Make some plays.
Fernando DeLeon and his friends on the West Aurora defense knew what had to be done in the second half Friday night at Yorkville.
First, to make up for a sluggish start to the Southwest Prairie West game. Second, to compensate for the loss of the team’s top player on offense — senior running back Jeremiah Johnson — to a serious leg injury.
DeLeon and Co. did just that, sparking the Blackhawks’ rally from a 14-0 deficit in the first half.
West Aurora’s defense scored a touchdown in the third quarter and set up another in the fourth with a turnover, only to fall agonizingly short 14-13 following a missed point-after kick and having a desperation 44-yard field goal in the final seconds come up short and wide.
That TD on defense? DeLeon did it.
“I just saw the ball rolling and thought, ‘Oh my God, there’s the ball,'” he said.
A sophomore defensive end, DeLeon was rushing Yorkville punter Antonio Rodriguez on fourth-and-12 at the Foxes’ 18 late in the third quarter.
Linebacker Timothy Hancock blocked the punt for West Aurora (3-3, 0-2) and DeLeon seized upon the wonderful opportunity, coming up with the scoop-and-score play with 2:30 left in the quarter.
“I had to carry it in from like 5 yards out,” DeLeon said. “Everything was like in slow motion, and there it is at my feet. It was a big momentum changer.”
Indeed, it was.
Earlier in the quarter, linebacker Matthew Tarr blocked a 30-yard field goal by Yorkville (4-2, 1-1) and West Aurora was barely wide right on a 29-yard field goal.
On the second play of the second half, Johnson caught a swing pass from Gino Martino and ran wide toward Yorkville’s sideline. Johnson, who had nine carries for 69 yards, was injured when tackled on the play.
An ambulance was brought onto the field, with Johnson being transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
It was eerily reminiscent of a play between the two teams last spring when Yorkville running back Dougie Burson suffered a broken leg at West Aurora.
“It’s a part of the game you don’t want to see,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “In this season he was having, too. He was averaging 100 yards a game in rushing and receiving. That one hurt.”
“It’s something you hate to see because these kids work so hard in the summer to prepare for a season,” said Yorkville coach Dan McGuire, a West Aurora graduate. “It’s the worst part of the game.”
The Blackhawks responded with emotion.
“Definitely, our defense picked it up,” DeLeon said.
Nearly four minutes into the fourth quarter, defensive back Austin Pierce came up with another big play, wresting the ball away from Yorkville receiver John Swarn on an apparent catch of Nate Kraus’ pass at the 20.
“I saw he bobbled it and went up with his left hand,” Pierce said. “I grabbed it and wrestled him to the ground with it.”
Pierce was still thinking of Johnson.
“He’s our brother,” Pierce said. “We tried to finish that for him. It just didn’t work out. We played so hard in that second half for him.”
Martino connected with Chris Stinson for a 17-yard pass and Daniel Gonzalez ran in for a 3-yard TD but the PAT kick hooked left of the upright.
In the first half, Yorkville marched 65 yards and 66 yards on its first two possessions, capped by a 6-yard TD run from Deajeion Lewis and a 30-yard TD run from Kendall Smith. Lewis finished with 70 yards on 15 carries.
The Blackhawks weren’t quite done, however. DeLeon batted down Kraus’ screen pass at the line of scrimmage to force a punt, giving the Blackhawks the ball at their 30 with two timeouts and 2:45 remaining.
Martino, who passed for 222 yards, marched West Aurora to the Foxes’ 27 with 11.7 seconds left for the final kick.
“Looking back at it, the guy who calls the plays, which is me, probably should’ve gotten us a little bit closer,” Eimer said. “It’s tough. We’re 3-3, and we’ve got three cracks to get two more wins to be playoff eligible.”