East Aurora buried by early deficit

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ELGIN -- Elgin combined a staunch defense with a well-balanced offense to build an insurmountable halftime lead over East Aurora and cruised to a 47-13 win Friday night at Memorial Field.

Elgin scored seven touchdowns in its eight first-half possessions to build a 41-0 lead at the break. On the other side of the ball, the Maroons (1-6, 1-4 Upstate Eight Conference) held East Aurora (2-5, 1-3) to 55 yards of offense in the first half.

Traditionally a pass-first team this season, Elgin came out running the ball as Deandre Forrest scored the first Maroons touchdown on a 40-yard run less than a minute into the game.

The Maroons finished with 167 yards on the ground, 111 of which were belonged to Forrest as they finally brought some balance to an offense that featured a potent passing game but little else in previous weeks.

"We always try to run the ball and have a good balance, but a lot of times we have to take what teams give us, but tonight we ran the football really well," said Elgin coach Dave Bierman, who won for the first time as coach at his alma mater.

After East Aurora forced a punt on Elgin's next possession, Elgin again took to the ground again as quarterback Tom Roth took one in from 15 yards out on a keeper.

With the running game established, the Maroons took to the air with Roth hitting Jamal Cook with touchdown passes of 73 and 20 yards on Elgin's next two possessions.

Then, Elgin's Cory Michalik intercepted a Richard Jimenez pass to give the Maroons great field position. Four plays later they capitalized with Roth punching one in from a yard out.

Forrest capped the first-half onslaught with an 8-yard run with just over a minute to play in the half to give the Maroons a 41-0 lead and set up a running clock in the second half.

East Aurora finally managed to get on the board with 33 seconds to go in the third quarter when Leon Harden capped a nine-play, 56-yard drive with a 5-yard score.

Elgin backup quarterback Ryan Parks then got in on the action with a 1-yard score. Not to be outdone, East Aurora's backup quarterback James Jones connected with Paul Calderon on a 40-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing Aurora possession to finish off the scoring.

East Aurora finished with 144 yards of total offense, including 103 rushing yards on 30 carries, thanks to great tackling up front from the Maroons.

"Our linebackers were stepping into their gaps and we did a good job wrapping guys up, it came down to everyone doing their jobs tonight," senior linebacker Joe Wade said.

The Maroons, on the other hand, racked up 346 yards of offense backed by a big day from Roth, who finished 5-of-8 passing for 179 yards and no interceptions. He added 31 yards on the ground and the two scores.

"We were really pumped up for the game tonight, and obviously we came out ready to play and we put up big numbers because of that," he said. "This will really help us build some momentum going into these last two games."