Joliet Catholic’s usually well-oiled offensive machine misfired too often Friday night, and Lyons Township took advantage.

The Lions, coming off their best season in 54 years, showed no reason to doubt a repeat performance. Their 24-14 victory over the Hilltoppers at Joliet Memorial Stadium in the opener for each team was corralled by perfect execution of basic football.

For instance: their final scoring drive.

It was only a field goal, an ugly 20-yarder by Dylan Wulf barely clearing the upright at that, but the boot that moved Lyons up two scores and set the final margin with 3:09 remaining came on the 20th play of a drive that commenced at Lyons’ 1-yard line and consumed 11 minutes, 56 seconds.

“It’s definitely something you want to be on the other side of,” Hilltoppers coach Jake Jaworski said. “We had a couple chances to get out of it, too.”

He was thinking of the two fourth-down situations the Lions converted, and by good margins, to keep the drive alive and the clock ticking down.

“We’ve got to find a way to get off the field,” Jaworski said. “And we still had a chance (on the subsequent series) on a third down.”

Instead, a Lucas Simulick third-down pass was broken up, and there went the last chance to close the gap. Simulick was 15 of 19 for 166 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown pass to Craig Peacock in the second quarter, but was outplayed by Lyons senior Jack Slightom, who went 14 of 15 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

It was that kind of a night for the Hilltoppers. Their rushing yardage computed to just 21 yards on 19 carries thanks to a 39-yard fumble loss by Simulick. But the number of carries is what might keep Jaworski from a good sleep.

Only four starters returned on each side of the ball for Lyons, but even with a largely new backfield, the squad lost none of its punch. The Lions piled up three touchdowns in the second quarter to jump to a 21-7 intermission lead, and then stayed ahead.

Slightom, who played in mop-up situations last year, proved the wait to start was worth it, tossing a pair of touchdown passes and hitting 10 of 11 passes in the first half alone. The touchdown throws – to Owen Matela for 4 yards and E.J. Kuhlman for 7 – first snapped a 7-all deadlock and then expanded the Lions’ lead with four seconds remaining in the half.

“I was pretty open,” Kuhlman said. “The quarterback made a great throw.”

Slightom hardly looked like someone making his first varsity start. He threw for 181 yards on a 14 of 15 night.

“He’s been a leader all summer,” Kuhlman said. “He really gave us the mentality to come out here tonight.”

Joliet Catholic’s first score came on Peacock’s reception of Simulick’s pass with 4:51 left in the first half. Peacock outran Patrick Cheaney en route to the end zone. The Hilltoppers closed the gap to 21-14 with their best drive of the night to start the third quarter, Anthony Finnigan scoring on a 1-yard plunge, but clock-controlling Lyons allowed the Hilltoppers only two more possessions.