It hasn’t happened since 2010, but it’s happening again in South Elgin.
A 37-21 win Saturday over visiting West Aurora kept the Storm undefeated in the Upstate Eight Valley. It also gave them a sixth win to guarantee a spot in the Class 8A state playoffs.
“It’s a great feeling,” Storm coach Pat Pistorio said. “We’re excited about that for our school and for our community. These kids have put a lot into it and now they’re getting a lot out of it.”
Through two quarters, South Elgin had its hands full with a Blackhawks team that scored three touchdowns, including an 80-yard TD return by Drake Spears of the opening kickoff.
DaQuan Cross also had a pair of TD runs before halftime for West Aurora (4-3, 2-2) before South Elgin (6-1, 3-0) scored 20 unanswered points in the second half.
“We did some good things offensively from time to time but we just couldn’t keep up with them,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “I think South Elgin is one of the best teams we’ve seen. That’s probably the best offense we’ve seen all year, and I thought (our defense) played their tails off.”
The Storm’s offensive numbers lent weight to Eimer’s assessment. South Elgin’s 371 yards included 290 passing and 81 rushing, plus the confidence that Storm quarterback Jake AmRhein and his offense played with despite the halftime deficit.
“We like to keep our heads up and usually we don’t dwell on things,” AmRhein said. “In the past that’s been a trend here and we learned that we have to keep playing through the last whistle, to keep playing our hardest to keep us in the game.”
The Storm followed Cross’ opening runback by marching the ball 56 yards to tie the game, capped by AmRhein’s 1-yard TD run.
West led 14-7 after a quarter on Cross’ first TD run. South tied things up on a 3-yard TD run in the second quarter by Shawn Griffin, who finished with 93 yards rushing.
Cross scored his second touchdown before South’s Nick Farfan booted a 35-yard field goal to cut West’s lead to 21-17 at halftime.
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After giving up 200-plus yards of offense in the first half, South Elgin’s defense shut the door in allowing West only 55 yards in the second.
“Our tackling improved in the second half and I think we gassed them a little,” Pistorio said. “We go up-tempo and we knew they had some two-way guys. We try to make sure we’re in that position in the second half, where they can maybe slow down a little bit.”
A 1-yard TD run from AmRhein in the third quarter gave South its first lead at 24-21, Jaurice Thomas caught a 27-yard TD pass in the fourth, and Griffin completed the scoring with a 10-yard run with less than two minutes to play.
West’s DaQuan Cross finished with 138 yards on 14 carries and scored on touchdown runs of 20 and 5 yards in the first half. South’s Andrew Kamienski had 138 yards received and Derek Kumerow added 108, on 13 reception apiece.
Eimer also applauded the play of defensive lineman Steve Norman, while Pistorio liked what he saw from linemen Mike Ribando and Brian Medina.
Pistorio also called the duo of Joey Rhode and Justin Nutof “one of the best linebacking corps in the area. Those guys did an amazing job for us.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer for The Courier-News.