The Chicago Lions pulled off a huge result to keep them in the hunt for 2^nd place in the Midwest-West DI club league.

The Lions entered the day at 4-2, just a hair ahead of 3-2 Metropolis. With the Minneapolis club having a game in hand, and the Lions facing previously-undefeated Palmer, the Lions were looking at the business end of 3^rd place.

However, inspired by some improved performances and playing for club president Keith Brown, who is in the hospital with an illness, the Lions exploded to beat Palmer College 46-19.

“I guess it could be called an upset,” said Lions Head Coach Marty Wiggins. “But in terms of what we expected and what we knew we were capable of, no, it wasn’t an upset.”

Wiggins ran on basically the same squad he has used this fall. Prop and captain John Vitale was back in the lineup, and perhaps back to a full 100% for the first time this season. His leadership helped, and the Lions played a strong team game to win.

“We’ve been talking about consistency and we got more of that today,” said Wiggins. “We scored in a lot of different ways – we scored on the wings, we won a tighthead and shoved it over. It was a good effort.”

The Lions needed it because Metropolis defeated the Milwaukee Westside Harlequins 38-32 in Milwaukee.

Head Coach Nate Osborne said his club was unhappy with giving up 58 points to Palmer last week, and worked hard on their defense. Despite the fact they gave up 32 points, Osborne said it was a better performance on defense.

“We didn’t miss a lot of tackles,” said Osborne. “We gave up a series of tries on kickoffs, which was strange. But overall it was a better game.”

Flanker Nick Johnson got Metropolis plenty of go-forward, and they scored those crucial four tries to keep pace with the Lions.

Palmer will still finish 1^st in the Midwest-West, barring a blowout loss to Milwaukee coupled with a Lions rout of Metropolis next week. That’s unlikely. However, the Lions and Metropolis game in Chicago next Saturday now looms as a key game. The winner should secure 2^nd place, and being 2^nd means you have a shot at the #2 seed from the Midwest (and a home game) in the Round of 32 playoffs with teams from the South. Finishing 3^rd means you can only get the 4^th seed.