Aurora Christian survives scare from Lake Forest Academy

Aurora Christian football coach David Beebe finally was able to smile.

"At the end of the day a win's a win. Let's move on," he said after escaping with a 35-33 nonconference victory Saturday at Lake Forest Academy.

The Eagles took a lead late in the second quarter and never relinquished it but their dogged, winless host rallied until Levi Olson's interception in the waning seconds ended the threat.

Aurora Christian (3-0) allowed 450 yards, only a failed Caxys extra-point and 2-point conversion from facing overtime.

"I had a feeling going into this game that it was going to be a good one," said Lake Forest Academy coach Robin Bowketts, who had been outscored a cumulative 78-17 by 7A schools Highland Park and Libertyville. Meanwhile, Aurora Christian whomped a Chicago Public League duo 91-12.

The disparity did not faze Beebe.

"We're not making excuses, that team was fantastic and their game plan was well-executed," he said. "But I'm very proud in a game when we played poorly - we did. I thought the offense played pretty good, defense played really bad."

Each aspect was quickly displayed. Aurora Christian's Nick Edlund made the first of his 2 fumble recoveries then Eagles quarterback Austin Bray hit Jacolby Maxwell on a swing pass for a 33-yard touchdown.

Three plays later Lake Forest Academy's Malcolm Chaka ran up the gut basically untouched for a 79-yard touchdown. He added the 2-point conversion and the Caxys led 8-7 at 6:51 of the first quarter.

Some things there's no defending. Lake Forest's 6-foot-3 David Joseph skied in the back of the end zone for a 1-handed touchdown grab for a 14-7 Caxys lead with 48 seconds left in the quarter.

"That personnel on that team, they're really good," Beebe said.

Aurora Christian led 21-14 at halftime on Bray's 32-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Burke and, after Lake Forest Academy lost a fumble at Aurora Christian's 3-yard line, an easy 24-yard slant to Maxwell set up by a simple dump-off Zach Bosek broke for 42 yards.

"I'm like, all right, here we go again, to try to sprint after the ball carrier or just trying to catch up with my teammates and make sure I had someone to hit in case the opponent got too close to them," said Aurora Christian two-way lineman Matt Ward.

The teams traded touchdowns for a 28-21 Eagles lead after three quarters. Aurora Christian led 35-21 early in the fourth on a 24-yard touchdown run by Edlund, who totaled 103 yards rushing.

Lake Forest Academy would not quit. Quarterback Alex Mesrobian tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Joseph and finally, with 1:50 left, a 29-yarder to Dejon Brissett, rising between two defenders for his seventh catch for 138 yards.

The Caxys couldn't convert the kick on Joseph's touchdown and their shovel pass on Brissett's score fell on the grass, Burke's good hands on an onside kick and Olson's interception meant a happier bus ride.

Maxwell didn't think this would be easy. Lake Forest Academy proved him right.

"I knew they were going to fight back because we watched film on them and they looked pretty good," he said.