Wrap-up: Falcons find win they needed

After two near-misses left Wheaton North out of the state football playoffs the last two seasons, the Falcons left little doubt in earning a berth Friday night at West Chicago.

Taking the field with a 4-4 record and in need of victory No. 5 to end a four-year playoff drought, the Falcons used the running game of Mike Trumpy and an 84-yard kickoff return by Jack DeAno to knock off the Wildcats 44-21.

Trumpy rushed for 3 touchdowns and 119 of his 150 yards in the first half as the Falcons (5-4, 3-4) built a 31-14 lead at the half and then held off West Chicago (2-7, 1-6).

"We've been working so hard and this had been our goal, so this is huge for the school," said Trumpy, who scored on runs of 4, 11 and 57 yards. "It's been a few years since we made the playoffs. I'm just ecstatic right now."

After the Falcons had taken a 14-0 lead following Trumpy's 11-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, West Chicago answered quickly to cut the lead to 14-7. Ethan Burau's 36-yard kick return gave the hosts the ball at midfield and Chris Wille promptly hooked up with Trevor Bodie on a 51-yard scoring pass.

Moments later the momentum was back on Wheaton North's side. DeAno scooped up a bouncing kick at his own 16-yard line and raced up the middle of the field. He cut past Wildcats kicker A.J. Romanelli and raced to the end zone for the back-breaking score.

"That kickoff hurt us. It was the second one in two weeks," said West Chicago coach John Walters. "But congrats to them. They're playoff bound. The coaches do a great job over there and they had the kids prepared to play."

The Falcons turned the ball over on their first possession when West Chicago's Barrett Sorato caused a fumble that Tom Wilson recovered at the Falcons' 38. But the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs and a 47-yard pass from Eric Terrazas to Corey Thonn set the stage for the first of Trumpy's three scores.

"We just came in and the line did great and the fullbacks were great," said Trumpy, who finished with 26 carries for 150 yards. "It's not me."

Falcons coach Matt Foster agreed that his line was strong, but disagreed that Trumpy had little to do with his team's running attack.

"It was Trumpy and the line," Foster said. "He's an unbelievable back, but it starts with the line."

Last year a missed extra point cost Wheaton North a shot at beating Naperville North and making the post-season. Two years ago a fumble at the 1-yard at West Chicago left the Falcons just shy of moving on.

On Friday the offense, defense and special teams made sure win No. 5 was claimed. On top of DeAno's big kick return, the Falcons got a 52-yard field goal from Dan DeMerchant.

-- Stan Goff

Aurora Christian 54, Wheaton Academy 6:ŒAurora Christian had a chance to accomplish another milestone for its program.

If the Eagles could get by Wheaton Academy, a first undefeated regular season was within reach.

With that motivation and the extra emotion senior night always provides, Eagles senior Michael Friend took matters into his own hands.

Friend caught 3 of quarterback Jordan Roberts' 5 first-half touchdown passes and also had 3 interceptions on defense as Aurora Christian rolled to a 54-6 win Friday night.

"A lot of our seniors have been playing together since middle school, and we have all grown together as brothers," said Friend. "When you have that type of bond, you go that extra mile for each other. We know that everybody is doing their job, staying with their assignments, it makes it a lot easier."

"It started the day after the Westmont loss last year. (A record of) 6-4 just didn't sit well with these kids," said Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe, whose team improved to 9-0 overall, 6-0 in the Private School League.

"I could see it in their eyes when I talked to them after that game, and then the next day, when over 60 kids showed up and started lifting, I knew this was going to be a special group."

Aurora Christian senior Sean O'Boyle returned the game's opening kickoff to the Wheaton Academy (2-7, 1-5) 38. Seven plays later Roberts hit Eric Andersen with a 13-yard touchdown pass that gave the Eagles an early lead.

The Eagles' defense took the game over. It forced a three-and-out then blocked Wheaton Academy's punt, which senior Joe Redmond scooped up and took into the end zone.

