Lloyd Yates leads way as Oak Park-River Forest dumps Dundee-Crown

THE SKINNY

Once fourth-seeded Oak Park-River Forest got going, there was no stopping the Huskies as they rolled to a 35-13 win in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs. OPRF led 13-seeded Dundee-Crown 14-7 at halftime, then dominated the second half, spoiling the first postseason appearance since 1994 for the Chargers.

TURNING POINT

Midway through the second quarter, Dundee-Crown (6-4) trailed 14-7 and faced a fourth-and-inches at the Oak Park 10. Caleb Parson was stuffed at the line for no gain. OPRF (9-1) scored the next 21 points on three Lloyd Yates touchdown passes.

THE STAR

Yates was spectacular, especially in the second half. The 6-foot-2 junior was 4-for-4 after halftime for 139 yards and three touchdowns. Yates finished 11-for-16 for 252 yards. He also ran for 81 yards and a TD on nine carries.

BY THE NUMBERS

Dundee-Crown’s Caleb Parson rushed for 156 yards on 31 carries and had touchdown runs of 46 and three yards, but it wasn’t enough as the Chargers dropped to 0-4 all-time in the postseason. The Huskies’ Simmie Cobbs caught six passes for 146 yards and had touchdown catches of 23 and 24 yards. OPRF’s Jamal Baggett rushed for 104 yards and a TD on just eight carries.

QUOTABLE

“In the first half we had a lot of penalties that didn’t go our way. We wanted to eliminate those in the second half. I gave the ball to my receivers and they made plays.” — Yates