Whoa, brother, what a finish.
Senior wide receiver Chris Stinson was feeling the pain Friday night while already looking forward to the gain for West Aurora.
“It hurts, it hurts a lot,” Stinson said. “But by Monday, we’re gonna bounce back and be ready to play Plainfield Central next week.”
That’s all the Blackhawks can do after relinquishing a 12-point lead that Stinson gave them with a 6-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Gino Martino with 2:43 remaining.
It seemed to seal the verdict for West Aurora (1-1) but merely set the stage for a dramatic comeback by Eisenhower (2-0) that was engineered by two brothers.
Senior quarterback Nashon Johnson threw his fourth TD pass of the game to younger brother Antonio Russell from 12 yards out on the final play of the game.
Russell made a diving grab, barely staying inbounds to lift the Cardinals to the 35-34 victory.
The two brothers connected on a 35-yard TD pass with 1:17 left to close the Cardinals within 34-29. The defense then stepped up for Eisenhower, stopping the Blackhawks.
Johnson and the offense had the ball, needing to drive 70 yards in 43 seconds.
Two big scrambles by Johnson, a 20-yard catch by Russell and a pass interference penalty set up the final play with two seconds remaining.
“We’ve been throwing the ball around like that since we were 8,” Johnson said. “When I need a play, I’m always going to look for (Russell). I think he’s the best receiver in the state in the sophomore class.”
Russell finished with 12 catches for 169 yards. Johnson, who threw for only 39 yards in the first half, ended up passing for 241 yards.
“I have to give hats off to them,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “There’s lots of things we didn’t do to finish that game, but that team has quite a bit of fight and played pretty good at the end.
“They just had a little more in the tank than us.”
It didn’t appear that way early, with the Blackhawks leading 20-7 at halftime and 22-14 after three quarters.
“I think there were a lot of guys who did things well,” Eimer said.
Indeed there were, starting with Joey Pokryfke. The junior safety returned a punt 39 yards to set up Martino’s 14-yard TD pass to Andrew Kolich.
Senior running back Jeremiah Johnson contributed 117 yards and a TD on 26 carries. He also caught seven passes for 49 yards.
Savion Little returned a kickoff 95 yards for a TD.
And then there was Stinson’s TD grab, set up by a pass interference penalty he drew. Until those points, it was a quiet night for the 6-foot-5 Stinson, who topped 100 yards receiving in the season opener.
“They played two high to make sure I wouldn’t go deep and sometimes doubled me,” Stinson said. “I think this game was all about the run game and I know my part.
“When I needed to block, I blocked. Jeremiah and Derrion (Jordan) did what they needed to do to get down the field.”
Jordan added 31 yards rushing and Martino completed 17 of 24 passes for 110 yards. Thanks to Johnson, though, it came down to the final play.
“We’ve had a connection since we were kids throwing in the backyard,” Russell said. “He told me before the last play, ‘I trust you.’
“He knew I had been down after dropping a fourth-down pass in the fourth quarter. He came back to me, and I’m glad I could come through.”
It was quite a show, especially from two teams whose scheduled Week 2 opponents were unable to play due to COVID-19 protocols.
The decision to play each other came Wednesday night, giving the coaches just 36 hours to prepare.
“They went out and made some big-time plays,” Eimer said of Eisenhower. “Even the last one, Savion (Little) was right there. I couldn’t see if the kid was in or not. That was a heckuva throw and catch. Honestly, the coverage wasn’t that bad.
“It was an exciting game. You’d just rather be on the other end.”
