It didn’t come easy, but Amado Martinez — bless him — and his East Aurora teammates got it done.
Did they ever.
Following the senior quarterback’s inspirational leadership, the Tomcats ended a 41-year drought Friday night, clinching a playoff berth with a sixth win, a 54-20 decision over Fenton in the regular-season finale for both Upstate Eight Conference teams.
The game was played at Triton College due to ongoing construction at Fenton’s stadium.
How big was this?
“First team to do it since 1982,” said Martinez, who threw touchdown passes covering 50 and 65 yards to senior wide receiver Kenneth Cooley. “Now, we’ve got another week to do this. It’s very special.”
So is Martinez, who had to deal with personal tragedy over the previous eight days in a critical stretch for him and his history-making teammates.
East Aurora became playoff eligible the previous week with a big 32-21 Upstate Eight win over West Chicago at home.
His father, Amado Sr., suffered a fatal heart attack during the first half of that game and the youngster was informed at halftime. He made the decision to continue playing. Services for his father were held midweek.
“It was rough, getting news like that,” Martinez said. “I came back and was there for my team. He loved football and he loved when I played.
“I used my father’s passing as fuel. It taught me a lot. At any given time, you or someone else can leave. And life isn’t guaranteed, but death is. He wanted me to do this, so I’m doing it.”
Martinez and the Tomcats (6-3) didn’t want to be on the bubble with a 5-4 record, and made quick work of the Bison (0-9) on Friday night.
Junior running back Jeremiah Brown, who finished with 15 carries for 100 yards, scored TDs in the first quarter on runs of 8 and 24 yards.
Cooley also had three TD runs, covering 78 yards in the second quarter and 42 and 15 yards in the third, giving him 27 TDs for the season.
All eyes, however, were on their quarterback.
“Amado has been doing as well as he can,” East Aurora coach Nick Kukuc said. “His poise and the guts he brings every single day helped him through a very difficult week.
“He was locked in, saying, ‘I need to give you my best when I’m here.'”
Senior defensive end Arnold Walker and his linemates were locked in as well. Walker had two solo sacks for a pair of 14-yard losses and joined seniors Derrick Shamley and Anthony Beal on another for a 10-yard loss.
“We’ve seen a lot of adversity from the start of summer camp, all the way through,” Walker said. “I’m proud of this team. We’ve worked hard this week, offseason, preseason, everything.
“But that’s what it’s about right here — playoffs.”
Kukuc was pleased his team stuck to the mantra he has laid out all season, going 1-0 each week.
“We put on a nice showing of our talents and capabilities,” Kukuc said. “We were able to establish the run pretty well. Our field goals, extra points and special teams weren’t the greatest.
“We’ve earned the opportunity to play one more, but we have to clean some things up.”
He couldn’t help but finish by coming full circle, however.
“There’s a reason why we are here,” Kukuc said. “We’ve got Kenneth (Cooley) with his touchdowns, Jeremiah (Brown) with those rushing yards, and we’ve got a quarterback that’s a true, true leader.
“Amado is the conductor, getting people lined up, getting them where they need to be. He’s keeping them focused and always putting the team first.”
Even during the toughest week of his life.