West Aurora completes 9-0 regular season
West Aurora put the finishing touch on one of the best football regular seasons in school history with its 56-0 victory over Streamwood Friday night at Ken Zimmerman Field.
With the win, the Blackhawks improved to 9-0 overall for the first time since 2016 – before that, their last undefeated regular season came in 1948.
West Aurora captured a conference championship – this time, the inaugural Upstate Eight West, for the second time in the last 40 years.
The Blackhawks, who finished 1-8 in 2022, won a total of 9 games over the past 3 seasons, including last year’s playoff-qualifying 5-5 mark.
“I just told the kids that I don’t think there are many teams in the state that have gone from 1-8 to 9-0 in three years,” said Blackhawks coach Nate Eimer. “I’m just really proud of them.
“You see (coaching) staffs and players that stop believing, but with them, it’s just the opposite. They worked harder. I just feel lucky to be in this situation.”
Against Streamwood (3-6, 2-4), it took just 28 seconds for the Blackhawks to get on the board.
Junior quarterback Mason Atkins (6 of 9, 120 yards) opened the game with a 40-yard completion to senior Terrence Smith (3 catches, 79 yards) before senior tailback Michael Williams scored on a 19-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.
On their next possession, the Blackhawks marched 55 yards in 4 plays, capped by Williams’ 44-yard TD run, to extend the lead to 14-0.
West Aurora put the game out of reach with 28 second-quarter points.
Atkins threw a pair of touchdown passes to Smith covering 27 and 12 yards, while senior Azuriah Sylvester added a 13-yard touchdown run, and senior Nicholas Weisse returned a punt 41 yards for a TD.
Atkins, who has thrown 29 touchdown passes this season, increased his career all-time school record to 40.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the state,” Eimer said of Atkins. “He can do it all, and he’s a phenomenal leader. The thing that people don’t see is how hard he practices.”
Atkins has plenty of offensive threats surrounding him, including Kewon Marshall, Reece Powers, Smith, Williams, Sylvester, and others.
“I’m just getting the ball in my guys’ hands and they’re making plays,” said Atkins.
“When you look at the stats, it’s a different guy every night,” said Eimer. “We’re going to take what other teams are giving us.”
The Blackhawks’ offensive line, anchored by seniors Juan Pacheco, Francisco Cicero, Corbin Blair, and juniors Kieran Duncan and Alfonso Aguilar, has allowed just 1 sack all season.
“Our linemen are keeping me clean all game,” said Atkins. “I’m not getting touched. Everyone is making it easy for me.”
Through 9 games, the Blackhawks have scored a school-record 477 points while allowing just 40.
Things figure to get tougher when the Class 8A state playoffs begin next weekend, but the Blackhawks are eagerly awaiting the challenge.
“We tried to go out and have a tough summer schedule with our 7 on 7s and team camps,” said Eimer. “A lot of these kids played last year – they got a taste of the playoffs and what that’s like.”
“We can’t change anything because we’re playing different competition,” said Atkins. “We’ve got to keep on being the team that we are.”