The kid can play.
This summer, Bryce Riley proved to West Aurora coach Nate Eimer that he was ready for varsity football. And now, the sophomore running back is letting everyone in on the secret.
Azuriah Sylvester, who plays the same position for the Blackhawks, already was convinced.
“Bryce, he’s young, but I would say he actually puts the most work in, like outside of practice and all that, on the team,” Sylvester said. “He’s good — he’s good.”
Riley, a 5-foot-8, 155-pound speedster, was very good Friday night at South Elgin in what many had called an Upstate Eight West showdown. The final result, however, was a 50-7 decision.
Turning the corner and running away from defenders or slicing through holes and gobbling up tough turf between the tackles, Riley had 229 yards on 11 carries for West Aurora (4-0, 2-0).
Riley produced touchdown runs of 50 and 94 yards as the unbeaten Blackhawks played without Iowa-bound senior receiver Terrence Smith, who was sidelined by a leg injury.
Sylvester, also a starter in the secondary, ran for 114 yards and scored twice. Junior quarterback Mason Atkins threw for 93 yards, including a 24-yard TD to senior receiver Reece Powers.
“I told the kids all week that team (South Elgin) has won the conference title the last five years,” said Eimer, whose team returned to the Upstate Eight this fall. “They lost just two conference games in that span, but they got off to a tough start this year and played some really good teams.”
Batavia and Barrington did the same thing to South Elgin (1-3, 1-1) as West Aurora.
The defense did their part for the Blackhawks as senior defensive end Temilade Dada delivered a sack and a safety. Senior defensive back Nick Weisse returned an interception 43 yards for a TD.
South Elgin was still in this one, trailing 22-7 at halftime, but the Storm committed two turnovers and then gave up four straight TDs in the second half to seal the outcome.
Senior running back DeAngelo McCullough broke free for a 72-yard TD run to give South Elgin a 7-6 lead before the Blackhawks turned the ball over, fumbling the kickoff.
“We got a stop, and then after that, our kids just kept answering,” Eimer said.
Riley, who had shown flashes in rushing for 103 yards over his first three games, said he looks up to Sylvester and senior running back Michael Williams.
“I’ve learned a lot from them,” Riley said. “The 50-yard touchdown was a flyer, a double handoff, coming to me from Williams.
“I didn’t think we were gonna be able to score but I saw that hole and thought, ‘I’ve gotta go.’ I started picking my feet up and, yeah, touchdown.”
The 94-yard TD came on a run into the left side of the line.
“I found the hole, headed upfield and just didn’t get caught,” Riley said. “I turned on the jets.”
Last spring, Eimer told Riley he would be practicing with the varsity in the summer but didn’t give any guarantee he would be there in the fall.
“He said if I keep working I’d be there,” Riley said. “So I kept working my hardest and proved to him I could do it.”
Eimer confirmed that the Storm took away West Aurora’s passing attack early Friday, opening up a running game that netted 390 yards.
“That’s just how tough Bryce plays,” Eimer said. “There were some big boy hits and some big boys out there, and he runs through it, runs away from people. He was big time.
“I think that’s what makes our offense so special this year. If you’re going to take one guy away, we’re gonna go the other way. Bryce took advantage. He’s an impressive young man, and we’re super excited about him.”
