Aurora Central cruises past Guerin

The playoff drought is officially over for Aurora Central.

Heading into this season, the Chargers had not reached the postseason since 1997 — and hadn’t won a playoff game since the season before that. But after Friday’s 55-0 win over Guerin Prep, ACC has a chance to start a new streak as it became an automatic qualifier with six wins.

“It’s great for our kids,” said ACC coach Brian Casey. “We told our guys we needed to come out and play well from the get-go and earn what we feel is a tremendous accomplishment for our program.”

The Chargers (6-1, 4-1 Suburban Christian Gold) got out of the gate in a hurry against a Gators squad that had been outscored 200-0 in its previous four games, rolling to a 49-0 halftime lead.

While the defense held the Gators (1-6, 1-4) to just 26 total yards in the first half, the Charger ground game was clicking on all cylinders, rolling up 295 yards by the break. Three players rushed for more than 60 yards in the half, with Julian Rios leading the way with 104 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries.

Brian Bohr also scored three times and posted 96 yards on the ground, while sophomore quarterback Matt Rahn rushed for 60 yards and scored on an electrifying 47-yard scamper in the first quarter.

“It was all about the linemen, they opened up the holes,” Rios said. “They are like brothers, I trust them and we just all do our jobs.”

The win had a double meaning for the Chargers, as losses on the road to Guerin and Walther Lutheran last year were two defeats ACC saw as turning points in a 4-5 season. All during the offseason, the coaches played a tape of the team’s mistakes in those games in the weight room, something that must have worked as the Chargers won those two games this season by a combined score of 97-7.

“For it to happen against these two teams, it was a bit of closure,” Casey said. “It was nice to do it now, and these kids wanted these two.”