Waubonsie Valley downs East Aurora

Waubonsie Valley tailback Tony Durns slipped and sloshed his way to 79 yards on 18 carries in the first half against East Aurora on Friday night, but the senior needed only three carries in the second half to cover his next 91 to lead the Warriors to a 49-6 Upstate Eight Valley win over the Tomcats.

Durns indicated that it wasn't a change of equipment at halftime that led to his second-half success, but rather just a change in direction.

"We talked about it at halftime," Durns said. "We were trying to work inside, but it wasn't working for me, so we just went to the outside and it started working out for me. The weather doesn't bother us at all. We can play in all types of weather."

Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy convinced his players in the second half to take shorter steps and to run forward without cutting back as much, which led to several long second-half runs.

"(The field) was a little slick more than anything else," Murphy said. "We just told the kids that when you're in the kind of weather, you can't cut back. You have to take short, choppy steps. Until you play in these conditions, you just don't know. We had to adapt to the conditions and we did a better job of getting to the outside and making it a track meet. That's what we told them at halftime."

The Warriors (3-0, 1-0) wasted no time, quarterback Zach Bennema scored from 7 yards out on their first possession on a 12-play, 65-yard drive that lasted just over five minutes.

Waubonsie Valley scored on their next possession as well, driving 66 yards and scoring from the 36-yard line on Bennema's pass to Keaton Casey in the back of the end zone.

The Tomcats (0-3, 0-1) fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Bennema scored on a 19-yard keeper six seconds later to put the Warriors up 21-0 in the first quarter.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second quarter.

After the Warriors forced the Tomcats to turn the ball over on downs on their own 36-yard line to start the third quarter, Durns turned his first carry of the second half into a 36-yard touchdown burst. Three minutes later, Durns outdid himself, scoring from 44 yards out to give the Warriors a convincing 35-0 lead.

The Warriors' second string saw action as well. Junior Rodney Gee scored from 13 yards out just before the end of the third quarter, and fellow junior Jake Battaglia scored from 4 yards out with just more than four minutes left in the game.

Nathaniel Booker tallied the lone score for the Tomcats, sprinting for a 77-yard run with just under three minutes to play.