Elgin falls to East Aurora in heartbreaking fashion
“I stripped it, saw open space and no was going to catch me,” was Nasir Phillips explanation as he got in the postgame handshake line.
The East Aurora junior running back / linebacker's play with 18 seconds left enabled the Tomcats to snatch victory from what looked like a historic Elgin win a 26-22 nail-biter Saturday night at Aurora Christian.
East (1-0), which had an 18-point lead erased in the fourth quarter, was trailing 22-18 and the Maroons (0-1) had the ball second-and-goal at the Tomcat 5-yard line with 21.2 seconds left to play. Elgin's Dae-Vion Arthur was angling for the end zone when Phillips stole the ball out of his grasp and raced 96 yards to the delight of East fans and the utter shock of Maroon faithful.
Instead of trading off losing streaks, Elgin now has lost is last 11 while East Aurora ended a nine-game skid by winning its season opener for the second straight year. The Tomcats beat Chicago's Noble/DRW Trading 46-8 on Aug. 29, 2015, but that is now as distant a memory as Roy E. Davis Field.
The Tomcats may be tempted to continue playing at their temporary home for this season, Aurora Christian's football field.
Elgin's last victory was a 31-13 triumph over rival Larkin on Oct. 17, 2014 during a 1-8 season. The Maroons, who lost to East Aurora 25-22 during the 2013 campaign, last defeated the Tomcats 35-0 in 2012 followed by an 18-game skid. Elgin's last season-opening triumph came against Dundee-Crown in 2011.
East Aurora quarterback Ziare Williams capped off a 14-play, 60-yard drive with a 1-yard carry on third-and-goal with 11:10 left in the second quarter. The pivotal play was a roughing-the-passer penalty on Elgin on third-and-9 from the 16 that led to a first-and-goal.
In the third quarter, Williams completed a 50-yard touchdown strike to Derrick Harden, who was flagged for a taunting penalty enforced on the kickoff. Both PAT rushes failed.
The Tomcats made it 18-0 when Phillips broke away for an 89-yard touchdown sprint that was a warm-up for his ultimate heroics. The point after pass failed leaving the tally 18-0 with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
Elgin turned primarily to Trevon Morris to run the offense and the switch worked. Morris connected on a 34-yard TD pass to Bridges. Kristan Flowers then passed to Bridges on the PAT to make it 18-8.
A Phillips fumble gave Elgin first-and-goal midway through the fourth and Shareick Morris carried in from a yard out followed by a Dae'Vion Arthur point after rush making it 18-16 with 8:36 remaining. The Maroons then forced a punt and began on their own 44 with Morris covering 35 yards off left end and two plays later Bridges scoring from 5 out on an a right end sweep. That PAT run failed.
East Aurora was scrambling for a positive finish when Elgin's Ray Panthier and Souriya Syavong sacked Andre Pearson to give the Maroons the ball with 1:53 to play. A breakaway got Elgin knocking on the door, but that's when Phillips stripped Elgin's potential victory.