Harvard's fourth quarter dooms Aurora Central

For the first three quarters of the game between Aurora Central Catholic and Harvard, it was an even fight.

The fourth quarter, however, was a different story.

In that quarter, the Hornets matched ACC's total points and beat the Chargers 42-21 in nonconference action in Aurora Friday.

"That was the game right there," ACC coach Mike Curry said. "They took physical control. There's not much you can say about our effort in the fourth quarter."

Harvard scored first on Phillip Towne's 5-yard run at the 5:01 mark in the first. Toward the end of the quarter, ACC quarterback Mike Adams found his cousin, Matt Wagner, on a 72-yard pass with 28.3 seconds on the clock to knot the game at 7.

Adams found Wagner again on a 30-yard pass that gave ACC its only lead of the game, 13-7, with 6:04 left in the half.

"It's nice having a (6-foot-4) target," Adams said of Wagner, who he played football with growing up.

Harvard scored with less than a minute remaining on another short run from Towne. With a second Chase Blazier kick good, the Hornets led 14-13 at the break.

Towne scored a third touchdown (2-yard run) and Blazier kicked his third extra point with 2:09 remaining in the third for the 21-14 lead, only to have "Mr. Everything," Adams, cap the quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion that tied the game at 21 going into the final frame.

"He does everything for us," Curry said of Adams, ACC's quarterback for three years. "He's a great player, he's our leading defensive player, he's our leading offensive player. Where would we be without him?"

ACC had all the momentum on their side, but Harvard simply took over. The Hornets scored 3 touchdowns in a span of 5 minutes. Towne had a one yard run and Vince Gabrys was successful on a 10-yard and 55-yard run.

"All the good things we did don't matter when you cash it in with 12 minutes left to play," Curry said.

ACC falls to 0-2 entering the always-tough Suburban Catholic Conference schedule.

"We should have won both of these games," said Adams, whose Chargers fell to Mendota in Week 1. "We were right there with them... it's just not a good feeling knowing we haven't won yet."