Lion tamers

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers GREAT EMBRACE- Oak Park High head coach Dick Billingsley, left, and JV wide receiver coach Jim Romano celebrate the Eagles' 25-20 victory over rival Oaks Christian last Friday night at OCHS. Fence or no fence, the kids were coming onto the field- Kyle Shorten made sure of that.

Serving as an honorary cocaptain for his team, the Oak Park High senior put the finishing touches on Oaks Christian last Friday night by batting away Lion quarterback Chris Potter's final pass attempt on fourth-and-goal from the Eagles' 5-yard line to preserve a 2520 Oak Park victory at OCHS.

The hard-fought win, Oak Park's first against Oaks Christian since 2003, set off a wild celebration in the Eagles' student section as fans rushed the field in jubilation.

"This is the best thing ever. We've waited four years for this moment," said Shorten, who also had a 28-yard scoring reception, a 63yard punt return for a touchdown and a teamhigh 75 rushing yards.

"It was the ultimate team win tonight," he said amid the postgame chaos. "This is truly amazing."

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers REFS GOT IT RIGHT- A controversial call at the time, Oak Park's Kyle Shorten, center, clearly fumbles before his knee is down in the third quarter against Oaks Christian. Oak Park had been driving toward the OCHS goal line, but the referees ruled the play a fumble. Eagle senior linebacker Sean Westgate pressured Potter into making a quick throw on Oaks Christian's final offensive play. As the remaining seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock shortly thereafter, Westgate could hardly conceal his excitement on the sideline.

"Oh man, I was thinking of everything we'd ever gone through," Westgate said. "I was holding it in, holding it in, and when I knew the game was ours . . . oh man, it felt good let it go."

On a night where plenty of big plays were being made by the marquee names on the field, it was an oft-used tight end that recorded the game's most important catch.

Oak Park senior Chandler Larsen's 9yard touchdown reception with 11:14 remaining in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in the contest. Even though he hadn't had a catch all year, Larsen said he was the primary target on the third-down scoring play.

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers TO THE HOUSE- Oak Park's Brett Zeolla returns at 55-yard interception for a touchdown. "Usually I'm pretty reliable, but I've been having a rough year so far," Larsen said. "I overcame it in this game. It's really unbelievable."

The Lions (4-3, 1-1 in league) took their initial lead when Potter scored on a 16yard run halfway through the first quarter.

Shorten's 28yard scoring reception from quarterback Kyle Andrus at the 9:02 mark of the second quarter tied the contest at 7-7. Oak Park (5-2, 2-0) took the lead less than three minutes later on Shorten's punt return for a score. A missed extra point made it 13-7 Oak Park.

Oaks Christian running back Malcolm Jones helped the Lions reclaim the lead before halftime when he scored from 10 yards out for a 14-13 OCHS advantage.

Oak Park put together a long drive midway through the third quarter that ended when Shorten fumbled inside the Lions' 20. Despite the setback, the Eagles, who finished with 191 rushing yards, were moving the ball well by running behind left tackle Trevor Goehring, left guard Grayson Phillips and center Morgan Porras.

"Our job was to dominate the line of scrimmage, and that's what we did," Phillips said.

On the ensuing Oaks Christian possession, Eagle defensive back Brett Zeolla picked off Potter near the OCHS sideline and ran 55 yards to pay dirt. A failed twopoint conversion kept the score at 19-14 in favor of Oak Park.

Two plays later, Jones rumbled 70 yards for his second touchdown of the night, helping the Lions establish a 20-19 lead. The junior ball carrier finished with 204 rushing yards on 24 carries.

Five minutes after Jones' second score, Andrus hit Larsen with the game-winning touchdown.

"They played outstanding and deserved to win," said OCHS head coach Bill Redell, whose team lost its first league game in 18 tries. "I think we played well, but we made some mistakes. They made some mistakes, too. But the best team won tonight."

For Oak Park head coach Dick Billingsley, the victory was as sweet as they come. Since beating OCHS in the 2003 regular season, the Eagles had lost five consecutive times to Oaks Christian, including defeats in the '03, '04 and '06 CIF title games.

"This year, even though we were fairly evenly matched, we still knew they were a great football team," Billingsley said. "For us to defeat them, we had to do a lot of things right, and we did more things right in this game than we'd done in a long time."

Billingsley said it was a special win that should go a long way toward making believers out of those who doubt his team.

"Some guy from a San Fernando Valley paper said the only people who thought Oak Park could win this game was the Oak Park community," the coach said. "I'd say we got back at him right then and there."