NORTHLAKE — Leyden quarterback Tom Pajor came into his senior season with a lot excitement and hope.
Pajor was one of several returning starters at key positions and the thought was that the Eagles would be able to improve on last year’s 3-6 record.
But it wasn’t that easy. Leyden dropped its first six games as it battled problems with consistency and a brutal schedule.
Despite the losses piling up, Pajor stayed positive and his perseverance paid off on Friday night as the Eagles whipped Morton 52-20 behind Pajor’s four touchdown passes in a West Suburban Gold home game.
“I wanted a win so bad and I didn’t care what the score was,” Pajor said. “I hated that ‘oh’ in the win column. We were all pretty disappointed but there was nothing you could do about the losses so we just had to keep our heads up.”
Pajor finished the night 8-for-14 for 245 yards and threw a pair of 37-yard touchdowns to John Robles, as well as a scoring strike each to Adrian Guerrero (75 yards) and Alex Lemon (23 yards).
Leyden (1-6, 1-3) led 38-7 at halftime and was ahead 52-7 before Morton (2-5, 2-3) added two scores in the final minutes.
“I’m happy for the game he had,” Leyden head coach Tom Cerasani said. “He deserved to have a breakout game. He made the right reads and the right throws and you can’t ask for anything else.”
Pajor tried to deflect credit for his stat line or the Eagles’ big win.
“It was all about my players,” Pajor said. “I didn’t have to do much. I gave our playmakers the ball and they did everything else. It wasn’t on me. It’s all on them.”
Pajor has a humble nature and credits his parents, Renata and Robert, for keeping him grounded.
“They came to America from Poland with nothing,” Pajor said. “I still learn from them every single day.”
Pajor put those lessons to use this season. He refused to let players’ defections bother him or make him quit on his teammates.
“We wanted the people that truly believed in us to be on our team,” Pajor said. “If they didn’t want to play for us, then they shouldn’t be on the team. Only the tough kids stuck around and we’re happy to have them and we’re going to win some more football games.”
Pajor has been the glue that bonded the team.
“Tom has kept us up the whole season,” Robles said. “He’s a great captain on and off the field. He’s made sure we keep practicing hard even though we had a losing record.”
Leyden has a great opportunity to win its final two games. The Eagles face Willowbrook and then Proviso East, the two teams that Morton beat this season. But Pajor isn’t taking anything for granted.
“We can’t just say that because we beat Morton we can beat them,” Pajor said. “Every single week is a new challenge and we have to go into every single week thinking about how we have to win this week. We can’t think about prior games.”
