Knights blank Chargers, stay unbeaten

Updated: September 10, 2011 10:25PM

With each first quarter touchdown Immaculate Conception scored, Aurora Central’s confidence seemed to wither. Conversely, the Knights’ confidence escalated.

Dominating from start to finish, the Knights defeated the Chargers 41-0 Saturday night in the Suburban Christian Gold opener. Immaculate Conception remained unbeaten (3-0, 1-0) while Aurora Central (2-1, 0-1) suffered its first lost of the season.

Junior quarterback Demetrius Carr begain the scoring with a 71-yard dash and added a pair of second half touchdown passes to Tim Hipskind. On the third play of the game, Carr went up the middle on a draw, slipped a tackle and raced up the right sideline at the 10:53 mark.

Dan Vatch capped an 83-yard, nine-play drive when his second-effort run from the 3-yard line hit paydirt with 4:07 remaining in the first quarter. Intercepting a pass on the Charger’s ensuing possession, James Peachey positioned his team for another score. Vatch (six carries, 53 yards) made it 20-0, scoring from four yards out with 1:21 left in the opening frame.

“They came out here ready to play from the get-go, and we’ve struggled with that really the entire so far,” Aurora Central coach Brian Casey said. “Minus the beginning of that Satuday game last week, we haven’t played very well to start a game.

“When you play better teams, the better teams are going to take those first six minutes and dictate what happens,” Casey said.

Luke Dickerson momentarily restored some confidence when he intercepted Carr near the goal line and returned the ball 41 yards, but the Chargers turned the ball over on fourth down after marching to Knights’ 18. Moving 77 yards on eight plays, the Knights lead increased to 27-0. Bouncing outside for a 34-yard gain, Vatch brought the Knights to the Chargers’ 11. Carr scored the touchdown on the next play, running to the right and reaching the ball over the goal line while airborne.

“We just came in with a positive attitude and executed,” Carr said. “Coach was pumping us up all week explaining that this was a big game. I think we drew the momentum out of them because they came in expecting to win.”

The Chargers gained 82 yards in the first half, but finished with 137 for the game. After scoring a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter, the running clock rule was imposed for the final frame. Immaculate Conception collected 263 yards in the opening half and had 68 yards after the intermission. Carr connected with Hipskind for a 7-yard score when he drew the defense to him then flipped the ball to Hipskind. Hipskind made a juggling catch for a 30-yard touchdown on the final play of the third quarter.

“The kids had a great week of practice and they came out and executed,” Immaculate Conception coach Chris Van Dyke said. “Our kids have great athletic ability, especially at our skill positions. We feel our defense is a good defense, but we didn’t expect to shut them out.”

Behind the offensive line of Peachey, Sean Fenton, Adalberto Saurez, Patrick Skrodzki and Brendan Flaherty, the Knights gained 206 yards on 29 rushes.

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