Glenbard East denies West Aurora's 2-point try
There was not much doubt as to whom West Aurora would look to in its last-gasp effort to forge a tie against visiting Glenbard East on Friday night in DuPage Valley Conference football action.
The Blackhawks' Leon Spears had been brilliant all evening, scoring four times while accumulating 233 all-purpose yards. But the Rams' defense came to the challenge, stopping Spears' 2-point conversion attempt in the final half-minute to preserve a 35-33 victory in Aurora.
"We wanted the ball in our best kid's hands," said West Aurora coach Buck Drach.
Last year Glenbard East quarterback Jack Merrithey lost his footing trying to engineer a last-second comeback victory, but the Rams' standout gained a measure of redemption this time.
"Honestly, I didn't even think about that play at all this week," Merrithey said. "I put it behind me."
Merrithey directed the Rams (4-4 overall, 2-4 in the league) with a virtuoso performance, passing for 101 yards and a pair of scores to Lee Skinner while running for 74 of the Rams' 263 time-consuming yards.
"He played a heck of a football game," said Glenbard East coach Dennis Lueck.
"He's quite an athlete," said Drach, whose club (3-5, 1-5) was eliminated from postseason consideration. "We've beat them the last two years with him having a chance to score on the last play of the game. I guess he got his revenge tonight."
Spears' electrifying 42-yard run on the second play from scrimmage set the tone, but Glenbard East responded with scores on its opening two possessions to take the lead.
The Rams used 20 plays on the two drives as Matthew Clark, who had a team-high 124 yards on 21 carries, scored from 4 yards out. Merrithey later hit Skinner on an audible from 23 yards to make it 14-7. But Spears had 66 of his 199 yards on the ensuing play from scrimmage, outracing the Rams' secondary down the right sideline for another big play.
"I had great blocking upfront," Spears said. "I just followed them, and they trusted me with the ball."
Spears had his third touchdown before the break to give West Aurora a one-score lead, only to see Merrithey return the momentum with an 11-yard gain on a fake punt. The senior southpaw scampered 28 yards moments later to set up a Steven Kinney 1-yard plunge.
"I have a lot of freedom (in punt formation)," said Merrithey.
Glenbard East took command with two more ball-control touchdown drives, but West Aurora stormed back. Spears capped a 14-play march with three successive runs to score his fourth touchdown, and West Aurora recovered a Glenbard East fumble at its own 2-yard line with 1:31 to play.
West Aurora quarterback Malcolm Wood hit three different receivers in a deft two-minute drill as Nate Zinzer scampered in from 31 yards out to cap the nine-play, 98-yard drive in 61.4 seconds.
"Malcolm Wood (12-for-20, 151 yards) had an exceptional game," said Drach.
But the specter of overtime was erased when Spears' sweep attempt was denied by three Glenbard East defenders.