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Aurora Christian nearly topples 7A power St. Rita

Aurora Christian has come along way since its days of playing Class 1A ball. The Eagles are now a perennial 3A powerhouse with two state championships but their recent move into the Chicago Catholic League has pitted them against an entirely different level of competition.

In a crossover game Friday against St. Rita, currently rated fourth in the state in 7A, the Eagles found themselves in the unfamiliar role of underdog.

Despite falling behind by two scores early, the Eagles rallied to tie the game at halftime and had the lead going into the fourth quarter but the Mustangs wore the Eagles out on the ground behind senior running back Tyre Lee and quarterback C.J. Weydeman to dominate the fourth quarter and win 35-21.

St. Rita (5-1, 1-1) began its first drive at their own 2-yard line and gave the ball to Lee for 10 carries for 73 yards and he capped it with the game's first score, a 29-yard run during which he broke a handful of tackles. Lee ended up with a game-high 260 yards on 32 carries.

"Tyre is our guy, there is no doubt about it," said St. Rita coach Todd Kuska. "He has had a great year so far coming off an injury last season and I thought our offensive blocked extremely well tonight and he is a capable guy when that is there or us."

Aurora Christian (4-2, 1-1) actually had a very similar game plan. The Eagles had a lot of success doing so behind senior running back Nick Edlund who had some pretty impressive numbers as well in rushing for 158 yards on 29 carries.

Edlund's 5-yard TD run in the second quarter cut the Mustangs' lead to 14-7.

"Nick Edlund, I was literally standing on the sidelines, being his coach and being so inspired watching him run," said Aurora Christian coach Dave Beebe. "His biggest muscle is his heart."

After Eagles cornerback Jake Richardson recovered a St. Rita fumble, Austin Bray hit Jacolby Maxwell for a 29-yard reception down to the Mustangs' 8-yard line. Bray hit Maxwell on an 8-yard slant for a TD that tied the game at 14 going into halftime.

St. Rita continued to pound away with Lee and, again, they were successful as Lee led them down the field and Weydeman finished the drive with a 22-yard TD run. The extra point failed making the score 20-14.

Edlund continued to have success on the ground and the Eagles converted a huge fourth-and-7 deep in St. Rita territory when Bray again hit Maxwell for an 18-yard TD that tied the game. Kicker Nick Van Gilse converted the PAT for a 21-20 AC lead entering the fourth quarter.

The lead was short-lived as Weydeman again finished off a scoring drive with a 2-yard TD run that featured Lee carrying the ball on virtually every snap.

The Eagles were unable to answer the drive when Bray was stopped short on a 4th-and-7 play.

St. Rita put the game out of reach with one final drive that ended with Lee punching it in from 3 yards out.

"We knew they were going to come out and try to run it down our throats and they executed it. I give them credit," said Beebe. "But I cannot say enough how proud I am of our football team, the fight that they have and the resilience they have, the lack of fear. We respect everybody we play but we don't fear anybody, and that is the way you have to play this game. I was looking in their eyes and our kids were not scared at all. You could tell and it showed in the way we played."

Kuska was impressed with the Eagles as well.

"They gave an outstanding effort, they really did," said Kuska of Aurora Christian. "We knew they were a good football team and they did a great job. It doesn't matter 3A, 4A, 7A, there are 11 guys out there and those 11 guys over there wanted to play. They fought hard and they wanted to win."

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