Tigers wallop West Aurora

Down two scores at halftime, West Aurora had the momentum against Wheaton Warrenville South. The Blackhawks' triple threat Markus Cocroft scored late in the first half on a 24-yard wide-receiver screen, and the senior had two outstanding plays on defense to deny WW South standout halfback Peter Jarrett from scoring seconds before the break.

But Orland Ross changed the complexion of the game with the second-half kickoff. The Tigers' senior bolted 63 yards when the game was resumed; Jarrett scored his third touchdown of the game four plays later, and WW South was well on its way to a 41-7 DuPage Valley Conference victory Friday night in Aurora.

In spoiling the Blackhawks' Homecoming, WW South extended its conference winning streak to 25 games while winning for the sixth time overall. West Aurora fell to 3-3, 1-3.

WW South committed two costly special-teams mistakes in the opening half, but Ross' dash up the right side cleared the slate.

"(The kickoff return) worked just like we practiced it," WW South coach Ron Muhitch said. "That was something."

The Tigers' Luke Urbik recovered a West Aurora fumble on the Blackhawks' subsequent possession, and Mike Olp provided breathing space with a plunge from a yard out.

The WW South reserves mopped up the Tigers' 33rd consecutive regular-season victory as the defense preserved the second-half shutout with two fourth-down stops deep in its own territory.

The Blackhawks' game-plan of shortening the game with a ball-control offense worked to perfection in the first half with one notable exception: the exploits of WW South linebacker Nico Cascella. On the opening play of the second quarter, Cascella intercepted a pass and returned it 39 yards to set up the first score.

"We just can't make mistakes against these guys," West Aurora coach Buck Drach said. "You have to play a perfect game to beat them."

"I read pass, and they slanted down," Cascella added. "The next thing I knew the ball was right in front of me."

The Tigers' Joe Furco found Patrick Lee from 4 yards out to initiate the scoring, and Jarrett concluded back-to-back touchdown drives to give WW South a 21-0 lead midway through the second.

"Our O-line made it easy," said Jarrett, who had 142 of his game-high 169 yards in the opening half. "We knew (West Aurora) was a good team. We knew we had to keep playing hard no matter what."

Cocroft had one of his patented highlight-reel scores to energize the faithful, but he was otherwise held in check.

"The were looking for the screen pass more than the deep ball," Cocroft said.