West Aurora halts five-game slide

Updated: October 14, 2011 11:53PM

It took less than two minutes for the healing to begin for West Aurora.

The Blackhawks, visiting DuPage Valley Conference foe West Chicago, wasted little time putting an end to their five-game losing streak against the conference’s elite teams. Booker Ross ran for 197 yards on 11 carries, including a touchdown, to lead West Aurora to a 41-0 rout of the Wildcats.

“We needed a win like this. It was a big statement game for us,” said West Aurora coach Nate Eimer.

The Blackhawks (3-5, 1-5) showed right away that they had the resolve to put the disappointment of missing the postseason behind them. After a pair of runs by 5-foot-9 senior Shon Enoch that totaled 32 yards, quarterback Curtis Townsend found Nate Zinzer in the flat for a wide-receiver screen. Zinzer had an open path to an 18-yard score only 1:57 into the game.

Zinzer would score West Aurora’s third touchdown, a 20-yarder, on the same play late in the first period.

West Chicago (1-7, 1-5) gave some help to the Blackhawks after forcing a punt. Ricardo Gomez’s 46-yard punt went over the head of a Wildcat, who nevertheless tried to haul in the ball. Donald Patterson pounced on the loose football on the West Chicago 1, setting up an easy Enoch score on the next play to make it 14-0.

Dominating the line of scrimmage, West Aurora’s offensive front of Austin Beebe, Marco Guarnizo, Robert Drager, Darryl Stewart and Tyler Thomas opened holes for Enoch (10 carries, 94 yards) and Ross all evening.

“How about the O-line. They did a great job,” said Eimer. “We only had one returning starter coming back this season, and they’ve gotten better and better every week.”

The game’s most exciting play took place after the Blackhawks stopped West Chicago’s 15-play drive on their 5-yard line. On the second play from scrimmage, Ross took the handoff, broke several tackles 20-30 yards downfield, and broke free for a 94-yard scoring jaunt. As a result, West Aurora carried a 27-0 lead into halftime.

“It felt pretty good — I just got behind Austin Beebe and then did my thing,” said Ross, a junior. “Shon and I have friendly competition. We go hard in practice and push each other to be better. We just want to go hard next week and finish off the season right.”

Led by Brandon Warren, Matt Williams and Gomez, West Aurora’s defense bent but didn’t break on long drives in both the first half and second. Nick Sanzeri was the lone bright spot for the Wildcats, bulling his way for 143 yards on 22 rushes. But with no Wildcats passing threat, the Blackhawks could stack the box and prevent any big plays.

West Aurora’s scores in the second half came on a 4-yard run by reserve quarterback Quintez Jones and a 24-yard run by Townsend. For the game, the Blackhawks amassed 324 yards on the ground and another 53 in the air. They did not commit a turnover.

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