St. Edward bounces back strong
St. Edward got rid of that nagging ache that has been stuck in the players' craw since last week's humbling loss to Chicago Christian, taking their frustration out on Aurora Central Catholic by a 42-14 margin in Aurora Friday.
Unlike in Week 4, when the Green Wave came out flat and fell behind 13-0 early, they took the game directly to the Chargers in the first half, outscoring them 30-6 and outgaining them 218 yards to 56.
The Suburban Christian Conference crossover victory elevated St. Edward's record to 4-1, matching its win total of 2008.
"We just wanted to see the intensity, the love, the desire and the urgency to get No. 4," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "We have to get 2 more. That's our goal. It's been our goal all along. To see them bounce back and have that urgency to get the win, to see them hitting hard in the first half was what we wanted."
Playing on a wet field due to a steady mist that fell throughout the first half, the Green Wave caused 5 fumbles and recovered 4 of them. Interceptions by Jack Cholewa and Nathan Gaige helped St. Edward win the turnover battle 6-1.
"Too many mistakes on our part," Aurora Central Catholic coach Mike Curry said. "Fumbles and interceptions gave them great field position and they took advantage of it."
Junior Sam Pozezinski gave the Wave great field position by returning a punt 33-yards to the 20-yard line of Aurora Central (1-4). Four plays later senior fullback Jordan Torres scored from 2 yards out to put St. Edward ahead 6-0 three minutes into the game.
The Wave took control of the game with 2 touchdowns in a 23-second span of the second quarter. Pozezinski, on a reverse option pass, threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Jon Godfrey for the first score. "That's my first touchdown pass since I played quarterback for the Crusaders in seventh grade," Pozezinski said.
ACC fumbled on its next play from scrimmage and the Wave went for the throat. Quarterback Ben Lehman hit 6-foot-6 tight end Zach Von Ahnen in stride for a 40-yard scoring pass, giving the Wave an 18-0 lead with 11:27 left in the second quarter.
The Chargers pulled within 18-6 on a 10-yard pass from Stewart DeWaard to Kent Brauweiler, but St. Edward countered immediately with Nick Scholly's 80-yard kickoff return up the right sideline for a touchdown. St. Edward, which failed on the extra point or conversion try after each of its 7 touchdowns, made it 30-6 with 46 seconds left in the half, when Lehman connected with David Hoebbel on a 27-yard scoring pass on 4th-and-5.
The Green Wave led 42-6 after a 12-yard run by Torres and a 37-yard scoring jaunt by Scholly, both in the fourth quarter.
"We played real hard today and got that big W - No. 4," said Gaige, who forced 2 fumbles and recovered another.