Yorkville Makes Easy Work of East Aurora

The  Foxes improved to 2-0 with a 42-6 victory over East Aurora on Friday night at Roy E. Davis Field.

Seniors Nick Gillette (quarterback), Ilir Emini (receiver, kicker) and Neil O'Brien (tailback) spearheaded the way for the Foxes.

Gillette scored on a three-yard plunge off the right side of the line with 8:28 left in the second quarter.

coach Karl Hoinkes explained the need to establish the run.

"It is good for us to do that," Hoinkes said. "We are not a speedy, flashy team. We are kind of solid, up front and our running backs are running real well."

Then Gillette hit Emini with a 19-yard pass at the 4:44 mark of the second to make the score 14-0 at halftime.

"My friend and teammate — the other receiver starter, Cody Knudsen — he kind of went in and I was supposed to do a wheel route," Emini said. "He scooted in so I had more room in the end zone. I saw the ball in the air and I went up and got it. I made sure both feet were in before I dragged it out of bounds."

After East Aurora (0-2) cut the score 14-6 at 11:05 of the third quarter on Desmond Gant's 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, O'Brien busted loose on a brilliant 51-yard run to swing momentum back to the Foxes at the 9:34. O'Brien carried the ball 19 times for 138 yards.

"I really couldn't have done it without my line and Dan Scott, my fullback," O'Brien said. "Without them, I'm pretty much nothing."

Scott gave up the costly fumble that led to East's lone score, but the fullback had five carries for 66 yards including one burst for 42.

Gillette found Emini for a 23-yard strike with 4:21 left in the third before the second unit took over.

After a fumble recovery on the ensuing kickoff by Josh Gengler,  backup quarterback Jake Anton tossed a five-yard pass to Garrett Knox with 3:05 remaining in the third.

"I thought we bounced back pretty well in the second and third quarter," Hoinkes said. "We caught a couple of passes and loosened it up. Then our running backs broke some tackles and run real well. You can't fumble on any level. You have to hold on to that skin. I don't think we'll do that again. I think we gave our defense a chance to rest by punting the ball. When you do that, your defense can play aggressively."

Gillette (3 of 3 for 52 yards) felt it was real important for the Foxes to bounce back following the fumble.

"It was real important," Gillette said. "We could not let them back into the game. We had to keep running the ball, keep getting first downs, keep getting touchdowns and keep them down, keep them where we wanted them to be."

The Foxes' Anton Jones was the main man on the final drive. He scored from one-yard out with 8:19 in the fourth.

had a chance to score in the first quarter, but Emini's 32-yard field goal attempt at 1:55 knuckled wide left.

The Foxes play host to Ottawa at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9.