W. Chicago ends W. Aurora's playoff hopes
West Aurora came out and made the big plays in its DuPage Valley matchup at West Chicago, as the Blackhawks had scoring plays of 81, 75 and 68 yards.
But the Wildcats showed slow and steady wins the race.
West Chicago rolled up 369 yards rushing behind Alex Pirela's 187 yards and Mike Dylla's 112 yards and came away with a 42-28 victory that dashed the Blackhawks playoff chances.
"We played very well," said West Chicago coach Hal Chiodo. "The offensive line did a great job of moving people off the ball and giving our running backs room to run. This is how we like to play, this is what I wish we looked like all year."
"It's definitely an emotional night, we came out and dominated," said Pirela, who had 4 rushing touchdowns on the night. "I might take credit for one TD but all the other ones, I was just running straight ahead. The offensive line was moving people all night, we weren't getting hit by anyone before the linebackers."
West Chicago (2-6, 1-5) came out and set the tone right away with a 12-play drive to open the game that used over five minutes of the first quarter. Pirela finished the drive with his first touchdown run, an 8-yarder after breaking a tackle.
Pirela added a 14-yard and 51-yard TD runs as the Wildcats jumped out to a 21-0 lead. West Aurora (3-5, 1-5) finally answered on an electric play from receiver Josh Zinzer. Zinzer caught a short pass over the middle from quarterback John Nunnally and turned it into a 68-yard score as Zinzer cut back all over the field and made multiple defenders miss.
But the Wildcats went right back to work and handed the ball to Dylla five straight times to get the ball into Blackhawk territory. West Chicago quarterback AJ Romanelli hit Clark Hudmon with a 21-yard touchdown on a fourth down play to extend the lead to 28-7 at the half.
The Blackhawks came out in the second half and running back Leon Spears broke a 75-yard touchdown run that trimmed the lead to two scores. But after the successful handling on an onside kick, Pirela answered with a 38-yard touchdown run.
The fireworks weren't over as Markus Cocroft did what he does, returning the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a score.
Again, the Wildcats went to the ground game and successfully moved the ball down field. This time Dylla did the honors in capping the drive with a 1-yard run.
"Mike Dylla was a tight end last year, he just does a great job for us," said Chiodo. "He keeps his feet going, he's not overly fast but he is big and strong and he runs hard. It's Senior Night for us, and I'm proud of these kids because it is tough when you get beat like we have been. We kept coming back and kept playing hard. I've been pleased with the attitude and effort all year long."
"We just couldn't stop the run," said West Aurora coach Buck Drach.