Shepard overruns Oak Lawn
By Tim O’Brien For Sun-Times Media September 7, 2012 11:52PM
Shepard's Jimmy McClinton gains yards as Oak Lawn's Sean Altenburg tries to tackle him. | Judy Fidkowski~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 10, 2012 6:35AM
Through two games, Shepard’s Londell Lee has been the model of efficiency for the Astros.
The senior receiver had just six catches, but four of them were touchdowns.
Lee made it a third straight game with a score, finding the end zone early as Shepard rolled to a 32-8 South Suburban Red win Friday at Oak Lawn.
“Whatever helps the team win,” Lee said with a smile. “When I get the ball I’ve got to take advantage of it.”
Late in the first quarter, Shepard was deep in Oak Lawn territory but facing a fourth-and-6. Quarterback Jimmy McClinton (7-of-16, 69 yards) found Lee across the middle in stride as the duo connected on a 25-yard touchdown strike.
“The coaches said the safeties were spreading so I gave them a double move,” Lee said. “It worked, and Jimmy hit me perfectly across the middle.”
On the following possession, the Astros special teams came up huge. Payton Thomas blocked an Oak Lawn punt, cleanly picked the ball up and ran into the end zone untouched to put Shepard up 14-0 in the first quarter.
“We were trying to go hard every play like the coaches tell us,” Thomas said. “(As a defense), they were a little bigger than us so we had to use our speed, rip off angles and fight off the blocks.”
Shepard (2-1, 1-0) never looked back, only allowing a fourth-quarter touchdown with the result well in hand.
The Astros’ run game helped dominate time of possession, with Larenzo Lashley (10 rushes, 106 yards, 2 TDs), McClinton (7 rushes, 47 yards) and Devon Landfair (18 rushes, 84 yards) carrying the load. Lee finished with three catches for 33 yards.
Darius James paced Oak Lawn (0-3, 0-1), piling up 105 yards on 21 carries, but the Spartans were unable to sustain a drive. Ahmad Shatat’s 25-yard rushing TD in the fourth period was the lone score for Oak Lawn. Shatat converted the 2-point attempt.
