Aurora Christian’s run of state championships came to an end Saturday night against the same team that last defeated the Eagles in the state playoffs.
Stillman Valley handed the Eagles a last-second, heartbreaking 28-26 loss to to snap their state championship streak at two.
“These senior kids have had a great run and I’m very proud of them,” Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe said. “Not many kids can say that they played on two state championships and a semifinal unless you’re at Montini.”
The game came down to two goal-line plays in the final seconds when Stillman Valley fullback Zac Hare fumbled the ball twice but was once ruled down by contact at the Eagles’ 3.
Then on the next play, Hare bulled his way into the end zone, but the ball was on the ground. The referees conferred after the play and ruled that he broke the plane of the goal line before releasing the ball.
“I knew I was across the goal line — it was just a matter of getting the refs to know that I was across the goal line,’’ Hare said. “I don’t know what happened on the play before. Things were happening just way too fast. I was down. I know I was down.’’
The momentum of the game changed numerous times in the second half, but no momentum swing seemed bigger than the one that occurred near the beginning of the third quarter.
On the opening possession of the second half, MJ Zepeda picked off a Connor McNames pass that he first touched at the Cardinals’ 44 before batting it around a couple of times and finally capturing it at the 37. He then raced down the right sideline for an touchdown to make the score 17-7 in favor of Aurora Christian.
On Stillman’s next possession, the Cardinals went for it on fourth-and-1 at its own 29 and was stuffed by the Eagles’ defense.
Aurora Christian (9-4) could do nothing with the great field position and that, in turn, changed things once again.
“It was a big difference in the game,’’ Beebe said. “We couldn’t convert. We had two dropped balls — one of them was for a touchdown.’’
Stillman Valley (11-2) quickly took advantage by moving to the wishbone formation and running the option successfully before Tyler Lundquist scored from seven yards out on a pitch to cut the Eagles’ lead to 17-14.
Hare eventually put Stillman ahead 21-20 on a one-yard plunge before the Eagles came storming back with a go-ahead score of its own.
Austin Bray converted a key fourth-down play on a 13-yard completion to Brandon Walgren to keep the drive going after Legend Smith unleashed three big runs to move the ball out of his own end. Bray then followed that with a 21-yard completion to Noah Roberts and a 10-yard completion on a shovel pass to Smith to give Aurora Christian the lead temporarily at 26-21 with 2:27 to play.
“Bray audibled on that fourth down play and then he audibled on the next play to hit Austin Roberts on the slant and then he audibled again on the scoring play,’’ Beebe said.
“That was three plays in a row where he got us out of a bad play and put us in great position. That shows a lot of moxie on his part.’’
Smith carried most of the load for the Eagles with 29 carries for 162 yards and six catches for 32 yards.
“It’s unfortunate but I gave it my all out there,’’ Smith said “It was a good run but I just want to thank God for bringing us here.”
