Streamwood earns convincing win in Aurora

It is quite literally impossible to achieve a complete shutout in a football game - yet for two quarters on Friday, that is what Streamwood achieved at East Aurora.

The Sabres held the Tomcats to no offensive yards, did not let them get a first down and, of course, kept them from scoring while building a 20-0 lead of their own.

East Aurora got some first downs in the second half, finally gained some yards and eventually scored some points. But the Tomcats never seriously threatened as Streamwood gained a convincing 34-8 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory.

"We felt good because we have struggled in the last few weeks, and last week, we struggled the most," Streamwood sophomore linebacker Vince Williams said. "We just practiced harder and harder so we could come out and get this second victory."

Williams had an interception in the first half as part of his contribution to the team's success. With the win, the Sabres (2-3) keep a number of seasonal goals alive, including the hope of playing in the postseason. Next week, the Sabres visit St. Charles East.

"To get a win like this hasn't come in a while for Streamwood," Streamwood junior Alex Morrow said. "It's going to make us want to work even harder for next week."

The first half looked good numerically, but Williams said there were still things the team needed to fix at halftime.

"It does look good, but we allowed some big yards in the game," Williams said. "We could have been better. And we can get better. There are little things that are hurting us."

Offensively, running success was the key to victory. Streamwood outgained East Aurora 236-4 on the ground, which allowed the Sabres to chew huge chunks of time off the clock with every possession.

Morrow was dominant with 162 yards and 3 touchdowns. He scored from 15 and 2 yards in the first half, then broke a 71-yard TD run in the third quarter.

"We took it inside until we couldn't get it inside any more, then we took it outside," Morrow said. "That seemed to work."

Alex Crocker scored from 2 yards for Streamwood's other first half touchdown.

"We came down here with some goals in mind - to play some better defense and to move the ball consistently offensively," Streamwood coach Cal Cummins said. "I think our kids achieved that and you've got to be excited about that."

The Sabres' final points came on a 5-yard Dalton Lundeen pass to Ben Fritz. East Aurora (0-5, 0-3) broke the shutout with 4:07 to play on a Daquavis Smith 2-yard run.