East Aurora (0-4, 0-2 Upstate Eight Valley) @ Neuqua Valley (2-2, 2-0 Upstate Eight Valley), 7:30PM Friday, Sept 26.
Last week: East Aurora lost to Glenbard East 56-6; Neuqua Valley won at South Elgin, 50-28
Storyline: After opening the season with consecutive losses to both Naperville North and Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley is starting to look like itself once again.
On a two-game winning streak after using a 20-point second-half to win at Glenbard East two weeks ago and putting up 50 points on the road against South Elgin last Saturday, Indiana State-bound QB Broc Rutter and crew have gotten going offensively.
Rutter threw a pair of TD passes while running for another against the Storm and Charlie Hunter ran for three touchdowns to highlight a 37-point Wildcat explosion spanning the second and third quarters.
The Wildcats have scored 70 points in their last six quarters of play, which dates back to their 26-6 win over Glenbard East on Sept. 12.
After beginning the year with a pair of close losses, East Aurora has been outscored by a combined score of 105-12 in losses to Waubonsie Valley and Glenbard East in each of the last two weeks.
Courtesy of two long runs, Nate Booker has accounted for the Tomcats’ only touchdowns in the last two weeks, including a 77-yarder in the waning moments against Waubonsie Valley on Sept. 12.
Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus on East Aurora: “I think Kurt Becker does a great job over there and for them, it’s always been what kind of numbers (of players, depth) do they have? How deep are they? I think that’s going well for them. We just got word that they’re going to play a JV game over there, which is awesome for them. If they can continue to get their numbers to grow over there again, I know Kurt is going to do a great job with those kids. Looking at them on film, they have some talented kids.”
