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http://www.pioneerlocal.com/clarendonhills/sports/highschools/1117871,ch-hcltrivalry-082808-s1.article
Hinsdale Central, LT rivalry one for the ages August 28, 2008 By KEN RYAN When Jim Bouchard was a senior at Hinsdale Central High School in 1979, he wasn't surprised with what he saw while leaving his house the morning leading up to a football game against rival Lyons Township. His family's basketball backboard had a big LT on it and the rocks around the house were all painted the LT school colors of blue and yellow. "I was mad," Bouchard recalls. "You're kind of mad at first, but then you laugh because you know it's just part of the rivalry." The prank certainly served as motivation for Bouchard. He caught the game's first touchdown pass to give the Red Devils the lead only to see LT rally in the second half to pull out the victory. "I still remember the game to this day and it's not a pleasant memory for me," said Bouchard, who is a member of the Hinsdale Central Foundation Hall of Fame as a three-sport standout and was named the football team's Most Valuable Player in 1978 under coach Gene Strode. "It was definitely the biggest and most intense rivalry we had. It's always a packed stadium and Hinsdale Central and LT was just a war. We'd all have pregame jitters with our heart rates pumping and the adrenaline flowing. After the first hit, you always sensed this wasn't going to be a regular football game because the hits were more aggressive and hard." Bouchard's sentiments have been shared by many through the years. History of the longtime rivalry can be traced as far back as 1896 when Lyons Township was referred to as La Grange. The two schools are located just 3.1 miles apart, breeding familiarity with the athletes growing up. While 1972 LT graduate John Keeve considered the basketball rivalry with the Red Devils even bigger during his playing career, the football game against Hinsdale Central was always circled on the schedule. Keeve was an offensive and defensive tackle at LT before playing at Kent State University, where he was a teammate of Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Jack Lambert for a season. "Hinsdale was always one of the biggest games because it was a crosstown rivalry and the game was always for bragging rights," said Keeve, whose daughter, Jill, also is familiar with the rivalry after playing basketball and volleyball at LT before recently graduating. "We'd always get up to play them and I know they got up to play against us. I don't remember any bad blood between the teams or any derogatory words during the games. It was just always a very tough, physical game. It was always a great event." Hinsdale Central has dominated the rivalry in recent years, having won 11 of the last 12 meetings, including a 22-7 victory in the only playoff game ever played between the two schools in 2004. Reliving that playoff game is not easy for former LT quarterback Nick Saraniecki, who separated an AC joint in his right shoulder early in the second quarter and was forced to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines and later required surgery. "We hated Central," Saraniecki said. "It was always a bitter rivalry and the biggest game of the year. Getting hurt in a playoff game was bad enough, but it was even tougher because it was against Central. We were only down a little at the time and I couldn't do anything about it. I was mad watching the game. We didn't like losing to them at all." The rivalry doesn't always diminish the respect the team's have for each other. Larry Yena, a 1974 LT graduate who was an all-state linebacker as a senior and went on to play football at the University of Arizona, was invited to Hinsdale Central's postseason awards banquet after being voted the best opposing player the Red Devils faced during the season. "It was always a big game," Yena said. "There's more tension and you just get excited to play when it's a rivalry game. We were the No. 1 ranked team to start the season that year, then we lost our first game but went undefeated until we played Hinsdale Central. They beat us on a bad snap on a short field goal or something. It was our only conference loss and it hurt even more because it was the last year that there weren't playoffs." The next showdown between the two schools is Sept. 12 at LT's Bennett Field in Western Springs. "I would tell the players at Hinsdale Central to be ready because the LT kids come with their ears pinned back and ready to go," Bouchard said. "Hinsdale Central is the biggest game for them every year. You have to be ready to play from the first snap on because they are out for Hinsdale every time." © Copyright 2008 Digital Chicago, Inc. |
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