As far as Ryland Avants is concerned, busy is good.

This fall, the senior was a member of both the soccer and football teams at Lyons.

On Oct. 31, Avants made his most significant contribution of the season to the football team, drilling a 31-yard field goal on the last play of the game to lift the Lions past visiting York 24-21 in a Class 8A playoff opener.

“Ryland is one of the best players on our soccer team and he’s got a really, really strong leg,” Lyons coach Jon Beutjer said. “… With his composure and his focus, he knows what it takes. He’s got a really strong leg and kudos to our whole team, right? You’ve got to get the snap and you’ve got to get the hold and then obviously, we got the kick there.”

Any nerves after both teams had called timeouts in the final 0.6 seconds of the game?

“Not really,” Avants said. “I’m used to that kind of stuff when it comes to playing soccer and (taking) penalty kicks. I’m able to keep my composure in those moments.

“It was definitely a busy schedule, but it was a really fun time. Going from football to soccer was a little bit difficult with the two campuses here. … It was hard to go from the south campus to the north campus for soccer, but I was able to balance it easily and there weren’t any overlaps.”

Not bad for someone who had never kicked in a high-school football game before this season.

“I got a text from two boys on the team here, Roman Sosnovyy and Jimmy Hillmann,” Avants said. “They said they needed a kicker, so I came out. …Being a soccer player definitely helped.”

Lyons (8-2) was playing its West Suburban Silver rival for the second time in as many weeks. After Henry Duda (31 carries, 272 yards) scored on a 73-yard run just 21 seconds into the game, the Lions drew to within 7-3 on Avants’ 40-yard field goal at the 7:56 mark of the first quarter.

Avants’ 25-yard field goal at 7:48 of the second quarter, made it 7-6. After Duda’s 5-yard scoring run increased the Dukes’ advantage to 14-6, Lyons narrowed the deficit to 14-13 with 37.3 seconds remaining in the first half on a 12-yard pass from Jack Slightom (13-of-23 passing, 153 yards) to Tyler Stamm.

A 2-yard TD run by EJ Kuhlman (30 carries, 146 yards) and subsequent 2-point conversion run gave the Lions a 21-14 margin at 6:05 of the third quarter. Duda’s 75-yard TD run 14 seconds into the fourth quarter leveled the score at 21-all.

The Dukes, who reached the 8A final last season, finished 6-4.

Class 7A

Moline 24, Andrew 0: Andrew lost on the road to finish 5-5.

Richards 33, Edwardsville 14: Noah Escobedo threw TD passes of 23 and 33 yards to Jaiden Henry for host Richards (9-1). Escobedo also found Carmelo Palumbo on a 10-yard TD toss. Ahmad Buchanan scored on runs of 3 and 46 yards for the Bulldogs. Richards hosts Hersey (8-2) at 7 p.m. Nov. 7.

St. Rita 30, Rockford Guilford 20: Langston Smith returned an interception for a touchdown in the first quarter while John Fennell and Kyle Keyser also added picks for visiting St. Rita (6-4). Saul Ruiz (33-yard field goal), Brandon Johnson Jr. (3-yard run), Steven Armbruster (1-yard run) and Fennell (11-yard run) also scored for the Mustangs. St. Rita hosts Lincoln-Way Central at 2 p.m. Nov. 8.

Class 6A

Bradley-Bourbonnais 42, Shepard 21: Aarien Lee scored on a 9-yard run as well as on a 20-yard pass from Billy Massey for visiting Shepard (4-6) in Class 6A. Massey also threw a 36-yard TD to Brendin Thomas.

Nazareth 42, Hononegah 13: Charles Calhoun scored on runs of 3, 14 and 23 yards for host Nazareth (9-1). Jackson Failla connected with Jake Cestone (58 yards) and Eddie McClain (42 yards) on TD passes while Chris Kasky returned a blocked punt 34 yards for a
touchdown. Nazareth plays at Wheaton_Warrenville South in the second round.

Rolling Meadows 29, Riverside-Brookfield 23: Jacob Retana scored on a 5-yard run while also scoring on a 22-yard pass from Braeden Novak for host R-B (8-2). Novak hit Xavier Mrozik-DeJesus for a 37-yard TD pass while John Bielobradek booted a 30-yard field
goal for the Bulldogs’ other points.