CHAMPAIGN – The Aurora Christian football team earned every morsel of chocolate and sip of soda coming its way Friday night.

Per team rules, those teenage-friendly treats were forbidden all season as a form of training discipline. After the Eagles polished off Mount Carmel, 34-7, in Friday’s 3A state championship game at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, it was time for a temporary reprieve.

“I need to get some food and I’m going to get a Coke,” Eagles quarterback Anthony Maddie said. “We’re not allowed to get chocolate throughout the season so I’m getting Coke and some chocolate right now.”

Enticing as the sweets sounded, what the Eagles achieved on the field figures to linger decades after their sugar-rushes subside. Aurora Christian (13-1) became the first team from Aurora to win an IHSA football state championship, and the Eagles did so with their less heralded side of the ball – defense – leading the way.

Eagles coach Don Beebe directed much of the credit for the Eagles’ landmark victory toward his brother, defensive coordinator Dave Beebe.

“He’s a nutcase,” Beebe said. “He can’t watch enough film. He doesn’t sleep. I’ve got to hand it to my brother, Dave, for really pulling out a lot of games and certainly this one maybe tops it all.”

Moments after Aurora Christian junior Ryan Suttle snared the Eagles’ third interception of the game, Maddie hit sophomore Noah Roberts with a 29-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-0 with 8:47 left in the game, effectively ensuring the outcome.

The state championship season was all the more wowing considering an unusually costly injury toll throughout the season, extending all the way through Friday’s final triumph.

Starting receivers Chad Beebe and Grayson Roberts missed most of the regular season with collarbone injuries and Beebe played sparingly against the Golden Aces after re-injuring his collarbone in last week’s semifinal victory.

In the playoffs, the Eagles lost all-state offensive guard R.J. Morris and standout linebacker Mitch Holtz to season-ending ACL injuries.

“Really we were without three of our top football players in this game tonight,” Don Beebe said. “Two of them didn’t contribute and the other one really didn’t either. [Chad] was more of a decoy than anything else. To still be able to beat a great program ... 34-7, I mean that’s crazy.”

Maddie needed less than 30 seconds to begin backing up his sterling reputation, slithering loose on a quarterback sneak play on third-and-2 for a 72-yard touchdown run with 11:38 left in the opening quarter. It was the first of three rushing TDs for the Western Michigan recruit, who gained a game-high 192 rushing yards on 17 carries.

From there, the Eagles’ red zone defense became the storyline of the first half. Twice in the second quarter, Mt. Carmel (12-2) earned first downs in prime scoring position, once at the Eagles’ 5-yard line, and later at the Eagles’ 4. Both times, Aurora Christian’s fast, steely defense squelched the Golden Aces’ momentum with spirited stands.

On the first occasion, the Aces ran four straight times but came no closer than the 3-yard line. Then, in the final minute of the first half, the Aces recovered their own fumble on first down,  backing them up to the 8. Then, after a short gain on the ground, Mt. Carmel quarterback Sheldon Hannah completed passes on third and fourth downs, but both times the Eagles drove the Mt. Carmel receivers to the turf several yards shy of the end zone.

“Our rushing attack was very physical this year,” Mt. Carmel coach Darren Peach said. “Give a lot of credit to Aurora down there with their defense inside the 5-yard line.”

Aurora Christian’s second first-half touchdown came on a 6-yard strike from Maddie to Cory Windle with 3:00 left in the opening quarter.

The Eagles, who had their point after attempt blocked after their first score, went for two, and Maddie found Grayson Roberts for the conversion and a 14-0 lead.

Once the option-oriented Golden Aces were forced to chase in the second half, their discomfort opening up the passing offense showed. Brandon Mayes, Cody Slamans and Suttle each snared interceptions as the Eagles maintained control.

“We know they’re not used to passing that much,” Suttle said. “It’s probably more than they’ve passed all year. Just putting them in those third-and-long situations, those fourth downs at the end of the game, just having to throw, was just big for our defense.”

Trailing 28-0, Mt. Carmel finally tallied with 4:27 left in the game on a 20-yard Nathaniel Wagner scamper. It was the Aces’ first loss since their season opener.

Mayes (six carries, 64 rushing yards), a two-way junior standout for the Eagles, led Aurora Christian with 12 tackles.

“We did pretty hard track conditioning this summer,” Mayes said. “With that, and my teammates, and looking into those seniors’ eyes, I just did it for them. I just had to keep going.”

Maddie (8 for 23 passing, one touchdown pass, one interception) entered the game in reach of 4,000 passing yards for the season, but settled for a season total of 3,799 – passing Kaneland graduate Boone Thorgesen for seventh on the all-time, single-season IHSA list, entering the 2011 season.

The lone defeat of the Eagles’ state championship season came against 5A juggernaut Montini, which will play today for the 5A state title against Joliet Catholic.

Following up on plans to insert the injured Morris and Holtz into the game if circumstances allowed, the Eagles called timeout after their final score – a 29-yard Maddie scramble with 1:46 to go in the game – and took a knee rather than boot the extra point.

“That was an emotional moment for the whole football team, one they will never, ever forget,” Beebe said.

There were lots of sweet memories made this year. Some will endure longer than others.