East Aurora drops Storm
Too many things went wrong for South Elgin while just enough went right for East Aurora in Friday's Upstate Eight Conference football opener in Aurora.
The Tomcats managed just 168 yards of total offense, but their defense limited South Elgin to 200 yards and came up with 2 crucial, second-half turnovers, enough to escape with a 6-3 win.
The victory snapped a 16-game losing streak for East Aurora, which had lost 11 straight UEC contests dating back to Week 4 of the 2006 season, when the Tomcats beat South Elgin 30-20. The East Aurora football program now owns 5 wins since 2001, and 2 have come at the hands of the Storm.
South Elgin played the game without head coach Dale Schabert, who arrived at East Aurora by car before the game only to be taken to a hospital emergency room for what school officials said was a recurrence of kidney stones. Defensive coordinator Jason Schaal filled in as acting head coach.
Trailing 6-3, South Elgin (0-3, 0-1) took possession at its own 12-yard line with 3:14 left in the contest following East Aurora's seventh punt of the game. The Storm moved quickly to midfield on a Chris Ciccone 10-yard run (with a facemask penalty tacked on) and a keeper up the middle by quarterback Patrick Rae.
But penalties killed South Elgin all night. A team that had previously been flagged three times in 2 games was called for 12 infractions, including 8 holding penalties - all but one of which were called on the same player, according to Schaal.
The final holding call set South Elgin's potential winning drive back 10 yards. A 1-yard run, an incompletion and a delay-of-game penalty left the Storm facing third-and-26 at their own 44-yard line with a minute to play.
"Penalties hurt us, yes, but in clutch situations we need to be able to finish the job," Schaal said.
East Aurora (1-2, 1-0) finished the job on the next play when senior Richard Jimenez, also the Tomcats' quarterback, picked off an underthrown pass down the right sideline at his own 40 with 53 seconds to play.
"This school has gone through so much, and for this to happen is just amazing," Jimenez said, raindrops blending with his tears of joy.
South Elgin took a 3-0 lead when David Reisner booted a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter after a 9-play, 52-yard drive stalled out at the 15-yard line.
On their second possession of the third quarter, the Tomcats drove 80 yards in 6 running plays for the go-ahead score. Michael Turner burst free for 34 yards to the South Elgin 25 and Jimenez scored on the next play on a quarterback draw up the middle. The point after attempt was blocked.
"Defensively we have been not good," Schaal said. "If we don't stop the run, we're not going to beat anybody."
South Elgin had a golden opportunity when the Tomcats fumbled at their own 27-yard line with 1:16 left in the third quarter. However, the Storm fumbled the ball back 3 plays later at the East 15-yard line.
A bright spot for South Elgin was senior Kelvin Ware, who rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries.
"It doesn't matter," said a despondent Ware. "It's the same thing that happened last week: missed blocks, missed assignments. Same old, same old. It's stuff we go over in practice every day."