Eagles beat Broncos for first time in school history

Aurora Christian safety/running back John Smith used to dread playing Walther Lutheran. Not anymore.

For the first time in the Eagles' football history, Aurora Christian defeated Walther Lutheran 30-15 on Saturday afternoon at Marmion.

"Every year we've gone into the Walther game and been like 'Oh, it's Walther, here we go,'" Smith said. "But this week we were just so excited and so ready for this game. It was a completely different attitude."

And that attitude started on the first drive.

The Eagles (7-0) set the tone of the game by driving 67 yards down the field, punctuated with a 35-yard touchdown run from quarterback Jordan Roberts. Roberts eluded the Broncos' defense for the most part, but when he ran into trouble he faked an option to Smith before running untouched into the end zone.

But the Walther offense, which had tormented the Eagles throughout the years, still loomed and began to gash the Eagles defense. Broncos' running back Dan Green ran for 58 yards deep into Aurora Christian territory.

Unlike past years, however, the Eagles defense held, and forced Walther Lutheran to turn the ball over on downs.

Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe, after being overcome with emotion in his postgame speech, said he was proud of his defense's ability to stop the Broncos from scoring on their first drive.

"We've been working on (our toughness) since I got here," Beebe said. "You need to be tough to win football games. You could see the euphoria we had at the end. Our mind-set has changed."

If the first two possessions of the game weren't enough, Aurora Christian sent a clear message that it was a team that was serious about ending it's losing streak against Walther Lutheran on the ensuing possession.

An 8 minute, 23 second drive that lasted 19 plays ended with Roberts throwing a pass to wide receiver Matt Morse who caught it, ran to the 1-yard line and fumbled the ball as he was crossing the goal line. Joe Redmond fell on the ball in the end zone and after Smith ran in a two-point conversion, the Eagles were ahead 16-0 and on their way to all but assuring themselves a Private School League championship.

The Eagles also got a rushing touchdown from Sean O'Boyle and Smith would add another rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"We just know how to finish now," Smith said. "We've been playing together for a while and we're such a senior-dominated team, we know how to finish games."

A win next week against Luther North would give the Eagles the title.

"This year we just came in so fired up and we've never (beaten Walther Lutheran) in school history," said Roberts, who also celebrated his 17th birthday on Saturday. "It was an exciting win."

jsahly@scn1.com Aurora Christian 30, Walther Lutheran 15