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South Elgin notches share of first conference crown

The South Elgin football team seems to scratch a couple of goals off its preseason list with each successive victory.

Take Saturday's 49-14 win against visiting East Aurora, for example.

Their sixth straight win gives the Storm 7 victories through 8 games for the first time since the program's inception 10 years ago. It also matches the school record for wins in a season, set by South Elgin playoff teams in 2009 (7-3) and 2010 (7-4).

The victory guaranteed South Elgin (7-1, 4-0) no worse than a share of the title in the Upstate Eight Conference's Valley Division, another first for a team that had yet to win a conference or division title.

"Making history. It's a great feeling. I can't even believe it right now," said senior wide receiver Derek Kumerow, who caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jake AmRhein. "First time in South Elgin history. It was definitely one of our five goals. We're moving on to the next one now."

The Storm can complete an undefeated run through the UEC Valley next week with a win at West Chicago (1-7, 1-3).

"The kids really earned it," South Elgin third-year coach Pat Pistorio said. "They deserve it. It's a great group of kids. Our senior leadership has done an amazing job for us.

"Where we're at now is so important. It really sells everything that we've been talking about since the day I arrived here. It's hard work, it's nasty and it's making sure that we're able to overcome adversity, and we've been able to do that this year. This has been an awesome experience and I hope we continue on with it."

East Aurora (1-7, 0-5) didn't adhere to the home team's script early on. Coach Kurt Becker's Tomcats took it right to the Storm defense on the game's opening drive, marching 65 yards in 13 plays. They took the lead on a 1-yard run by 6-foot, 240-pound battering ram Maurice Bryant, whose 8 carries for 36 yards propelled the drive.

"They came out with that big running back we never saw on film," South Elgin safety Andrew Kamienski said. "He was a freak to tackle. We made the right adjustment to slow him down."

South Elgin defensive coordinator Jeff Livengood's adjustment was adding a fourth lineman to the base 3-4 front, Pistorio said. Bryant gained just 12 more yards the rest of the game against a Storm defense led by Justin Nutof (7 tackles), Joey Rohde (6.5), Brian Medina (4) and Nikiel Williby (4).

"We didn't have a counterpunch for them," East Aurora coach Kurt Becker said. "I mean, they had 11 guys in the box so, you know, you're not going to run the football too well. You've got to throw the ball and we can't do that right now. But it was fun while we could do it."

Offensively, the Storm played inconsistently in the first half, yet still managed to take a 21-6 halftime lead on a pair of Shawn Griffin touchdown runs separated by Jaurice Thomas' 3-yard scoring reception.

The Storm played a cleaner second half, scoring touchdowns on their first 4 possessions. Kumerow scored on an 8-yard reception, Andrew Kamienski outjumped his defender to haul in a 40-yard jump ball from AmRhein and Griffin exploded up the right sideline for a 74-yard touchdown run.

Markee Prude's 4-yard run accompanied by Nicolas Farfan's 7th extra point of the game bulged the South Elgin lead to 49-6 with 10:11 remaining and initiated a running clock.

South Elgin outgained the Tomcats 355 yards to 142, led by Griffin's 196 yards and 3 touchdowns on 15 carries.

The Storm took a team picture after the victory to commemorate their first UEC title.

"Winning conference was one of our main goals," Griffin said. "Now we have to focus on finishing strong, 8-1, and then making a run in the playoffs."

"It feels pretty good to come out and be the first seniors to (win it)," Kamienski said. "Hopefully, the underclassmen pick up from it and they can keep building off that."

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