Elgin rolls past East Aurora to end skid

Something had to give.

Elgin visited East Aurora looking to escape a 13-game losing streak. The host Tomcats hadn’t tasted victory in 35 games. Thanks to a solid running game, Elgin broke through with a 35-0 triumph in Upstate Eight Conference crossover action.

Both teams had their share of missed opportunities, but only Elgin was able to make its opponent pay for miscues. The biggest came early in the second quarter when a quarterback sack by Marcus Massey and Latrell Lee left the Maroons with fourth-and-20.

But the ensuing punt was muffed by the Tomcats, allowing Ethan Henke to pounce on the loose ball at the East 35. Two Jaylen Clemons runs later, Elgin was up 14-0 with Clemons dragging Tomcats defenders into the end zone from 14 yards out.

Clemons and sophomore speedster Malik Dunner provided an inside-out running attack for the Maroons (1-5). Clemons ran 16 times for 200 yards, and Dunner gained 113 yards on 12 carries.

“It was a good feeling to finally get a win,” said Clemons, a 5-foot 11-inch junior. “I can’t wait to get on the bus and talk about it with the guys.”

Elgin had gotten on the board late in the first quarter. Ryan Sitter executed a perfect play-fake and found Joe DeBrocke open for a 25-yard scoring strike. It was the only pass completion of the game for the Maroons.

Junior running back Jamaria Littleton gave the Tomcats (0-6) some solid running in the first half and was moving the ball down the field. But on a fourth-down carry, Littleton came up short and injured his shoulder. He did not return and finished with 56 yards on 15 rushes.

Once again, Elgin responded with a 51-yard scoring drive just before halftime. The highlight was a 30-yard run by Clemons, who was reinstated to the team this week after sitting out last week for school-related reasons. He scored from a yard out to give the Maroons a 22-0 halftime cushion.

Things went from bad to worse for an already-thin East Aurora team when quarterback David Fonseco underthrew his receiver and Ray Dunnigan made the interception. Dunnigan returned the pick 54 yards, and Fonseco sustained a concussion trying to make the tackle.

“When you start the game with 28 players (down from over 50 during the summer) and you lose two key players, that’s a difficult situation,” noted East Aurora coach Kurt Becker. “But I can’t tell you how proud I am of our team, for the way they did not quit. You just have to keep working, and sooner or later you’ll break the cycle.”

Dunner scored the final touchdown later in the third period on an 18-yard run around end. The Maroons consistently used their speed to get to the outside for large gains.

“Any time a team has to face backs (Dunner and Clemons) with two different types of tempo, it’s hard to defend,” said Elgin coach Dave Bierman. “The reason why Malik is on the varsity as a sophomore is because he’s the fastest kid in our program.”

Massey was a bright spot on offense for East Aurora, gaining 81 yards on 23 carries. He had 70 yards in the second half.

The Tomcats’ best chance to score came just before halftime after a 38-yard kickoff return by Qahir Phillips and a Maroons penalty. But they were out of timeouts, and poor clock management prevented a chance at the end zone.