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“We don’t make it easy on ourselves,” Wolves coach Tyson LeBlanc said. But they make it entertaining. “It’s not entertaining for me,” he added. It certainly was an entertaining and joyful bus ride home for the Wolves, though. And they’re a team that would’ve been heartbroken if either of West Aurora quarterback Will Tammaru’s tosses into the end zone in the final 11.5 seconds were caught by Blackhawks. They were not and the Wolves were able to snap a four-game losing streak. (Sean King)
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“We’ve been a resilient team but we’ve been coming out on the back end of things,” LeBlanc said. “The only game we weren’t resilient was Yorkville (30-7 loss on Oct. 4) and after that game we had to check ourselves.” Now the Wolves will be checking in on Saturday night to see whom they’ve earned the chance to play in the first round of the playoffs. It will be their fifth straight postseason berth and they needed to pull it out in the final minutes. Michael Ford’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Michael Miller with 2:17 left in the game gave the Wolves a 16-13 lead. (Sean King)
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“We stuck together and had faith the whole time no matter what amount of time was left,” Miller said. “I trusted all the reads and read the play good. I saw one guy who tripped me up and I just dove for it.” Oswego East (5-4, 1-4) had an impressive time-consuming drive to open the second half, but settled for Andre Casas’ 35-yard field goal to take a 9-7 lead. It was the Wolves first lead in a game since Casas kicked a field goal in the first quarter of the 14-3 loss to Oswego two weeks ago, but it didn’t last long. Logan Mont took the ensuing kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown and the lead went right back to the Blackhawks at 13-9 with 5:49 left in the third quarter. “They’re not a team indicative of its record,” LeBlanc said of West Aurora. “They’re a good team and they didn’t make it easy for us.” (Sean King)
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West Aurora (2-7, 0-5) was set to go ahead 14-0 at halftime but Gianni Cammarata forced a fumble at the Wolves’ 1-yard line. That play sparked the offense, which then got on the scoreboard on a 20-yard pass from Ford to Keion Battle with 51.5 seconds left, but missed the PAT. "In the situation we were in, we knew we had to get a turnover,” Cammarata said “The offense has been struggling so it was up to the defense to make a play. That was a really big moment for us.” The Wolves looked like they had the game won with 11.5 seconds left when Cammarata knocked down a Tammaru pass on fourth down and West Aurora at the Oswego East 41-yard line. But a roughing the passer penalty gave the Blackhawks new life with the ball on the 26-yard line where they had two final chances. (Sean King)
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Entertaining for some to watch and excruciating for others. LeBlanc was definitely among the latter. “As a group we’re still not satisfied with our play,” he said. “Defensively we only gave up one touchdown, but there are still some things we need to shore up there. We had two stops but then gave them first downs on penalties. That type of stuff with get you an early exit next week.” Last fall the Wolves lost to Barrington, 24-13, in the first round of the state playoffs. (Sean King)