West Aurora wins final meeting with Elgin
Nothing defuses the tactics of an old enemy quite like effective espionage.
After Elgin senior Jordan Dean caught a first-quarter screen pass and raced 41 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead, the West Aurora defense assigned a linebacker to spy the shifty running back for the rest of the game.
The shadow tactic flowed more smoothly than a Tom Clancy novel as the Blackhawks held Dean to 33 yards rushing on 13 carries and only 2 more receptions for 13 yards in West Aurora's 23-7 nonconference victory at Memorial Field in Elgin Friday.
The game marked the final meeting in a series that dates back to 1895. Friday's victory by West Aurora (2-0) was its seventh straight over Elgin (1-1).
By shutting down Dean, the Blackhawks effectively shut down the Maroon offense. West held Elgin to 27 yards rushing and outgained the Maroons 305 total yards to 107.
"They really played well tonight," West Aurora coach Buck Drach said of his defense. "(Elgin) had one play where we had a guy who wasn't in position. He went to the another gap and they scored. That's all it takes. But they played fantastic, they really did. They kept us in the ballgame."
Dean said he saw the screen pass would be open and called to quarterback Jake Meyer for an audible. Dean broke two tackles and picked up a good downfield block by junior Devin Gilliam to put the Maroons on the scoreboard with 4:53 left in the first quarter.
"After that I couldn't do too much," Dean said. "They were covering the swings, they had man coverage on the screens and an outside linebacker on running plays. They didn't let me do too much, but that's part of the game."
The Blackhawks tied the game on their ensuing possession by driving 54 yards in 5 plays, capped by a touchdown pass to junior receiver Nate Zinzer, who scampered 17 yards untouched.
West Aurora had 1st-and-goal at the Elgin 10-yard line late in the second quarter, but two big hits by Elgin secondary defender Dennis Moore forced the Blackhawks to settle for a 26-yard field goal. Ricardo Gomez's kick was good with five seconds left, which gave West a 10-7 lead at intermission.
Elgin had possession to begin the second half but turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass on 4th-and-5 at the West Aurora 44-yard line.
The Blackhawks struck on the next play when junior quarterback Josh Campbell heaved a bomb to wide receiver Matt Souvannasing along the left sideline. The 5-foot-7 senior outleaped the Elgin defender to make the catch at the 10, and he trotted to the end zone with a 56-yard reception that increased the lead to 16-7. The extra point was blocked.
"That was a back breaker, no doubt about it," Drach said."
West Aurora put the game away early in the fourth quarter when Zinzer caught a screen pass in the flat and used his speed to blow past the Elgin defense for a 37-yard touchdown.
"It seemed like every time we threw the screen the whole secondary just backed up and gave us tons of room to be able to get in front and score a touchdown," said Zinzer, who made 6 receptions for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Campbell was intercepted twice but completed 9-of-20 attempts for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns. Six Blackhawks rushed for 108 yards on 40 carries.
Maroons quarterback Jake Meyer completed 10-of-22 passes for 80 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Elgin was flagged for 14 penalties for 94 yards.
"West did a good job defensively, but part of that is mistakes on our part too as far as execution," Elgin coach Dave Bierman said. "That's not to take away anything from West's defense, but I thought we had some things that were one block away that could have made a difference. Obviously, it didn't happen."