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Football: Anthony Maddie leads Aurora Christian to 3A state championship
Updated: November 25, 2011 10:24PM
CHAMPAIGN — Downstate Mt. Carmel decided it didn’t want Anthony Maddie winning the game with his arm, so he did it with his legs instead.
Given an opening by the Aces’ defensive strategy, Maddie took full advantage by running for 192 yards and three touchdowns as Aurora Christian cruised to a 34-7 win in the Class 3A state championship Friday evening at Memorial Stadium.
The senior also threw for 93 yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles (13-1) became the first school from the city of Aurora to win a state football title. Not to be overlooked was an Aurora Christian defense that twice held Mt. Carmel on downs inside the Eagles’ 5-yard line in the first half and forced three turnovers.
But as usual, the spotlight was on Maddie, who wrapped up a spectacular senior season that produced 69 touchdowns and 4,916 yards: 52 passing scores along with 3,799 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns to go with 1,117 yards.
When he turned a simple draw play into a 72-yard scoring dash just 22 seconds into the game, it was an early sign that this might be a good night to keep the ball on the ground.
“We saw it on film,” Maddie said. “We knew against spread teams, they like to drop back in coverage. They have five guys in the box [so] we knew we would have to be able to run the ball to win this game. ... We tried to get the run game going and let the passing game follow that.”
The Eagles scored again on Maddie’s six-yard scoring pass to Cory Windle with 3:00 left in the first quarter. They then let the defense do the heavy lifting the rest of the half, which ended with the score still 14-0.
“Getting those first two scores, especially against the wind, was big for our team,” Maddie said. “That has to last us a long time.”
It did, thanks to a pair of big defensive stands. Brandon Mayes and Nick Larson teamed to stop Nathaniel Wagner for a one-yard gain on fourth-and-goal from the 4 with 10:00 left in the half. Then Mt. Carmel’s Sheldon Hannah threw an incompletion on another fourth-and-goal at the 4, eight seconds before halftime.
“Our offense kind of overshadows our defense,” Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe said. “What wins big games, especially playoff games and championships, is defense. If you can’t stop somebody else, it;s very difficult to be able to win big games.”
The Eagles continued to stop the Aces (12-2) after halftime, getting interceptions by Mayes, Cody Slamans and Ryan Suttle before giving up a late 20-yard scoring run by Wagner. And the offense put the game away with three, fourth-quarter scores: a 29-pass from Maddie (8 of 23) to Noah Roberts, a four-yard Maddie run and a 29-yard Maddie rush.
“Anthony Maddie is a great quarterback,” Mt. Carmel coach Darren Peach said. “Whether he’s running the ball or passing the ball, we knew what he could do.”
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