Cougars Coach David Barthlow said in a pre-season interview that 2002 would be a learning experience for Lyle's young, undersized 8-man football team.
Last Friday's season opener proved him right as visiting Condon, Ore., taught Lyle a 56-18 lesson.
The loss ended the Cougars' two-game winning streak against the Blue Devils.
"Condon is a big and physical team, and we're not," Barthlow said of the Cougars, who suited up 12 of their 20 players for the non-league contest.
And, despite the lopsidedness of the final score, Barthlow felt Lyle played a good game against a pretty good opponent.
"Our young players really stepped up and worked hard for four quarters," he noted. "We have a few things to work on, but that's true with any team at this time of the year."
Lyle got standout efforts from senior Jesse Spalding, juniors Justin Carlson and James Stanovich, and sophomore Callan Johnson.
Spalding caught three passes for 115 yards and scored two of Lyle's three touchdowns on throws from Carlson, who went 4 for 6 for 125 yards, with one interception.
Johnson led the Cougars' ground game, rushing for 64 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts.
Defensively, Stanovich led Lyle with three solo tackles and 10 assists and two quarterback sacks.
Johnson had nine assists, two sacks and a fumble recovery. Carlson added three tackles and a sack. Freshman Doug Ginnett had one sack and also recovered a fumble.
The Blue Devils were led by senior quarterback David Bednar, who threw for three scores and ran for two, and senior Zach Lantis, who found the end zone twice.
Condon scored the game's first touchdown on its second possession of the first quarter.
Running back Kyle Barnett got behind Lyle's secondary and made a terrific adjustment on a Bednar pass to complete a 23-yard scoring play with 3:39 remaining in the opening quarter.
Lyle fumbles on its third and fourth possessions of the quarter resulted in Condon's second and third touchdowns.
Bednar capitalized on the first turnover by firing a 13-yard scoring strike to Riley Anderson at the 2:01 mark.
He then scored from 24 yards out on a fourth-and-nine scramble with 20 seconds left in the quarter to spark the Blue Devils a 24-0 lead.
Condon nearly made it 30-0 early in the second quarter when Josh Wright picked off Carlson's third-and-long pass deep in Lyle territory and returned it to the Cougars' 2-yard line.
Lyle got a break -- and 5 extra yards of breathing room -- when Condon was penalized for delay of game before it could run a play.
When it finally snapped the ball, Condon coughed it up and Johnson recovered for Lyle with 10:39 to go in the half.
Starting at their own 9-yard line, the Cougars ground out an impressive 10-play, 91-yard scoring drive that lasted five minutes and culminated in a 1-yard run by Johnson.
The key play of the drive was a Carlson pass to Spalding that moved the chains from Lyle's 34 down to Condon's 30.
But the Cougars couldn't contain Bednar. He took it to the house with 4:51 remaining in the second quarter, going 41 yards to cap a two-play, 45-yard series.
Lyle answered with a 55-yard scoring pass from Carlson to Spalding that completed a five-play, 65-yard march. That score made it 30-12.
And after Condon muffed reception of the kickoff and fell on the ball at its 10, it looked like the Cougars might get the ball back for one more shot at the end zone.
But on first down, Anderson ripped off a 90-yard run down his own sideline with 1:08 left that, if not for a clipping penalty, would have given his team a 36-12 advantage.
Still, the Blue Devils had pay dirt on their minds as Lantis broke free into Lyle's secondary two plays later.
Only a saving sideline tackle by Spalding at midfield prevented Condon from adding to its first-half total. Stanovich followed up with a sack on the next play to bring the first half to a close.
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