Aaron Stewart rushes for 359 yards as Warren tops Barrington

GURNEE – Warren’s Aaron Stewart says he doesn’t mind a heavy workload.

Stewart carried the ball 42 times for 359 yards and five touchdowns to help the Blue Devils wear down Barrington 35-26 in the second round of the Class 8A playoffs Friday night.

Warren (7-4), which is seeded 27th, will play at 14th-seed York next weekend in the quarterfinals. York beat Oswego 31-14 Friday to advance.

It will be up to York to see if it can stop Stewart. The junior broke the 2,000-yard mark this season on his very first carry and then had 41 more carries after that.

“I am used to it by now,” Stewart said. “What is this, Week 10, Week 11? It doesn’t matter to me. I have been getting it all season and I know it is coming to me.”

Warren coach Brian McNulty said Stewart is quite special.

“It is funny, because football is not even his best sport,” McNulty said. “It is his favorite sport, but not his first sport. He is a nationally ranked wrestler. To see him come out here and do this all the time it is inspiring to everybody. He is the heart and soul of our team.”

It was a wild start for both teams as each ran just three plays and scored a touchdown.

Barrington struck first 49 seconds into the contest. Freshman Lamar Osterhues, who would rush for 177 yards on seven carries and four touchdowns, broke off a 47-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0.

Stewart literally came right back. On the first play from scrimmage, Stewart busted off a 70-yard run to the Barrington 10. Two plays later, Stewart scored on a 6-yard run to tie the game at 7-7.

Another long run by Stewart late in the first quarter set up another touchdown. This time Stewart busted off a 52-yard run to the Barrington 9. It took Warren all four plays, but Stewart scored on a four-yard run to make it 14-7.

Barrington’s Osterhues scampered 54 yards around the left side for a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14. After a short punt by Warren, Nick Peipert jaunted 27 yards to the Warren 21. Three plays later, Osterhues broke a pair of tackles and powered his way to a 9-yard touchdown for a 20-14 Barrington halftime lead.

Warren started the third quarter and threw a Stewart punch right at Barrington. The Blue Devils ran the ball 14 consecutive times, with Stewart carrying it 13 times, including the final five yards to make it 21-20. Warren used just over 8 minutes on the drive.

“It is great to block for him,” said Jordan Ellis, who along with Franco Guifarro, Victor Drake, Matt Vasquez and David O’Connell, did a lot of the blocking up front for the Blue Devils.

“I would trust him more than anyone. He really motivates me. If I make a great block, he is going to follow right behind me. If I don’t make a great block, he will still make a great play out of it.”

Barrington fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Warren’s Antonio Moore recovered at the Broncos’ 28. Stewart went back to work, carrying the ball for the next five plays culminating with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 28-20.

Osterhues took a handoff off a counter play and raced 54 yards to cut the deficit to 28-26. The Broncos misfired on the conversion pass and still trailed.

After a defensive stop, Barrington had its opportunity to pull ahead with just over four minutes to play. The Broncos drove to the 5-yard line, but fumbled at the one-yard line and Warren’s DJ Powyer recovered in the end zone.

After a pair of penalties moved the Blue Devils back to their own 8, Stewart put the game away. He broke three tackles and then raced untouched 92 yards for the clinching touchdown.

“We talked about being competitive and playing with great effort,” McNulty said. “The third one we added was playing with composure. That’s what we really wanted to do.”

Barrington coach Joe Sanchez said his seniors picked up the mantle this year after they were eliminated last year in the state semifinals.

“I am proud of our boys,” Sanchez said. “We came up short. They executed just a bit better than we did. You find out in the playoffs that the margin of error is small. The seniors bought in and set a standard. They picked up what the group did last year and now they set a standard for the guys coming up.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241108/prep-football/stewarts-359-yards-help-warren-run-by-barrington/