Wheaton Academy pulls away in second half to top Aurora Christian

WEST CHICAGO — Wheaton Academy got exactly what it wanted Friday night against Aurora Christian.

Limited by turnovers and penalties while taking an uneasy four-point lead into halftime, the Warriors regrouped and outscored the Eagles by 17 points in the second half during their 24-3 Metro Suburban Conference crossover victory at Performance Trust Field.

“This is exactly the type of game we needed going into next week,” said Wheaton Academy coach Jim Johanik, whose team at 8-1 will likely host a first-round Class 4A playoff game next weekend.

Wheaton Academy grabbed an early 7-0 lead on its first possession as quarterback Belay Brummel (19 for 28, 211 yards) tossed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Breck Peacock (10 catches, 110 yards) to cap a seven-play, 55-yard drive.

The Eagles (5-4), however, were not deterred, closing the gap to 7-3 on a 26-yard field goal by freshman Zach Zappia midway through the second quarter.

Late in the half, sophomore Jonan Miceli’s interception ended a potential Warrior drive as the Eagles stayed within striking distance at the intermission.

“There’s always a lot of emotion with this game,” Johanik said. “This is our rivalry game. They’re a 5-3 program, but you look at the size of their line and you’re going to have a ballgame.”

The Eagles began the second half with a momentum boost thanks to Owen Hampton’s interception near midfield on the Warriors’ opening possession.

Four first downs later, Aurora Christian had the ball at the Warriors’ 22-yard line before Brandon Kiebles’ interception thwarted a potential go-ahead score by the visitors.

From there, the Warriors compiled a 12-play, 91-yard drive, capped by Gavin Pedone’s 40-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to 14-3 with 2:06 left in the third quarter.

Wheaton Academy converted three third-down plays during the drive, highlighted by Brummel’s 13-yard pass to Brett Kasper on third-and-10 near midfield.

“That 91-yard drive was a big result of our linemen doing their jobs,” said Pedone, who ran for 68 yards on 10 carries. “All credit to the linemen there. I saw nothing but green grass. I broke one tackle, but it was really all the line there.”

Declan Finnegan booted a 44-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 17-3 before Pedone’s 2-yard TD run with 1:48 remaining sealed the deal for the Warriors.

“I’m still waiting for us to put an entire game together,” said Eagles coach David Beebe, whose team now awaits Saturday’s playoff pairings. “I thought the defense played well the entire game, but the offense really stalled in the second half.

“My message to the kids was threefold — first, I was super proud of the way they played. We went toe-to-toe with them. Two, it’s not good enough. I’m not into moral victories — that doesn’t win football games. We are still a better team than we think we are, but we’ve got to learn how good we are. And three, the biggest message is we’re 0-0 right now. This is a brand new season.”