West Aurora slowed down Glenbard East‘s passing game and put its ground game on track in the second half to pull out a 35-32 win Friday night at Ken Zimmerman Field in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover game.

Rams quarterback Michael Nee completed 23 of 28 passes in the first half but only 14 of 24 in the second half. The senior passed for a total of 352 yards.

After running the ball 10 times during the first two quarters, the Blackhawks executed 18 ground plays during the last two. Quarterback Mason Atkins and running back Bryce Riley grounded out the rushing yards.

“It’s a big win for us tonight,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “We made some adjustments and our defense rallied, tackling a little better and the pass rush got a little better. We just settled down, doing what we do and shut them down.”

Trailing 24-21 at halftime, West Aurora ended Glenbard East’s first drive of the third quarter when Antonio Higgins intercepted a Nee pass with a leaping catch in the end zone.

The Rams’ next two drives ended with a punt and a turnover on downs.

West Aurora (1-1) retook the lead, 28-24, on its second drive of the second half. Brendon Atkin, standing in the middle of the end zone, hauled in an Atkins 23-yard pass with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

An Atkins 2-yard plunge at the 10:42 mark of the fourth quarter extended the Blackhawk lead to 35-24.

Glenbard East (1-1) scored the last TD of the night on a 25-yard Nee pass to Lucas Freeze with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.

“Our offense turned the game in the second half,” said Eimer. “We wanted to line up and run and we were able to and that was the big difference.”

Two fumbles keyed two first half touchdowns.

West Aurora lost control of the ball on the opening kickoff. Glenbard East recovered on the Blackhawks’ 38-yard line. The Rams’ opening drive ended with a 23-yard pass from Nee to Mustafa Usmani for a 7-0 lead with 9:12 left in the first quarter.

After a 59-yard touchdown run by Lesroy Tittle with three minutes left in the half pulled West Aurora within 21-14, Glenbard East coughed up the ball on the ensuing kickoff. Liam Norris recovered the ball for West Aurora on the Rams’ 46-yard line. West Aurora tied the contest on its first play from scrimmage when Riley scampered 46 yards down the right sideline to cross the goal line.

Moises Vazquez’s 25-yard field goal as time expired put the Rams back in front 24-21 at halftime.

West Aurora’s first TD, a 23-yard Riley run, tied the game at 7 with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

Glenbard East responded with two second-quarter Nee passing touchdowns: A 7-yarder to Miller Malachi and an 11-yard toss to Wright Mason.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250905/prep-football/west-auroras-ground-game-sparks-comeback-win-over-glenbard-east/