Aurora Christian denies St. Edward 6th win
Overlooked, underappreciated and underestimated.
Coach Don Beebe said that was how Aurora Christian's players felt late this summer, when some preseason prognostications forecast the Eagles would fail to make the playoffs a year after reaching the Class 4A title game, mainly due to the tougher schedule they would face in the new Suburban Christian Conference.
So much for expert opinions.
By virtue of its 23-18 victory over second-place St. Edward at Greg True Field in Elgin on Friday, Aurora Christian not only became playoff eligible with a record of 5-2, but its fourth victory without a loss clinched at least a share of the Gold Division title in the SCC.
"Out of 16 teams that went to state last year there's only one team none of the AP polls or anybody running any poll said would even get back to the playoffs, and we were that team," Beebe said. "That was an inspiration for these boys from the preseason on because no one thought we could even get to the playoffs. These kids are young and they wanted to prove everybody wrong. I'm really proud of them because we did."
The Eagles used defense and ball control to spoil St. Edward's homecoming and deny the Green Wave the sixth win they sought to seal their own playoff bid. Junior running back John Magee carried the ball 32 times for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns and the defense held St. Edward's normally dependable ground game to 63 yards rushing on a wet, muddy field.
"I think poor execution sums up the whole day," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "Dropped balls, missed assignments, not communicating and trying to tackle (Magee) while you're looking at the grass is not going to get it done. Just awful tackling, awful wrapping up. They pushed us up and down the field. I'm not going to say it was because we didn't come out with fire because we came out with fire today, but we just didn't execute mentally or physically."
Aurora Christian outgained the Green Wave 365 yards to 201. Sheldon Magee, Johnny's brother, had 3 carries for 61 yards and caught 3 passes from sophomore quarterback Grayson Roberts (11 of 23, 159 yards, Int.) for 63 more yards.
St. Edward (5-2, 2-2) took a 3-0 lead on a 26-yard, first-quarter field goal by Jim Cholewa, but the Eagles took a 6-3 advantage on John Magee's 3-yard run with 1:28 left in the second quarter, which was set up by a 30-yard pass from Roberts to Sheldon Magee. A failed 2-point conversion left the Green Wave within 3 points at the half.
The Eagles came out running in the third quarter. On their first possession they overcame a holding penalty to drive 70 yards in 6 plays, 5 of them runs by John Magee, including a 40-yard scoring burst during which he bounced off one tackler at the line of scrimmage and made another miss at the 20-yard line.
"We just didn't tackle," St. Edward senior John Godfrey said. "We couldn't find the running back and we couldn't make tackles."
"We wanted to get the ball in our playmakers' hands," John Magee said of the game plan.
A 2-point conversion run by John Magee made it 14-3 with 9:15 left in the third quarter.
St. Edward pulled within a touchdown when Godfrey picked off a Roberts pass and raced 54 yards for a touchdown with 7:23 left in the third. A failed conversion pass left the Wave with a 14-9 deficit.
However, the Eagles righted themselves immediately. After Sheldon Magee returned the kickoff 40 yards to the St. Edward 45-yard line, Aurora Christian scored 8 plays later on a 17-yard pass over the middle from Roberts to Mitch Holtz. A failed conversion run made it 20-9 with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
St. Edward recovered a Roberts fumble at the Eagles 44-yard line but had to settle for a 36-yard Cholewa field goal that cut the margin to 20-12 with 32 seconds left in the third quarter. However, Aurora Christian restored its 11-point lead when sophomore Julian Sosa connected on a 27-yard field goal with 7:42 left in the game. St. Edward drove 87 yards in 8 plays, capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Ben Lehman to a leaping David Hoebbel with 1:57 left, but the conversion pass failed and the ensuing onside kick rolled just 6 yards.
The Eagles picked up a key first down on 3 more rushes by Johnny Magee and knelt to run out the clock.
"We knew we had to wrap (Magee) up, but guys were tackling with their heads down and just didn't get it done," St. Edward linebacker Nathan Gaige said. "They got it done. They're conference champions. I've got to give them their props. They're a real good team. We just have to come out next week and hopefully get that sixth win for the playoffs."