AURORA -- East Aurora continued their turnaround campaign on Friday at Roy E. Davis Field.
Following the sophomore team's third straight victory, the Tomcats varsity won their second game of the season by shutting out Thornwood 14-0.
It was also East's first homecoming game win in 11 long seasons.
The first half was marred by penalties, but the Cats' defense had come to play and allowed the Thunderbirds only 74 yards before the break.
"It was time to step up and everybody played well. We started off a little slow, but we began to pick up on their running the ball," said linebacker Chris Salinas. "The playcalling worked out well."
Ed Smith and Jose Navarro recovered fumbles for East, but Thornwood was tough defensively as well. The Cats failed on a 23-yard field goal attempt and the board showed a 0-0 tie at intermission.
Coach Bill Bryant must have lit a fire under his charges as they came out firing on all cylinders to start the third.
East drove 80 yards on seven plays and scored quickly at 8:39. Quarterback Richard Jimenez swept to the left for 30 yards, and Michael Turner swept to the right for a 16-yard touchdown. The PAT snap was bad, but Jimenez, who is the holder, reversed across the field for the 2-point conversion.
Taking over after a punt at the Thornwood 48, Jimenez had a broken play gain 19 yards and Turner ran an almost identical sweep to the right to score at the 5:47 mark. The conversion failed, but the lead was at a more comfortable 14-0.
"I want to give everything up to my offensive line, Leon (Harden), just everybody," said Turner, who had 19 carries for 105 yards. "I had Abe (Duran) blocking for me and I cut it back."
The Tomcat defense had to take it from there and made plays to stop Thornwood three different times.
East stopped the T'Birds on a 4th-and-goal from the four to end the third quarter, but the biggest plays were yet to come.
In the fourth quarter, Salinas intercepted a pass and returned it 32 yards, and Alex Alvarado had a pick that he returned for 37. The Cats were unable to punch in a score after the turnovers, but they ate valuable time from the clock.
"As soon as I saw it, I broke to it," said Salinas about the pick. "Lucky I got it down. Great blocks all around -- I should have taken it all the way."
East snuffed out one last Thornwood drive with good pass defense, and assured their best homecoming celebration in a long while.
"Two wins (the Tomcats are now 2-4) is still not enough, though. For two years, we have been building up on the moral victories," said Bryant. "We're tired of that. Now we can start winning.
"Our sophomores have won three in a row, the freshmen won a game, and now we've won two games. Now let's just keep it going."
East Aurora 14, Thornwood 0
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