In the end Aurora Central runs out of gas
MENDOTA -- Aurora Central came to Mendota Friday night on the heels of an 1-8 season.
That didn"t bode well against Mendota, a playoff team in 2006.
But for two and a half quarters, you couldn"t tell the teams apart.
Then the Chargers" old nemesis -- a lack of depth -- surfaced again.
Mendota ran for 220 of its 374 yards in the second half. The Trojans powered their way to a 43-26 victory against a determined but undermanned Chargers team that didn"t force Mendota into a punt or turnover.
"What really killed us was our inability up front to stop anybody and anything," Aurora Central coach Mike Curry said. "They beat us because they had linemen they could sub and we didn"t. My guys have got to stay out there."
Aurora Central jumped to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter but trailed 15-14 at halftime. Quarterback Mike Adams scored the first touchdown on an 8-yard run, then Chad Roscoe capped a 95-yard drive with a 7-yard burst.
The Chargers rallied in the second half to go ahead again, 20-15 on another Adams touchdown run. The junior finished with 2 rushing touchdowns and another passing score, running for 137 yards and throwing for 188.
"We were feeling pretty good (ahead 14-0)," Adams said. "We thought we were going to win. It was going pretty easy in the beginning. Then we just died."
Aurora Central (0-1) committed 9 penalties. Two in particular killed the Chargers in the third quarter.
The first came on a roughing-the-passer penalty that gave Mendota new life after the Chargers had appeared to stop the drive. It led to Grant Bowne"s 7-yard touchdown run and a 23-20 Mendota lead, and the Trojans never trailed again.
The second came on Aurora Central"s next drive, a holding penalty that negated a completed pass to Mark Adams and put the Chargers in a first-and-23 hole. The Chargers nearly dug out of it, but Mike Adams was stopped a yard short on a fourth-and-3 play.
Mendota put the tiring Chargers away from there. Sophomore Kurtis Knapp ran for all of his 166 yards in the second half, including a pair of fourth-quarter TDs.
"We couldn"t stop off tackle," Curry said. "That"s what it comes down to. Every high school team in America runs off tackle."