Aurora Christian held the Warriors without a first down on their next possession as well, then Friend made his first touchdown catch of the game, a 12-yard grab for a 20-0 lead.

Roberts hit senior John Smith with an 11-yard screen pass for a touchdown.

Wheaton Academy then hit for a big play on Josh Kruel's great leaping catch of a pass from Brain Pell for a 54-yard touchdown.

Roberts and Friend hooked up again on a 5-yard score to answer the Warriors, a 4-play drive that covered 66 yards in just 1:08.

Friend then picked off passes on the next two Warrior possessions, both setting up touchdowns that put the game out of reach before halftime.

"They have definitely built their program in a great way," said Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson. "They are a similar school to us, a Christian school, and that is where we want to be someday, 9-0 and conference champs, headed to the state playoffs.

"That is a dream that could be years down the road but that is where I have my sights set toward. Hats off to them, they are the best team we have seen all season, they are stacked at every position. I hope they win it all."

-- Chris Cuitino

Lake Park 48, Elgin 41:ŒFriday night's game in Roselle had no playoff implications on the line, but that didn't stop either Lake Park or Elgin from leaving everything they had on the field.

The Maroons clawed their way back from a 21-point deficit in the final 13 minutes of the game, only to have Lake Park quarterback Larry Nawrot engineer a 63-yard scoring drive in 1:58 to give the Lancers a 48-41 Upstate Eight Conference victory.

Lake Park's special teams kept the home team in the game, blocking two punts in the third quarter and returning both for touchdowns to stake the Lancers (4-5, 3-4) to a 41-20 advantage.

"We thought maybe during the week of practice we could get (their punter)," Lake Park assistant coach Dave Mikes said. "The first one especially kind of got us going, and then the second one turned out to be bigger than we thought."

Junior defensive back Nick Wiley busted through the Elgin line for Lake Park's first punt block with 8:30 remaining in the third quarter. Linebacker Rocky Sansone picked up the loose ball and scurried 20 yards into the end zone for a 33-20 Lancers lead.

Lake Park got to Elgin's next punt nearly two minutes later when 5-foot-8 junior Kevin Thomas barreled through the line and blocked Adam Fones' punt with his body. Senior Frank Cataudella retrieved the bouncing ball and led a host of Lancers into the end zone for a seemingly comfortable three-score advantage.

Elgin (3-6, 1-5) refused to quit despite the 21-point deficit. The Maroons kept feeding handoffs to running back Kenny Williams, who responded with 3 second-half touchdowns that kept Elgin in the game.

"That's great courage and character," Elgin coach Tom Kim said of his team's comeback. "A lot of 16- and 17-year-old kids playing varsity football would have quit and folded like a house of cards. These guys stuck together as a team.

"We've been in a couple of situations like this throughout the season, and they don't quit. They just keep battling back."

Facing second-and-21 from Elgin's 32-yard line, Nawrot found running back Will Kalish along the left sideline for a 23-yard gain. Three plays later, Nawrot eluded the Elgin pass rush and connected with George Mack for the game-winning score.

"It was a great game for high school football," Mikes said. "It was fun to be here. Two teams not going to the playoffs, it was like a playoff game for us so it was a great victory."

-- Matthew McClarey

Hinsdale South 35, Addison Trail 22:ŒIn a game featuring two teams that wouldn't be making playoff reservations, there wasn't much on the line Friday night when Addison Trail visited Hinsdale South.

Nothing much, that is, except memories. In the end, it was the Hornets that left the field with smiles as they posted a season-ending 35-22 West Suburban Gold victory in Darien.

"It's been a rough season, but we're all a tight group of guys, we picked each other up through the season and the coaches never gave up on us," said Hornets senior running back Dan Hopp. "It feels so much better when you win the last one. That was our goal all week."

Hopp saved his best for last as he rolled up 167 yards on 24 carries and provided the capper when he sprinted 37 yards for the clinching score with 1:18 to play. Earlier in the fourth quarter, his 8-yard run put the Hornets (3-6, 2-4) in front for good, 21-14.

