Lisle rolls past Herscher

Effort was the focus this week for the Lisle Lions (3-1), as they played a complete football game and defeated the Herscher Tigers (1-3) by a final score of 42-10 in an Illinois Central Eight Conference matchup Friday night.

The Lions credited a strong week of practice that placed an emphasis on effort, intensity, and playing through the whistle, as their defense set the tone all night long by creating 3 turnovers and neutralizing the Tigers offense.

"Eleven helmets to the football … 11 souls to the football," said two-way Lions standout Michael Walker. "That's what we preach every day in practice and that's what we came out today and produced."

Walker mentioned the pursuit drills that the Lions run everyday of the week, which require every defender on the field to swarm the ball carrier, as an example of the handwork the Lions put in during practices.

That hustle paid off midway through the second quarter. Walker raced down a loose Tigers snap and recovered it in stride as he went untouched into the end zone from 37 yards out.

Walker was responsible for a pair of Lions touchdowns, as he also trotted in from 3 yards out on offense and ended the evening with 48-yards on four carries.

His defensive score made it a three possession game and the Tigers could not recover. Their lone touchdown came with four minutes to play in the half and cut the deficit to 19 and a third quarter field goal brought them to within two possessions; however, the Lions went back to work and sealed the victory with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

"Don't let up until the final whistle blows, that was our whole mentality on defense," said Aidan Lombardo, the Lions quarterback and defensive back. "When they scored there in the second quarter, we were mad. We didn't want them to score again."

Lombardo had himself a game, as he completed 5 of 6 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown while also running for 67 yards and grabbing an interception while on defense.

"Practice sets the tone for every week," added Lombardo, when asked about how his team was able to bounce back from a tight week three loss. "We go so hard during practice, so when we slack during a game, you can tell. So that was our whole mentality during the game."

"Four to six seconds is all you need, during a play," Walker said. "So give it your all in that four to six seconds."