West Aurora tops Glenbard East
Halloween came early Friday night in Lombard.
Between the bank of lights that mysteriously blacked out, bathing the south end zone in near darkness, to the developments on the field between Glenbard East and West Aurora, nothing could be taken for granted in the teams’ DuPage Valley Conference football regular-season finale.
Bryan Watkins had a night few punters could only imagine after he ran 41 yards for a touchdown after a botched snap during the Blackhawks’ 52-18 victory.
Watkins not only scored a touchdown on the improvised run but also kicked a field goal and converted all 7 West Aurora PATs.
“After I dropped the ball, I said to myself, “Dang it. That’s not good,’” Watkins said.
But the Blackhawks’ unlikely hero simply scooted around the right side of the Rams’ defense and motored all the way to the end zone untouched.
“Everyone was coming from the right,” Watkins explained of the Rams’ rushing defenders. “Then I took off to the other side. Then I said to myself, “Hey, I might be able to get a first down.’ There was no one there, and I just ran it all the way. It was the first touchdown I have ever scored, so it was pretty awesome.”
The Blackhawks’ first touchdown was equally bizarre.
The Rams (1-8, 1-6) had a promising opening drive unravel when West Aurora stripped their ball-carrier in the open field.
Trevon Williams caught the fumble in midair and promptly began running the other way.
As the linebacker was tackled, though, Williams coughed up the ball himself.
But Cole Childs was the main of the spot, picking up the loose ball for West Aurora and carrying it the final distance for the Blackhawks’ opening touchdown.
“I just saw the ball on the ground,” Childs said. “It was like on the 40 and I picked it up and just started running.”
Spencer Thomas more than deserved his third touchdown in the last two weeks.
The West Aurora two-way starter deflected a pass from his defensive end position.
It was subsequently picked off, and the senior tight end caught the first of Quintez Jones’ 3 touchdown passes moments later.
Jones connected with Childs, who added to his rather unusual first touchdown, with two conventional scores from his wide-receiver position.
Childs’ first score with six seconds remaining before halftime was a back-breaker for the Rams.
West Aurora (3-6, 2-5) only added to its myriad way of scoring with Tony Oros’ 90 kickoff return to begin the second half.
“We deserved some breaks like that tonight,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “During our six-game losing streak, we didn’t have any breaks like that. The ball bounced our way tonight.”
Joe Kotch threw a pair of scores for Glenbard East.
“We lost all three phases of the game tonight,” Glenbard East coach John Walters said. “When you lose all three phases, you’re going to lose the game.”