grove North by two touchdowns at the break. That rally was ferocious. This one was off the charts, punctuated by a three-touchdown outburst in a 43-second span of the third quarter.

Stamm finished with four touchdowns, three on passes from Dom Pisciotti, and a fourth on one of his three interceptions of Dominic West. Stamm, an Illinois State commit, did everything but kick off and lead the band.

He said he’d never had a better night individually, but added it wasn’t about him.

“It’s bigger than that,” Stamm said. “We’re going to the quarterfinals and no LT team has ever made it past the quarterfinals. For me, the fact we won in this dominant fashion means moving forward, we have to continue with the pace we have and keep playing this kind of football.”

The avalanche began with his second interception. On the next play, Pisciotti hit Mack Long with a 67-yard touchdown pass, with Long dashing through three potential tacklers in the last 40 yards. 

The Lions’ Anthony Pearson recovered a fumbled kickoff, and on the next play, Pisciotti found Stamm wide open for a 30-yard score. Fifteen seconds had elapsed.

The Mustangs finally held on to the ball, but only for one play. Stamm picked off West again, and motored in from the Mustangs 17. It was now 49-14, and went on from there.

Pisciotti finished with five touchdowns on a 12-of-14 effort covering 323 yards. That his first pass from intercepted meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The Lions asserted themselves early, with Danny Carroll (20 carries, 160 yards) taking advantage of a blown coverage by a linebacker to race 97 yards for the game’s first touchdown midway through the first quarter.

Downers Grove South used a big running play of its own – a 73-yard scamper by Kayden Smith to the Lyons 7 – to set up Joseph Vieyra’s game-tying dash 40 seconds later. 

But Lyons answered that score with a six-play drive that climaxed with Pisciotti’s 21-yard pass to Stamm, the harbinger of things to come. It was one of six such connections in the first half alone. The last also was a touchdown, Stamm fending off a defender for a 26-yard strike and a 28-14 advantage.

In between Stamm’s touchdown receptions, Carroll flew over the pylon for an 11-yard score.

Lyons coach Jon Beutjer was only looking ahead, telling his charges some discipline was lacking.

“That’ll be the emphasis next week in practice – discipline,” he said. “But there were a lot of great plays out there. Hey, we’re playing November football.”