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West Aurora moves to 3-0 with shutout of East Aurora

JaQuan Buchanan more than spoiled the multimillion dollar East Aurora football stadium renovation Friday night.

The West Aurora junior had touchdown runs on the Blackhawks' opening five first-half possessions in the continuation of Illinois' longest-running prep football series.

The 125th edition proved nightmarish for East Aurora as the Blackhawks rolled in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division with a dominating 47-0 victory.

West Aurora rolled up 317 yards of offense in scoring the first five times of the first half in cruising to its 12th consecutive regular-season victory at East Aurora.

The five Buchanan scores - from 10, 1, 9, 1 and 14 yards - enabled the Blackhawks (3-0, 1-0) to rumble into halftime with a 33-0 cushion.

"It doesn't really matter who has the ball," Buchanan said of the Blackhawks' multiple weapons from the skill positions. "We will keep on making big plays."

Buchanan is a central reason why West Aurora has opened the season by outscoring its three opponents 133-3.

"It's been a blessing, and I can't wait to see how much we keep this going," Buchanan said of his 11 touchdowns thus far.

West Aurora sophomore quarterback Will Tammaru was nearly flawless in the first half and lone series after the intermission.

Tammaru completed his first 7 pass attempts for 154 yards, only to have an incompletion late in the second quarter ruin a perfect passing night.

The Blackhawks' superstar senior athlete Camron Donatlan is looking for new beasts to slay.

The two-time defending Class 3A high jump state champion and all-area basketball player touched the ball a mere three times Friday night.

But Donatlan was instrumental to three Buchanan touchdowns with a pair of receptions for 64 yards and a 25-yard rush on a direct snap from center.

"I'm glad to have (Donatlan) on my team," said Tammaru. "He's a special weapon. The (East Aurora) corners were hitting on the short routes. The reads were there."

" (Donatlan) can literally do it all," West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said.

"I wanted to be part of the legacy, going 9-0 last year," Donatlan said of the first conference championship since 1984. "I wanted to be a part of the team."

Tammaru connected with Latrell Slater for a 52-yard catch and run to set up Buchanan for a 1-yard plunge.

Rhadarius Lomax initiated a running clocked 90 seconds into the third quarter for West Aurora.

East Aurora (0-3, 0-1) was also stymied by 4 turnovers.

The Blackhawks' Johnny Acevedo had a 7-yard interception return to cap the Blackhawks' second straight shutout.

"They have a nice team," East Aurora coach Kurt Becker said. "They are well coached."

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