The last time Aurora Central Catholic and Aurora Christian met on a football field, ACC Head Coach Brian Casey was a senior quarterback at Montini Catholic High School, and Aurora Christian Head Coach Don Beebe was two years removed from a 9 year career in the National Football League. Much has changed since the Chargers took a 55-0 decision against the Eagles in week 2 of the 2000 season, but the two team will reacquaint themselves tonight, as both teams enter the highly anticipated contest with something to play for.
For the Chargers the stakes are simple, a win gives the Chargers a winning season for the first time in 14 seasons, and makes ACC playoff eligible for the first time in that same span. Though a win would not guarantee a post-season berth, a loss will ensure the season is over. The Chargers offense has been clicking on all cylinders the last two weeks. The ACC Double Wing scheme has accumulated 724 yards on the ground (322 vs. Walther Lutheran, 402 vs. Wheaton Academy), and 9 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Kyle Clechenko (St. Charles), who needs just 26 yards to move into 10th all-time in rushing at ACC, rushed for 119 yards and two scores in last weekends win over Wheaton Academy. Junior backfield mates Steven Amoni (Yorkville) and Luke Dickerson (Sugar Grove) added 113 and 93 respectively last weekend.
“Our offensive line (A.T. White (Aurora), Izzy Rosa (Montgomery), Joe Cisneros (Montgomery), Alex Karafiat (Aurora), Luke Faltz (Aurora)) has done a great job this season winning a lot of battles at the line of scrimmage,” Casey said. “Our rushing attack is a lot more crisp, with more defined running lanes, its an area we have really improved since we started this summer.”
As for the defense, the Chargers are coming off their most complete performance of the season shutting out Wheaton Academy, while only allowing 87 yards of total offense. Senior SCC Defensive Player of the Year candidate Nick Holzer (Yorkville), notched 15 tackles last weekend, including 2 in the backfield. Holzer leads the team with an astonishing 117 tackles in the Chargers 8 games. ACC got a much needed boost in their pass defense with the return of defensive back Anthony Andujar (Montgomery) for the first time since week 3.
“We played some good football from start to finish last weekend,” Casey said. “We need to carry that effort over. and even improve in some areas to be a very solid football team this weekend.”
Aurora Christian, who enters tonight’s game ranked second in the AP Illinois High School Football 3A Poll, is playing for an undefeated conference season and a potential top seed in the IHSA 3A Playoffs. The Eagles offense has scored 335 points already this season (41.9 PPG), and are lead by Western Michigan quarterback commit Anthony Maddie. Christian is also coming off an impressive 55-22 win over St. Edward a week ago. A game which saw the Eagles score on each of their first 8 possessions.
“They do a lot of things really well, and can hurt you in a lot of different ways,” ACC Defensive Coordinator Eric Fulara said. “We need to play a solid game defensively, prevent the big plays, and tackle in space.”
Tonights game will also be fun. Fun for the area, both schools are seperated by less than a half mile from one another down Edgelawn and Sullivan roads. Fun for the spectators, fun for the schools, and fun for the players.
“We told our kids this will be the most meaningful game ACC has played in 14 years,” Casey said. “There are going to be a ton of people over there, a lot of alumni will come back for this, this is what high school football is about, the big games, all of these kids from both teams need to enjoy the preparation and the excitement and the feeling of playing in games like these.”
