Aurora Christian to play for state title
Aurora Christian found itself in an unfamiliar place at halftime of its Class 4A semifinal matchup at Richmond-Burton Saturday - behind on the scoreboard.
For the first time all year the Eagles trailed at the half as the Rockets pounded them with the run and surprised them with one big pass play.
But the Eagles have some playmakers of their own and the difference this year is that they have them on both sides of the ball. Aurora Christian took control of the game by forcing three second-half turnovers and getting the usual big plays from Jordan Roberts and the offense for a 29-20 victory and a first ever trip to the state championship game.
Richmond-Burton (8-5) actually extended it's 1-point halftime lead early in the third quarter when one of Roberts' passes was tipped and intercepted deep in Eagles territory. Rockets quarterback Adam Pittser went in from the 1-yard line on a sneak and the lead was 20-13 in favor of the Rockets after a failed 2-point conversion.
From that point forward, the Eagles not only did not allow a point, the Rockets never gained more than 6 yards on any one play and had only three more first downs.
"At halftime there was no adjustment, just a kick in the pants," said Eagles senior linebacker Ryan Perik. "All you had to do was look at that scoreboard and see we were down and we knew we could lose this."
"We won this game with defense," said Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe. "We made some big plays on offense but that has been the difference this year, our defense is winning football games. They decided in the second half that they were going to take the line of scrimmage and they did."
Roberts, who had a 74-yard bomb for a touchdown to David Zielke in the first half, went right to work on the Eagles' next possession. He hit Zac Copple with consecutive passes and then went up top to Matt Morse for a 33-yard score that tied the game at 20.
Copple then came up with a huge defensive play picking off Pittser near midfield. Roberts and Morse showed why the were both voted first team All-State as they hooked up for 44-yard TD on the next play to give the Eagles (13-0) their first lead of the game at 27-20 with 1:33 to play in the third quarter.
Perik stopped Richmond-Burton running back Kenneth Riordan on a fourth-and-4 play at the Aurora Christian 27-yard line to end the Rockets' next drive. Roberts was picked off by Chad Okane, who seemed headed for a game-tying score until Eagles lineman Braxton Warner knocked the ball loose at the 5-yard line and Dan Earwood recovered giving possession back to Aurora Christian.
"Warner stripped it, that was the play of the game," said Beebe.
The Eagle offense could not move the ball but Roberts boomed a 50-yard punt to get Aurora Christian out of a hole. The defense again stopped the Rockets on a fourth down play when Peter Kariotis and Andru Ubert pressured Pittser into throwing the ball away.
The game appeared to be all but put away when Roberts hit Morse running free again for an apparent touchdown but Morse lost control of the ball and the Rockets recovered it at their own 5-yard line and had one last chance to tie. But Riordan bobbled a pitch and Ubert took him down in the end zone for a safety that pushed the lead to 29-20 and sealed the victory.
"I knew it was going to be a pitch outside because they kept running that to my side," said Ubert. "I just kept contain and made the tackle."
No one knows better that Beebe that the job is not done.
"I've been in five Super Bowls as a loser and that is not fun," said Beebe. "We have to go down there and win to cap this thing off."