West Aurora ends season on a high by smashing Glenbard East

West Aurora had a bizarre way to start their scoring onslaught, and they basically lit up the scoreboard and turned the lights out on host Glenbard East Friday night in Lombard.

Junior quarterback Quintez Jones threw three touchdown passes in completing 10 of 16 passes for 162 yards as the Blackhawks ended the year with a two-game winning streak by routing the Rams 52-18.

Cole Childs scored three touchdowns, two the old-fashioned way through the air on passes from Jones.

There were a lot of crazy developments in the game. One of the four banks of lights malfunctioned the entire game.

The craziest was probably the first West Aurora (3-6, 2-5 DuPage Valley) touchdown that ignited their second best scoring output since they put up 59 points against East Aurora in the first game of the season.

In the opening minutes of the game, elusive Glenbard East quarterback Joe Kotch carried the ball for one of his 13 carries in the game. West Aurora’s Trevon Williams caught him from behind the stole the ball from Kotch and began running in the opposite direction.

After Williams had run 41 yards, he fumbled as he was hit. The closest player to the ball, Childs scooped up the loose ball and ran the final 38 yards for the unusual touchdown.

The Blackhawks took advantage of another turnover late in the first quarter. A blitzing Spencer Thomas deflected a Kotch pass that Devontae Ward intercepted at the Rams’ 33-yard line. DeQuan Booker then ran three straight times, the second one a 29-yard counter run to the Glenbard East one-yard line.

Jones executed a perfect play-action fake and passed to Thomas for a 14-0 lead.

Glenbard East (1-8, 1-6) answered with a nine-play drive to cut the lead to 14-6 on a seven-yard pass from Kotch to Malysha Sanders. But West Aurora added a 32-yard field goal by Bryan Watkins.

Then the Blackhawks ran their two-minute offense to perfection. Jones found Childs open in the end zone from 15 yards out with only six seconds left in the half. It was Childs’ fourth reception of the drive. He had five catches for 97 yards to lead West.

Little did anyone know that the Blackhawks would score 22 seconds later, wrapped around the intermission. That’s because Tony Oros took the second-half kickoff, broke a tackle, and sped 90 yards.

Midway through the third period, West Aurora scored its second touchdown of the quarter on special teams. Watkins, set to punt, fumbled the snap, but looked up and saw an opening on the left side. He ran 41 yards for a touchdown seemed to put the game out of reach at 38-6.

But Glenbard East scored twice in less than a minute sandwiched around a West Aurora turnover. The scores came on a 20-yard pass from Kotch to Mike Kjeldsen and a 5-yard run by Jordan Abushanab. Kotch had a hand in almost all the offense, rushing for 77 yards and passing for 243.

The Rams’ fans were smelling a comeback. Childs put the Blackhawks back in control with a 50-yard touchdown reception. Booker capped the scoring on a one-yard run early in the fourth period.

He finished with 141 yards on 18 carries, all but nine yards coming in the first half.