Bartlett claims outright UEC Valley title

Updated: October 21, 2011 11:56PM

One team was looking to clinch the Upstate Eight Valley championship outright. The other was just looking to win a game. It was the team with something to play for that came out on top — big time. Bartlett blew out East Aurora 59-0 in Streamwood.

The Hawks (7-2, 6-0) scored 38 first-quarter points and were able to trigger a running clock for the entire second half. They didn’t attempt a running play until there were two minutes left in the second quarter, but the aerial attack made the ground game unnecessary. Quarterback A.J. Bilyeu threw for 255 yards and five touchdowns, each of which went to a different receiver.

The biggest beneficiary of Bilyeu’s passes was James Butler, who averaged 29 yards on four catches and caught a touchdown pass. He had a larger impact on special teams though. In the first quarter, Butler returned two punts to the house from distances of 35 and 50 yards, respectively.

“I had really good looks and the blocking was all there,” said Butler.

“I just had to make one guy miss and there was the house.”

“We really challenge our kids to make sure that they’re doing their technique right on every single play,” said assistant coach Eric Kramer. “And it’s a test for us to just keep getting better for our goal, which is playing in the state championship.”

The problems for East Aurora (0-9, 0-6) were far less about turnovers than an offense that struggled. Quarterback Laquan Brown led the Tomcats with 34 rushing yards. Brown fared much worse in the passing department, finishing with a net total of minus–40 yards.

Mostly, he was victimized by a tough Hawks defense that, among other things, recorded eight sacks, five of which came from defensive end Chris Kantzavelos.

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