West Aurora rolls past East Aurora

Nate Eimer summed up his offensive philosophy tersely after his first victory as a football coach.

“Use your athletes,” the first-year West Aurora coach said after his alma mater destroyed archrival East Aurora 48-6 Friday night before a massive throng at East High.

East Aurora coach Bill Bryant had read this script before.

“We know that every year they’re going to have some speed,” Bryant said. “They always have good skill players.”

Nate Zinzer set the tone for the Blackhawks.

The three-year starter scored one touchdown on a wide-receiver reverse from 48 yards out, carried on the opening drive for another 17-yard burst that led to the first of five offensive scores and added a fumble recovery that lead to another score.

“(Eimer) told us the first five plays of the game,” Zinzer said. “We ran all of them. (My first carry for 17 yards) was just an end around.”

In all, West Aurora would score on all five of its first-half possessions, nd Ricardo Gomez would rumble 38 yards with a mid-air fumble recovery for another score.

The entire second of the venerable series was played with a running clock after Booker Ross’ back-to-back scores in the second quarter provided West with a 41-0 cushion at the break.

It was the 11th straight win for the Blackhawks over the Tomcats in Illinois’ longest-running football rivalry that dates to the fall of 1893.

The teams’ initial football encounter was the first interscholastic competition in state history.

“We’re going to put our athletes in the best position they can be,” said Eimer. “I thought our guys up front were good. I though our defense was exceptional.”

The Blackhawks’ three down linemen, five-linebacker set wreaked havoc against the Tomcats in the first half.

East Aurora had negative 28 yards in the opening half, and the Blackhawks’ five scores were dictated by staring in plus-territory on each occasion.

“We were beating up their offensive linemen,” said Brandon Warren, the Blackhawks’ three-year star linebacker. “They had no chance of getting into a rhythm.”

Shon Enoch rumbled 17 yards to cap a one-play scoring drive for the Blackhawks’ second touchdown, and Gomez made it 20-0 19 seconds later with his defensive score.

Ten-plus minutes into the game, Zinzer had another one-play score with his against-the-grain reverse from 48 yards out.

Leading 28-0 after the opening quarter, Ross added scores of 12 and 17 yards to initiate a running clock for the entirety of the second half.

“We didn’t tackle worth anything,” Bryant said.

Eimer substituted liberally after the break, and Josh Campbell, one of four West players to man the signal-calling duties, returned a punt 40 yards to conclude the West scoring in the second half.

Chris Shaw scored on a 22-yard reception from Laquan Brown to avert the shutout for East Aurora, which managed only 28 yards for the game.

“We’re going to rely on our defense,” Eimer said.