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Westmont topples Lisle

In honor of Old Plank Road, which was constructed in the 1850s to connect the towns of Lisle and Westmont and today provides the name for the trophy those two communities annually battle for on the gridiron, the Lions and Sentinels football squads attempted to roll up enough yardage Friday night to match the length of the ancient thoroughfare.

They may have come up short, but it doesn't mean they didn't give it their best effort. The squads combined for 1,018 total yards - more than half a mile's worth - and scored 15 touchdowns with Westmont eventually emerging with a scintillating 62-42 Interstate Eight Conference Small Division victory over the Lions.

Most of those yards were compiled by Westmont's pass-catch combo of Kyle Domin and Marquis Thomas. On the night Thomas caught 7 of Domin's passes for 328 yards and touchdowns of 69, 40, 82, 25 and 90 yards. The 5 touchdown hookups were a school record, as was the 90-yard score.

"It feels amazing," Thomas said. "I do it for my mom and my family. I liked all of them (touchdowns), except that 90-yard run; I got tired."

Equally tired were the Lisle (1-3, 0-2) defenders, who spent a fruitless night trying to corral Thomas, though coach Paul Parpet Sr. said they should have known what to expect.

"My concern all week was when they get in space," he said. "It's not scheme, it's tackling. You have to tackle. I told my (athletic director), if they get us in space and we don't tackle, it's gonna be a track meet."

If it was a track meet, Lisle (1-3, 0-2) was left in the starting blocks as Westmont (2-2, 1-1) scored three times in the first quarter - Thomas' first 2 touchdown catches sandwiched around Quintin Brown's 24-yard run - for a 20-0 lead.

The Lions caught a break when the snap on Westmont's first punt attempt sailed over Domin's head and Alex Lange scooped up the ball and ran it in from 4 yards out to get on the board.

But as was the case most of the night, the Sentinels answered right back, specifically with Thomas' third score and Brown's 26-yard return of a fumble.

Lisle quarterback Alec VanVolkenburg responded by directing a picture-perfect two-minute drill capped by his 12-yard scoring toss to Mark McGrath to make it 34-14 at halftime. Westmont scored twice in the first two minutes of the third quarter - Domin's 2-yard run and Thomas' fourth TD - to put the Lions behind the eight ball again.

In the second half VanVolkenburg threw for 178 yards and 3 touchdowns while also scoring on a 32-yard run, but Lisle could not get closer than the final margin.

"I got into a rhythm, just zoned out and did what I did, and the backs and receivers made a lot of good catches," VanVolkenburg said. "When you put up 42 points you think you should win, but you can't when you give up 62."

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