LT opened the season with a disappointing loss to the Carl Sandburg Eagles, 24-13 at Bennett Field Aug. 24. LT had chances to pull away from Sandburg early, but penalties and mental mistakes were too much to overcome.

Before the game, LT honored their senior players and families with a special pregame ceremony as a part of their annual Senior Night.

Players were escorted by their parents for player introductions and parents were given ribbons to commemorate the day. Seniors on the athletic training staff and marching band were also recognized.

In his first game as the starter, quarterback J.J. Dutton ‘19 finished with three interceptions and one touchdown. On LT’s second drive of the game Dutton used his legs to push the ball down field to set up a Sean Rickman ‘19 touchdown to put LT in front 6-0 with 4:32 left in the 1st quarter.

“[He] played really well,” Coach Kurt Weinburg said. “He made some nice plays with his arm and with his legs. I was really pleased.”

Before the end of the first quarter, Sandburg cut LT’s lead in half as they had to settle for a field goal after LT’s defensive stop in the red zone.

LT’s offense was stagnant throughout the entire second quarter as they could not cash in on any of their drives. A blocked punt by Sandburg set up their 6-yard touchdown score and put them up 10-6 going into halftime.

After halftime, LT regrouped and took a 13-10 lead on Rickman’s second touchdown of the game with 8:33 left in the third quarter.

A key holding penalty while at midfield erased LT’s chance to pad their lead. The penalty would come back to haunt LT as Sandburg would later score on a 42-yard run, to put Sandburg ahead 17-13.
For Weinburg, fixing the mental errors is crucial.

“We made way too many mistakes. You just can’t do that,” Weinburg said.

Sandburg dominated the entire fourth quarter and score another touchdown to close out the game.

Even with the loss, Coach Weinburg was proud of the team’s level of fight and effort.

“[I liked] the way we played hard and I think there’s a lot of positives to take away for next game,” Weinburg said.

LT’s next game is Friday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at Hinsdale South.