Aurora Christian’s pass-happy offense was a well-oiled machine as the Eagles ran to 42-6 lead near the end of the first half against Urban Prep-Bronzeville in Aurora Friday night.
Lightning then delayed the game, but the Eagles returned and scored early in the second half. The 49-6 margin held for the duration of the running clock.
Aurora Christian quarterback Austin Bray (18-for-30, six touchdown passes) found Nick Edlund and Zach Bosek for scoring passes of seven and 19 yards, respectively, in the first quarter.
But quarterback Thomas Porter turned a fourth-down sneak play into a 42-yard scoring run to keep the Lions (0-2) close at 14-6 at the end of the quarter.
“The line blocked well and I got around the safety,” Porter said. “It was one-on-one coverage so it was hard for the safety to take me down.”
The Eagles (2-0) began to blow it open in the second quarter as Bray found Edlund on scoring passes of 22 and 45 yards and Jacolby Maxwell from 15 yards. Zach Bosek had a touchdown run of 14 yards as the Eagles dominated before the half.
“The line held their blocks and executed on every single play,” Edlund said. “The wide receivers blocked tremendously — those bubbles and screens don’t happen without those guys.”
“We’ve really been working on team chemistry and knowing our plays,” said Maxwell, who had another touchdown reception in the third quarter. “It starts with the offensive line, and we are all working toward one goal. We’re working on getting better, and it showed tonight.”
New Aurora Christian head coach Dave Beebe was pleased with the overall effort.
“Our biggest concern every week is to get better because we don’t have a ton of experience,” he said. “We got much better defensively and our offense played about the same if not a little bit better.”
Beebe highlighted the effort of Bosek as the leader of the Eagles’ defense, which allowed the Lions only 52 yards.
“Our defense is good at covering, and our linebackers are strong at filling the hole,” Bosek said. “Our linemen our quick off the ball and have the ability to make plays.”
Urban Prep-Bronzeville coach Jamen Williams noted some positives in defeat.
“We saw increased effort after we got down. We didn’t give up and continued to fight” he said. “We had guys in different positions, and we are short-handed. We have some injuries, but that’s part of the game.”
