With Beutjer trying to re-create the WWS blueprint, Lyons falls short at DGN
Few people grew up in a better football environment than Lyons Township head coach Jon Beutjer.
He got to experience the full cycle of Wheaton Warrenville South's rise to a powerhouse program.
When he was young, his father would take him to Wheaton Central games. He and his brother got to serve as ball boys as the school morphed into Wheaton Warrenville South and started winning state titles. Then he threw for 490 yards and 6 touchdowns in the 1998 6A championship, leading WWS to its fourth state title of the 90s under coach John Thorne.
“Whether I was in grade school or middle school, I was always so excited for Friday night,” Beutjer said. “I was very blessed to be a part of all that. Coach Thorne, he taught me the game of football. He also taught me and every other Tiger how to win, but also how to do it the right way. He created the environment we all wanted to be a part of.”
Ahead of Friday's West Suburban Silver showdown against Downers Grove North, Beutjer had Thorne stop by and speak to the players on Monday.
It didn't help the bottom line. While Lyons got buried by bad field position early, Downers Grove North built a 17-0 halftime advantage and held on to win a defensive battle 17-10. DGN (7-1) kept at least a share of first place in the division.
The story of the first half was short fields. Downers North never ran a play inside their own territory before halftime. Baker Glomb kicked a pair of touchbacks in the first quarter and Lyons couldn't muster a first down on either drive.
The Lions (6-2) have this unusual trend of not punting on fourth down. Instead, they attempt a field goal, which can work just like a punt. But after the field goal punts, with decent returns, the Trojans started their first two drives at the Lyons 33- and 38-yard lines.
Grant Georgas had an 11-yard run for the first score, then Kevin Jay dove in from the one to make it 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter. DGN's next drive started at the 36 and ended with a 37-yard field goal by Glomb.
On Lyons' next “field goal” attempt, holder-quarterback Brendan McCabe took off and ran for a first down. Running back EJ Kuhlman led the Lions to the one-yard line, but just before halftime, a muffed snap and fumble recovery by DGN's Declan Davies ended with the first half with the score 17-0.
The second half was nearly the reverse, as Lyons' defense kept the Trojans to three three-and-outs in the second half. Kuhlman scored on a 5-yard run, then a Lyons drive stalled at the 5 and led to a short field goal.
Lyons got the ball back at its own 31 with a chance to tie, but was stalled by a holding penalty, then DGN ran out the clock. Georgas finished with 95 yards on 18 carries, while Kuhlman toted 26 times for 91 yards.
Beutjer's long-term goal is to bring Thorne's program-building example to Lyons. He's off to a decent start. Now in his seventh year as head coach, Beutjer's teams have gone 41-12 since the start of the 2022 season.
“We're heading in the right direction, but we're not satisfied with where we're at,” Beutjer said. “LT does not have a state championship in football. Our players know that, the community knows that, the school knows that. That's what we're working toward.”
Coaching was a natural progression considering Beutjer's background. After high school, he started at quarterback for both Iowa and Illinois, spent a season in the CFL, then was starting to get the hang of Arena Football when that league went dark in 2009 due to the recession.
So Beutjer became a student at North Central College, earning a teaching certificate, while helping coach the Cardinals when Thorne was head coach and his son Jeff was offensive coordinator. Beutjer was hired at Lyons in 2010.
Former WWS tight end Devon Finn is on his Lions coaching staff. In fact, DGN defensive coordinator Keith Lichtenberg is also a WWS grad. The ultimate football town created a number of future coaches — not surprising.
“I told our whole football program,” Beutjer said, “One of the reasons I'm coaching high school football was because of the impact coach Thorne had on me and so many of his former players.”
Beutjer appreciated that Thorne talked about how to carry on the lessons learned in football to become a good employee, friend, citizen, husband or father in the next phase of their lives.
“That's one of the reasons I love coaching so much,” Beutjer said. “We can talk about so many life lessons they can carry over with them. He (Thorne) always stressed being a champion on and off the field.”