Though the Blazers (1-8, 1-5) ended a long season, it was the joy of the journey that stood out.

"We played like there was nothing to lose, played to the last whistle, played to win, but it just didn't happen," said Blazers senior Vince Beachem, who concluded his career with 5 catches for 109 yard, 25 yards rushing, a pair of 2-point conversion catches and an interception.

"This team had a family bond. We were like one and no one can take that away from us. It's not about wins and losses, it's about having fun."

The fun started for Addison Trail first as it concluded the opening drive with Michael D'Ambrose's 1-yard plunge, the first of his 3 rushing touchdowns on the night.

Hinsdale South answered right back as Darrin Kidd sprinted 72 yards.

The game was tied 14-14 at the half as D'Ambrose's 8-yard run was matched by Gary Mayberry's 24-yard TD pass to Jon Dimitrijevic.

After a scoreless third quarter and Hopp's first score, the Hornets looked to put the game away when Maurice Cole scooped up a Blazers fumble and sped 58 yards to make it 28-14.

Addison Trail answered with D'Ambrose's 3-yard run before Hopp locked it up.

"One thing I told the kids is that they never carried (the losses) to practice, they were always hustling, always working and tonight they really wanted to win and they were able to do it," Hinsdale South coach Alex Bitto said. "I was happy to see the seniors really pull it out."

-- Chris Traczek

Downers Grove South 31, Leyden 7:ŒAs if playing on the road against a playoff bound team wasn't difficult enough, the Mustangs had to deal with senior night at Leyden.

And oh, yeah, the winner was going to take home the division championship.

It sure looked like a daunting task.

But the Mustangs made it look that way, defeating the Eagles 31-7, and gaining even more momentum as the 9-0 squad will open the playoffs at home next weekend.

"Here is a team that this is fighting for their lives," Mustangs coach John Belskis said. "When you get a chance to go into Week 9, on your senior night and have a chance to tie for a conference championship, you're going to be at your best. So I think that was advantageous to see them play the way they did."

Nick Brown filled in admirably for the injured Scottie Williams. The senior runner rushed for 85 yards on 23 carries and scored 3 touchdowns, including the game's first score, a 29-yard pass from Chandler Whitmer on third-and-23.

"I pretty much went untouched. I got to thank my line and all of my blockers," Brown said. "The tight end went 29 yards down the field to make a terrific block for me to get in."

It was that kind of night in the first half for the Mustangs as Whitner went 7 of 11, throwing for 120 yards in the first half.

"We knew what the defense was doing. We just ran good routes and the line blocked well," Whitner said.

What went well for Whitner in the first half, seemed to fall apart for him in the second half as the signalcaller finished the night 9 of 19 and 151 yards.

"We weren't very effective in the second half. We had opportunities to put this away early. And we didn't take advantage of it. Give them credit; they played hard," Belskis said.

Downers Grove South spend the entire third quarter in Eagles territory, but Leyden (5-4) refused to break in the second half.

"At halftime we really focused on showing a lot of character in the second half. We didn't want to get blown out," Leyden quarterback Tim O'Connell said.

O'Connell had a better showing in the second half, finishing 10 of 18 for 73 yards, but it wasn't enough for the Eagles to win their first division championship since 1998.

"It's disappointing that we lost, but they are a good team and I'm glad that we played them and not some other team," said wide receiver Sam Cochiaro, who finished with 5 grabs for 60 yards.

Josh Serrano added 81 yards on 31 carries, including the Eagles' lone touchdown, an 18 yard scamper with 19 seconds remaining in the game.

John Scott provided a 20-yard touchdown reception for the Mustangs.

Wes Manzer had 64 yards on 4 catches.

Chris Heitpas added a field goal.

While both teams will find out who their first round playoff opponent is today, West Leyden knows one thing for certain.

"We get to play home next week. We earned that right," he said.

-- Justin Rosenberg