It had been 19 straight defeats since Elgin’s last victory, and when 6-6 wide receiver Elijah Bonds held the Town Jug aloft Friday amid a crowd of players and fans for all to see at Memorial Field, the celebration over the streak’s end was twice as sweet for the Maroons.
That’s because it came over their crosstown rivals.
Elgin piled up 25 second-quarter points behind surprise starting quarterback Terrance Miller-Allen and slotback Tyrese Riley, then coasted home a 31-13 winner over Larkin.
“It feels great because most of these guys I grew up with and now we finally got a win and I’m grateful,” said safety Jordan Smith, a three-year starter who had an interception, TD catch and helped hold Larkin deep threat A.J. Hunter without a catch until late. “It’s great because we were able to help the juniors and sophomores get a taste of this.”
Elgin (1-7, 1-5) came out slow, as the younger Royals (0-8, 0-6) drove to the 14-yard line their first possession, but were turned away on downs by an Elgin defense that bent early but didn’t allow a point until late in the third quarter.
“We started slow, came out flat,” said Miller-Allen, who also played defensive end. “Our leaders, our captains of the team — Dontrell (Gaddy). Mike Behning, Johnny Higgins and all of us — got it pumped up out there and the line stepped up and made plays and at the end D won it.
“Defense wins games and offense sells tickets.”
But Miller-Allen’s offense also helped win the game. He had been surprised Thursday when coach Kyle Rohde named him to start at quarterback over Gaddy, and responded with a 3-of-4 passing effort in the first half for 109 yards.
Miller-Allen’s 28-yard high pass along the sidelines to Bonds jump-started Elgin to the game’s first score on a 7-yard TD run around right end by Riley 13 seconds into the second quarter. It was a toss play Elgin ran repeatedly as Riley gained a team-high 87 yards on 11 carries.
“We were going with our game plan of let’s just keep running toss left and right,” Rohde said. “They played two or three of their big guys almost the whole game, so I was like, I’m not going to run at them, let’s just run left and right and tire them out and come up the middle later and then take a couple shots deep.”
Running back Trae Sallis had Elgin’s second score, reaching out at the end of a 14-yard run. A spinning squibbed kickoff that acted like an onside kick in the mud and rain, and Elgin’s Gaddy recovered, setting up his own 6-yard TD catch from Miller-Allen for a 19-0 lead.
Miller-Allen then fired a 75-yard TD bomb up the sidelines to Jordan 1:48 before halftime for a 25-0 lead.
“We ran the ball and we ran it pretty successfully, but not capitalizing on our two or three drives in the first half really hurt,” Larkin coach Dragan Teonic said. “That and penalties and turnovers.”
The Royals, in losing their 12th straight, got 174 yards rushing on 22 carries by Cameron Tomlin. Chevelle Clements (69 yards, nine carries) ran 7 yards for a TD to make it 25-6 in the third quarter. Royals QB David Hibbler completed 7-for-20 for 62 yards and threw a second-half interception to Clay White before he found Hunter late for an 8-yard TD pass.
Gaddy got in at quarterback the second half and finished the scoring with a 2-yard run after setting it up with his own 40-yarder.
“Congratulations to them,” Teonic said. “It was a great job and they thoroughly beat us.”
