By KEVIN CHROUST - editorial@kcchronicle.com
Saints rumble past East Aurora
AURORA – The St. Charles East football team is never going to go into any week treating it like a bridge, but that’s all Week 5 ended up being – the means of getting from Week 4 to Week 6.
The Saints routed East Aurora on Friday night, 41-0, to go over the .500-mark for the first time this year, and they did so while keeping the bodies they had on the field healthy for next week’s game at Waubonsie Valley.
“We just have to go out every week no matter who we’re playing and just play them,” Saints coach Mike Fields said. “Whoever that might be, we’re going to keep playing and try to get better.”
The Saints (3-2, 3-0 Upstate Eight Conference) gained most of their yards with the run, but were putting it in the end zone early through the air.
Running back Zachary Zajicek gained 126 yards on 13 carries, with 112 yards coming in the first half.
Fellow back Corey Campbell, who returned this week from an injury, had nine carries for 75 yards.
“Offensively, I think we have some nice rhythm with getting Corey back – him and Zach a little tandem at tailback,” Fields said.
Zajicek put the Saints on the board with 10:44 left in the first quarter on a 21-yard run, but after that, quarterback Nolan Possley threw three touchdown passes. Possley (8-for-14 for 163 yards) connected with Tyler Nutting, Drayton Heather and Jess Striedl to extend the lead to 28-0 before half.
“I think the past couple weeks we’ve been kind of getting better at it,” Fields said. “The kids are getting more comfortable with the offense itself. It’s tough with a new coach. It’s tough changing things. The
O-line has come around and we’ve got a couple of tailbacks that have stepped up. Now that the passing game is kind of coming around as well we’re able to do some things.”
Fields was particularly pleased with the defensive effort for the second straight week after holding down South Elgin’s passing attack last week. The Saints allowed 73 yards of total offense to East Aurora (0-5, 0-3 UEC).
Waubonsie Valley entered this week with a 3-1 mark and a 2-0 mark in the UEC after handing St. Charles North its first loss in Week 4. Other than that, Fields was waiting until this week was over to learn anything more about the Warriors.
He said they now will shift their focus in hopes of extending their win streak to four while staying unbeaten in the UEC.