Aurora Central bounces back in big way
The Aurora Central Catholic faithful barely had a chance to finish their first cup of hot chocolate before the Chargers had built a 35-0 lead on visiting Chicago Christian at Bob Stewart Field Friday night. By the end of the night, the Chargers finished off their Metro Suburban Red Conference rival 76-6 to put them one win away from earning a home field playoff game.
Edged out by only one point a week ago for their first loss, Chargers junior Ryan Cerza, who scored four of the Chargers' 11 touchdowns, admitted that was an experience they didn't want to repeat again.
"We worked really hard as a team," Cerza said. "We had a loss last week, so when we came out tonight we were ready to go. The blocking was there, and we had some great holes to run through. We had a bad taste in our mouth after last week, so we came out tonight ready to play and ready to play well as a team."
Senior Griffin Zajac and quarterback Johnny Belskis teamed up for 3 long touchdown passes in the first quarter. Zajac echoed Cerza's feelings from last week and added that the celebrations on Friday nights are a result of the hard work done behind the scenes during the hot summer months.
"During the whole week of practice we had a bitter taste in our mouth from the heartbreaking loss, so we knew we had to come out tonight and start on fire and make a statement and show them what Charger football is," Zajac said. "The whole team is in the weight room after school and during the summer, and we get up at six o'clock every day in the summer to train, so we're confident that we're one of the best conditioned teams out there."
Zajac intercepted a pass on the Knights second play of the game, and Cerza scored from 23 yards out for a 7-0 Chargers lead. Belskis had a 37-yard pass to Zajac called back for a penalty, but the two hooked up again on the opposite side of the field for a 42-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. In what appeared almost a replay of the previous touchdown, Belskis once again found Zajac for a 61-yard touchdown and the lead was quickly 21-0 with just over half of the first quarter gone.
The Chargers weren't just about offense Friday night, however. After forcing a punt on the Knights' next possession, senior Jimmy Laurenti returned the ensuing punt 58 yards for another Chargers score. Then three plays later, sophomore Jeff Albert intercepted a pass and returned it 33 yards for a 35-0 first quarter lead.
The Chargers added 4 more touchdowns in the second quarter to build a 62-0 halftime lead. Cerza added rushing touchdowns of 7, 9, and 39 yards, and Belskis and Zajac connected on a 51-yard touchdown pass.
The Chargers reserves played the second half and added 2 more touchdown runs - the first coming on the first play of the second half on a 65-yard run by Kyle Nilo, and sophomore Noah Padilla added a 33-yard touchdown to close out the Chargers' scoring.
The lone Knights score came late in the fourth quarter on a 9-yard touchdown run by junior Matt McCarthy.
Chargers head coach John Belskis indicated that the week of practice leading up to the game was long and tough, but he admitted that he even went a bit further back in his memory with the regular season nearing it's end.
"It was a long week of practice," Belskis said. "We talked a lot this week about getting back to being the hunter, and the only way you get this taste out of your mouth is to get back on the field. These kids are resilient. I was standing in there at halftime after we had done all of our talking, and the kids were standing there, and I just looked at them and tried to take it all in how great these kids are and what a special time this is for us. I just wanted to take that in for a few minutes. I came in with these guys. A lot of them were freshmen when I started four years ago, so I'm just so happy for them."