DeKalb kept giving Waubonsie Valley chances in the third quarter. Ishmaiah Elliott and the Warriors kept capitalizing.

Elliott scored on plays of over 45 yards on three straight touches as the Warriors came back from six down at halftime for a 49-28 win over the Barbs on Friday in a Southwest Valley Red matchup in Aurora.

“It’s truly surreal. I could never expect a moment like this,” said Elliott, who finished with 356 yards and six touchdowns. “I went out there looking to go kill [it], and I think I went beyond my wildest expectations.

“I’m thrilled to end my senior year like this.”

The Barbs (2-7 overall, 1-5 conference) led 20-14 at the break and started the half with the ball, but Cole Latimer threw an interception. On fourth-and-4 from the 11, Elliott ran for his second touchdown of the game.

On the next drive, the Barbs wdre forced to punt, but Jayden Maldonado slipped on the grass, and the Warriors took over on the Barbs 47. On the first play, Elliott burst through the left side for a touchdown to push the lead to 28-20.

“He did a heck of a job,” Waubonsie Valley coach Adam Pucylowski said. “He put the team on his shoulders and carried us into the end zone.”

The Barbs tied it up on the next possession when Latimer found Derrion Straughter for a leaping 18-yard score, with Straughter converting the two-point conversion on a QB sneak out of the Wildcat on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Elliott struck again with an 81-yard run to put the Warriors (2-7, 2-4) up 35-28. The Barbs appeared to get the equalizer on the next drive when Braylen Anderson took a jet sweep 60 yards to the end zone, but a hold negated the play. The Barbs punted three plays later, then Elliott went 76 yards on the first play from scrimmage, staking the Warriors to a 42-28 lead with 8:38 left.

Elliott added a 59-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes.

“We’ve got to tackle. That’s all it comes down to,” DeKalb coach Derek Schneeman said. “We’ve got to fit the run, which we didn’t do a good job of, and we’ve got to tackle. We didn’t do a good job of that either.”

Latimer had 256 passing yards despite the team missing Illinois recruit and record-breaking receiver Davon Grant, who was ill this week. Straughter had five catches for 91 yards, and Jack Rosenow had seven for 93.

The Barbs struck first, starting their first drive on a short field, then getting a 24-yard touchdown run by Braylen Anderson on a sweep.

The Warriors seemed to take control, needing just three plays to tie things up on a 30-yard run by Ishmaiah Elliott. Their defense forced a DeKalb three-and-out, then the offense orchestrated a 58-yard scoring drive, converting a pair of third downs, including a 4-yard scoring run by Colin Ford out of the wildcat.

“It wasn’t the season we hoped for, and we’re just glad we could finish on top,” Pucylowski said. “Our kids gave immense effort and never quit.”

The teams traded punts, then the Barbs scored two straight touchdowns sandwiched around a Warriors’ three-and-out. Latimer found Jack Rosenow for a 45-yard gain, then finished the drive with a 3-yard run on a play-action run, faking the handoff to Owen Sisson.

Sisson had a pair of sacks on the next drive, then the Barbs scored almost the same way - a big pass to Rosenow (27 yards) then a play-action fake to Sisson and a roll-out run to the right by Latimer, this time for a 20-14 lead with 11.4 seconds left.

Most of the playmakers for the Barbs, including Latimer, Sisson, Straughter, Grant and Rosenow are seniors.

Schneeman said he was proud of the way his team, especially the seniors, battled all year.

“Win-loss-wise, it wasn’t where we wanted to be, but at the same time I think we made progress from last year,” Schneeman said. “Our kids bought in, had a good offseason. If you look at our stats, they’re better offensively. We did a better job running the ball. We played a tough schedule.

“But we have to raise the bar and find a way to meet the level of competition we are seeing.”