On the road again … and again …

There's no place like home -- on the road.

That's what the Aurora Christian football team has dealt with for several seasons -- playing all their home games on the road.

Packing up a bus, arriving at the school early, coming back late and getting used to a different field almost every week is really not ideal, but how big of a deal is it?

Do the Eagles really mind?

In the game I decided to trail the Eagles from Aurora Christian to East Aurora for their Week 4 outing against Lake Forest Academy, everything was in the teams' favor -- including a huge 77-6 win in a game where quarterback Jordan Roberts put up monstrous stats. The junior compiled 334 passing yards with 7 touchdown passes. Perhaps there is some "home" field advantage after all.

It's a 4:45 on lightly windy Friday afternoon. The Aurora Christian football team packs up its bus en route to East Aurora, six miles across town.

No, the Eagles are not playing the Tomcats tonight -- they are using Roy E. Davis Field for one of their "home" games this season because they don't have a field they can call their own.

This is the second home game the Eagles have played at East Aurora. Their other "homes" this year will be at Marmion's field for the Oct. 6 game against Walther Lutheran and West Aurora for the final regular-season game against Wheaton Academy Oct. 17.

So is it weird to play at home on the road? It turns out the players, fans and coaches have gotten used to it.

"The first time (we played a home game away) was my freshman year, it was like, 'I want my own field,' but right now, we are just thankful to have a field somewhere to play on," said senior Michael Friend. "You can't be too greedy. You have to be thankful for what you have."

"It's to the point where it doesn't bother the kids anymore," said Aurora Christian coach Don Beebe. "I don't think they would know what a home field would be like. We never talk about homefield advantage because we don't know what that is."

Until last season, Mooseheart was where Aurora Christian called home. Just as the program was getting used to calling that field its own, Mooseheart decided not to let the Eagles use the field anymore.

"The kids were getting used to and liked Mooseheart, but I don't think they have ever been affected by it, because they've gotten used to being wherever," Beebe said.

"Wherever" tonight is East Aurora, where it takes 20 minutes and a slight temperature change in the meantime to drive across Aurora in afternoon traffic.

Players began to trickle in to Beebe's office at 4:15 p.m. Film from Weeks 1 and 2 is playing on a TV in the corner of room 503. A half hour later, coaches and kids start hauling their equipment bags onto the school's bus.

This is no regular yellow school bus -- this is the "Mission Impossible" bus used for the school's annual spring outing that takes students to less fortunate parts of the country to help build and repair damage caused by natural disasters.

Behind the wheel of the bus is the girls varsity basketball coach, Dan Stone. It's near 5 p.m., the projected time of departure, and everything is running on time as Beebe glances at his watch.

A little after 5 p.m., the bus leaves and turns left on Sullivan Road, then right on Edgelawn Drive past Aurora Central Catholic and Rosary High Schools.

By the time the Eagles reach East Aurora, it's a little after 5:20 p.m., and the parking lot is bare for the scheduled 7 p.m. game.

East Aurora's school colors and bleachers are red and black; Aurora Christian's colors are red, white and gray, so the color scheme isn't that much different. The only thing: the word "Tomcats" is in place of "home" on the scoreboard.

Like a home field, Aurora Christian arrived before Lake Forest Academy. The coaches set up camera equipment behind the goal posts and claimed seats in the press box. Parents set up a concession stand at the entrance.

By game time, it's clear the Eagles don't care where they get to play football, as they easily beat the Caxys in a nonconference contest.

Once again, there was a huge fan turnout, proving it really doesn't matter where the Eagles play.

"We are so used to wherever we have a place, that's our home automatically," said Connie Velasquez, a fan and mother of player Tommy Velasquez. "We are trusting and believing for a home field soon, but wherever we go as a group, it becomes home."

"The fans are amazing," Beebe added. "East Aurora has huge stands being the big school they are, and we had about three-fourths of the stands full. I was amazed. We have a really good following for how small of a school we are."

The only reason the Eagles do not have a home field is money. The school wants to have one with synthetic field turf, an eight-lane track around it and full bleachers. The total cost for this would be about $1.75 million dollars.

Aurora Christian pays schools anywhere between $400 and $500 a game to let the team play on their field. If the school had the money, production would begin as soon as possible.

It's not always easy to find schools that want to let Aurora Christian use their field. Beebe found himself making lots of phone calls to people he knew from other schools around the area, but only three Aurora-based schools said OK.

"I'm not comfortable asking," Beebe said. "I don't think we should have to do that. I think the biggest hassle has been trying to find a field … through training camp, we didn't know where any of our home games would be this year.

"We were almost wondering if we were going to have nine away games, all at the opponent's fields."

Beebe believes one day Aurora Christian will have its own field, not only for the Eagles but for everyone to play on if they need it.

"I would like to create an atmosphere where we could be the people who are gracious enough to say, 'Hey, why don't you come and use our field,' " Beebe said.

"I have great plans for when we finally build this stadium … we'd run out of a tunnel right through the middle of the field and the whole crowd would get into it. We have a lot of traditional things ready that we've started that we will carry on when this is complete."

• Do you know of anything unique or interesting that happens before, during or after high school football games? Share your ideas with me at cbolin@dailyherald.com