Red Devils Fall to Aurora at Home, 72-13

EUREKA – Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference leader Aurora took down the Eureka football team 72-13 on a chilly Saturday evening at McKinzie Field.

The Spartans did most of their damage in the first half, tallying 35 points in the first quarter.

Eureka scored twice in the second half. Freshman quarterback Noah Berlett (Washington, Ill./Washington) found Pierce Bradford (Decatur, Ill./Argenta-Oreana) for a 27-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter, and connected with Sebastian Hill (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) on a 33-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth.

Ben Bernabei (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) finished with a team-high 54 rushing yards, while Angel Garcia (Elgin, Ill./Larkin) added 43.

Defensively, Brendan Durr (Washington, Ill./Washington) notched seven total tackles. Alexander Brittain (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) contributed two sacks, 2 ½ tackles for loss and three overall.

Austin Hopkins (Arcola, Ill./Arcola) posted six tackles and one for loss. Chuck Weathersby (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee) had a sack as well.

Aurora quarterback Josh Swanson, however, threw for 317 yards and five touchdowns on 23-for-36 passing. His top targets were Michael Boland (109 receiving yards and one touchdown) and Trey Madsen (96 receiving yards and two touchdowns). Running back Jhe'Quay Chretin amassed 118 rushing yards.

Next week, the Red Devils (2-5, 2-3 NACC) will look to shake it off when they host Wisconsin Lutheran (2-4, 2-2 NACC) in another night game beneath the lights of McKinzie Field at 6 p.m.