West Aurora’s Tyler Fecht, last year’s backup to Ball State-bound Mason Atkins, takes control as starting QB
The last thing any player wants is to be a backup like West Aurora’s Tyler Fecht was last season.
it was understandable, however, that Fecht toiled behind star quarterback Mason Atkins, who is now at Ball State. Fecht realized that he had to wait his turn, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Knowing that he would be the starter as a senior this season kept him going.
“Obviously, I didn’t want to sit,” Fecht said about his experience last fall. “I didn’t want to be that second-string guy, but learning behind somebody like that was really nice.
“It was a big thing, keep pushing, keep going, because eventually this will be my stage.”
Fecht starred on that stage Friday night, completing 7 of 8 passes for 105 yards and three touchdowns for the host Blackhawks in a 60-0 Upstate Eight Conference win over Elgin.
All three of Fecht’s TD passes went to different receivers for West Aurora (3-2, 3-0). Richard Bell Jr. had three catches for 55 yards, including a 36-yard TD on the first possession of the game.
Bryce Riley added on to his impressive start for the Blackhawks, rushing for 70 yards and two TDs on 10 carries. Michael Williams added a 19-yard TD run.
LaMarin Powell ran for 39 yards and Anthony Foster followed with 34 for Elgin (2-3, 2-1).
Fecht wasted little time getting the aerial game going, using a play-action pass to Riley and finding Bell over the top for the easy TD to set the tone. Bell worked with Fecht his sophomore year, which also was Fecht’s first season playing football. The strides he has taken since stand out.
“He’s improved so much,” Bell said of Fecht. “It’s been a good transition. Playing behind Mason, I think he took on a lot of leadership roles — how Mason was as a person, a QB and a leader,
“Ty has taken over with that. He leads the team vocally. I think he’s done a really good job.”
Two series later, with Elgin doing a good job of plugging up West Aurora’s run game, Fecht took to the air again and connected with Eli Browning for a 29-yard TD.
Fecht later added a 13-yard TD toss to Brendon Salach before sitting out the second half.
“He was great, very accurate and calm back there, made all the right throws, big night for him,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said of Fecht. “We have to keep spreading it around.
“We have to be able to do it all. When we get into the games we’ll be playing in the future, you have to do more than just line up and run the football.”
Fecht is the one who usually checks down to those big run plays that have led to gaudy numbers for Riley and Williams. He wanted to show everyone what his receivers could do Friday, however.
“Obviously, our running backs are great, but I know our receivers are really good at what they do,” Fecht said. “It’s nice to get them involved, especially getting those three in the first half.
“It’s a great feeling.”
Even Bell doesn’t mind letting the running backs do their thing,
“I don’t even blame them,” Bell said. “We only ran 22 plays last week, that’s it. But in the future when we play a team where we’re going to compete and it will be a closer game, I know my skills as a receiver are good enough to do what I can do.”
The stage, meanwhile belongs now to Fecht, who feels like the Blackhawks are only scratching the surface.
“We’re in a great spot,” Fecht said. “I think we can go undefeated in conference and win the title.”