Babler leads bounce-back win for Aurora Central Catholic
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the statistics of Matt Rahn, Roman Padilla, Brandon Babler and Mario May.
By Joe Cosentino
jcosentino@dailyherald.com
Aurora Central Catholic scored on its first possession and went on to defeat Fenton 35-13 in Metro Suburban West play on a chilly and windy Friday in Bensenville.
Brandon Babler was one of many stars for Aurora Central Catholic with 2 receptions for 47 yards and 1 touchdown while rushing 5 times for 29 yards.
Matt Rahn went 7 for 15 for 148 yards and 3 TDs, and he also carried 14 times for 78 yards. Roman Padilla had 20 carries for 115 yards and 1 TD, Mario May 4 catches for 83 yards and 2 TDs, and Sean Tobin 1 catch for 18 yards.
The Chargers (5-1, 1-1) capped a 65-yard opening drive with a 4-yard run by Babler to open the scoring. May and Babler followed with two more scores, on passes of 10 and 23 yards, respectively, from quarterback Rahn, to give Aurora Central Catholic 21-0 lead at the half.
The early lead was a boost for the Chargers, who were coming off a tough loss to Immaculate Conception in Week 5.
"Last week was tough, we played well enough to win but not well enough," said Chargers coach Brian Casey. "We started fast. Any time you can jump out to a 21-0 lead on the road is huge. Our offense put points on the board and the defense got the ball back in a couple of different ways."
May scored his second touchdown of the night in the third quarter, connecting with Rahn for 30 yards to open the lead to 28-0.
"I have a chemistry going with (Rahn) now," said Babler. "He knows he can count on me, and I know I can count on him to get me the ball if I'm open. They were leaving a lot of the middle wide open and we knew we could split the safeties and go for some big plays."
The Bison (4-2, 0-2) came back with two touchdowns, as Willie Wassmann scored on a 1-yard run and hit Cody Quarles with an 11-yard strike to cut the lead to 28-13.
But the Chargers closed out the scoring with a 10-yard run by Roman Padilla to seal the win.
"They're a real physical team," said Padilla. "I'm just glad our offensive line did a pretty good job on them in the first half. We run off the pass, and we pass off the run. It works pretty well."
Fenton coach Mark Kos was disappointed with his team following its second loss in a row following wins in weeks 1 through 4.
"We continue to struggle to make plays when it matters the most," Kos said. "We continue to struggle when we face adversity and challenges. We've got to continue to learn and grow. We have three weeks to prove whether or not we are worthy of extending our season past Week 9. We are going to prove it based on our play on the field."