Beebe finds the toughness he wants

Friday turned out to be an unforgettable night to be a Knight.

And also an ex-Knight.

While Kaneland was snapping its three-game losing streak with a fourth straight win over Batavia in Maple Park -- and every one in that series has been a thriller -- one of Kaneland's favorite sons notched the biggest win of his coaching career about an hour and a half to the southeast.

Don Beebe, Kaneland Class of '84, said Aurora Christian made a statement with its 34-7 win over Chicago Christian. That's a Chicago Christian team that came into the game with a 4-0 record and 21 straight Private School League wins.

A statement, indeed.

Not just getting the win, which was quite an accomplishment in itself. It was the way the Eagles won the game. Running the ball down Chicago Christian's throat. Controlling the line of scrimmage. And hitting hard on defense for 48 minutes.

It certainly hasn't been a problem for Beebe's teams to put points on the scoreboard in his four years with the Eagles. They score points like it's a video game.

The biggest challenge has been improving their toughness. Aurora Christian turned a corner with its effort Friday.

"Through the years when we play playoff games and tough teams that are physical, we've had to change that mindset at ACS that a Christian can be tough," Beebe said.

"Christians can go out there and hit somebody as hard as they can. It has taken a few years to change that whole aspect. Finally I think this team has figured it out. They really played physical tonight."

Beebe delivered quite a pep talk to not only his team after the game, but hundreds of Aurora Christian fans who made the drive to Palos Heights to see what many in the program called the biggest win in school history.

Earlier in the week, a colleague and I got to talking about Aurora Christian, and how hard it can be to determine how good Player A is at one school that might have a few hundred kids while Player B is at a school with several thousand kids. How do you compare those accomplishments?

Of course, nobody knows better than Beebe that the size of a school can't keep you from fulfilling dreams like making it to the NFL and winning a Super Bowl.

But are there players sitting on the bench at some of the larger schools in the area who would be stars with the Eagles? A quarterback like Aurora Christian's Jordan Roberts, who puts up amazing numbers, is he a Division I player?

Well, college coaches make a whole lot more money than I do making those kinds of evaluations.

All I know is Aurora Christian is one fun football team to watch -- and they can really play football.

The Eagles showed their toughness early in the first quarter when they stopped a Chicago Christian drive at the 1-yard line.

That seemed to give the entire team a lift, and the offense responded by going 99 yards in just 3 plays. A 62-yard burst from John Smith set up Sean O'Boyle's 30-yard touchdown run behind big 6-foot-6 left tackle Garrett Gilkey.

"I can't do anything if they don't block," O'Boyle said. "The key was on our line to get those blocks."

O'Boyle (188 yards) and Smith (127) both finished with over 100 yards rushing. Quarterback Jordan Roberts normally throws for much more than his 95 yards, but he took what the defense gave him, and fired a touchdown pass while also intercepting a pass on defense.

"They (Chicago Christian) have been the team to beat for years," Beebe said. "We beat them with the whole team. I felt they were weak inside and we could expose that because we have some great running backs and the best offensive line we've ever had. They really dominated."

The Eagles' early goal-line stand was just the start of a big night for their defense. They forced 3 turnovers in the first half, one a fumble on a hit from defensive Lewis Gaddis scooped up by nose tackle Peter Kariotis.

In the second half, Aurora Christian seemed to break Chicago Christian's will, holding them to 46 yards. Chicago Christian never threatened, and that's from a team averaging 41 points a game before Friday.

"We thought we were going to be fighting end zone to end zone," Gaddis said. "I never expected it to be like this. Our coach said if we win tonight it would be the greatest in Aurora Christian history."

No doubt. But there could be bigger ones to come, starting in two weeks when the Eagles host long-time nemesis Walther Lutheran on Oct. 6.

After that, who knows what this team can do?

"At the beginning of the year our goal was to beat Chicago Christian, beat Walther Lutheran, win the conference, go 9-0 and go all the way to state," linebacker Ryan Perik said. "That's our vision right now."

It's a vision that is fast becoming reality with a talented group that also has learned to play tough.