Naperville Central running back Aiden Clark turned the corner and sprinted up the right sideline with several York defenders in pursuit.
Clark finished off his brilliant 42-yard run by diving past a defender into the end zone. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior has been a frequent visitor to the end zone over the past two seasons, but that leap was a novel entry.
“I can’t say I’ve ever dove, but I’ll be honest,” Clark said. “I was running, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to dive.’
“That’s what happened, but I don’t know if it was necessary.”
Necessary or not, Clark’s bit of gymnastics, which helped the Redhawks tie the Class 8A state semifinal with 30 seconds left in the first quarter on Saturday, was pretty cool.
Clark stood and smiled as his teammates, including senior offensive lineman Will Erbeck, raced to join the celebration.
“It was a beautiful play,” Erbeck said. “Aiden Clark is the man. It’s a pleasure blocking for him. When he’s in the backfield, you know that something positive is going to come out of that play, no matter what it is.”
As Clark has done all season, he turned in a lot of positive plays, including a 39-yard catch four plays before his touchdown run. He accounted for 134 of the Redhawks’ 219 yards of offense, rushing 19 times for 79 yards and catching a team-high four passes for 55 yards.
Yet that wasn’t enough to propel Naperville Central to the state championship game for the first time since 2013. Fourteenth-seeded York rallied from a 10-7 deficit to edge the seventh-seeded Redhawks 20-15 at Memorial Stadium.
The Dukes (11-2), who will play 12th-seeded Loyola (11-2) in the state championship game at Hancock Stadium in Normal on Nov. 30, went ahead to stay on a 10-yard touchdown by senior running back Jimmy Conners in the third quarter.
Junior kicker Gavin Ellison’s 38-yard field goal pulled Naperville Central within 14-13 with 11:08 left in the fourth quarter, but York senior quarterback Bruno Massel scored on a 1-yard run to make it 20-13 at the 3:03 mark.
The Redhawks (11-2) drove to York’s 34-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. Massel took a safety while running out of the back of the end zone as time expired.
It was the end of the road for Naperville Central’s terrific senior class that showed leadership, camaraderie and grit. Clark, who missed two games with a knee injury that nagged him all season, epitomized those qualities.
“Him battling through that knee injury just really showed how much he loves the team,” Erbeck said. “He wanted to do the best for us.”
Regardless of how Clark’s knee felt.
“The knee felt great these last two weeks, no brace,” he said. “I really felt like I gave it my all tonight. I put my heart on my sleeve for everyone here.”
That’s what made the ending so tough for the Redhawks. York converted several huge third-down plays, as well as a 22-yard pass play on fourth-and-7 that set up its final score.
“They made some great plays, but I thought we really beat ourselves,” Clark said. “We had maybe three 20-plus-yard plays that were redacted because of a penalty.
“You look at the box score, those are the things that don’t show up. It’s the hidden yardage, and that’s what I think was the deal breaker. We just beat ourselves tonight.”
But Clark and the Redhawks’ other seniors were winners in different ways.
“This senior class helped set the standard of what it looks to be a championship-type kid,” Naperville Central coach Mike Ulreich said. “You can see the community came out and supported us tonight. It says a lot about what type of kids these are.”
Clark has been one of the leaders.
“Aiden Clark is a champion for life — just how mature he is, just how humble he is,” Ulreich said. “He listens. You can tell what we talk about sinks in.”
As the reality of the loss sunk in, Clark fought back tears while contemplating what could be the end of his athletic career. He hasn’t drawn any interest from college coaches.
“I’m trying to get looks, but the size is kind of an issue,” he said. “My whole life I’ve been trying to prove people wrong, and I tried to do that again tonight.
“If this is the last (game), I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. I’m proud of my effort and proud of everyone. It’s unfortunate that this is how it ends, but the world keeps spinning, right?”
Ulreich is confident it will for Clark.
“He’s incredible,” Ulreich said. “Someone is going to luck out getting that kid on their team.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
