While those outside the program might consider Oak Lawn’s 3-0 start to this season something of a surprise, the Spartans themselves knew this was a realistic idea.
And thanks to a dramatic defensive stop on a two-point conversion in the final two seconds of the game, Oak Lawn was able to edge visiting Shepard 28-27 in a South Suburban Red matchup on Sept. 12.
“The kids were obviously super excited to just get the win and start off the season hot,” Spartans coach Ryan Pattison said. “The good thing is it doesn’t sound like it’s coming as a surprise to them that we’re having success.
“I think it’s because they put the work in to make it happen. Although it may be shock to the outside world, in the locker room this is what we expect to do. We expect to go out and compete in football games and the kids are doing a great job of that.”
On the two-point run, Shepard quarterback Billy Massey was denied by cornerback Isaac Gibson and defensive end Jayden Schlosser, who combined on the game-winning tackle.
Schlosser also added 77 yards rushing on 13 attempts and found the end zone on a 6-yard run. Kamari Polk carried five times for 90 yards and scored on runs of 10 and 68 yards for the Spartans. Danny Strelow had 79 yards passing while Alex Soto threw a 28-yard TD strike to Luke Mahoney.
For Oak Lawn, which entered the season with a 17-game losing streek, this is its first 3-0 start in at least 21 or 22 years according to Pattison. Another potential achievement for the Spartans this season is an IHSA state playoff berth. Oak Lawn (3-0, 1-0) has made eight state postseason appearances in its history with the last coming in 2009.
“We make goals at the beginning of the season with our kids and that’s one of the goals for this season,” Pattison said. “Yes, it’s a goal of ours but we’re really, really big on taking it one week at a time and not getting complacent and still trying to get better.
“The message to the team (Saturday) was way to fight and this was a great win, but the best part about all of this is we still have room to grow and get better. I saw a lot of kids nodding their heads and they agreed that we can get better from last night. I think that’s awesome.”
The Astros (0-3, 0-1) had drawn to within 28-27 on a 9-yard TD pass from Massey (13 of 25 passing, 228 yards) to Evan Heiden (seven receptions, 112 yards). It capped a drive covering 59 yards in seven plays and beginning with 45.7 seconds to play in the game.
Noah Kehl (six carries, 67 yards) and Krystian Koscak (16 carries, 40 yards) also scored rushing touchdowns for Shepard.
“It was a full four quarters of football (Friday) night,” Shepard coach John Rone said. “We made too many mistakes early and late down the stretch. But I love the way our guys competed to the end and as a young team, we’ll grow from it.
“It’s been a tough start to the season. We’ve played some good competition, but our guys are learning while being resilient through our journey to being the best team we can be.”