By Brent Hovey
Aurora Advocate
AURORA " What mattered was the final score and what it meant. The score read Aurora 35, Orange 6. And it meant at least a tie for the Chagrin Valley Conference title for the fourth consecutive year for the Greenmen. But, on Friday night, the game wasn't as pretty as the score may indicate.
Aurora committed five turnovers, and offensively looked a little off there game their home at InkStop Field at Veterans Stadium. But in the end, it was enough to win their seventh game of the year (7-2) and stay perfect in the CVC Chagrin Division at 6-0.
The vicotry should clinch a home playoff game in the first round of Division III Region 9 for Aurora, even though they are expected to drop from the top spot to either second or third when the official rankings come out Wednesday.
"A win is a win," said Aurora head coach Bob Mihalik. "Offensively we were very sloppy and it was a credit to Orange. Defensively, I was very pleased. We took away what (Orange) wanted to do."
Coming into the game, Aurora committed just nine turnovers in seven games. That made the two interceptions and three fumbles on Friday night even more of a surprise.
Normally five turnovers are enough to cost any team a game, but for the Greenmen, if drives weren't ending in turnovers, they were ending in touchdowns.
Aurora was led by senior tailback Steven Yung, who 157 total yards - 118 on the ground and 39 receiving with a touchdown each way.
Senior quarterback Brendan Gallagher put up nice numbers - 10-for-18 for 126 yards and two touchdowns.
Defensively, Aurora gave up just 19 rushing yards and 144 passing yards, while the Greenmen offense racked up 251 yards on the ground.
"We got to be ready every week," said Mihalik. "It doesn't matter who we play. We have to get better every week."
The game started like the last five have for the Greenmen - with a touchdown on the opening drive of the game.
Aurora took the opening kickoff and went 59 yards on seven plays, taking a 7-0 lead on a 34-yard pass from senior Brendan Gallagher to junior Tim Gardner. They pushed out to a 14-0 lead on a 4-yard scoring run by Gallagher late in the first quarter.
Aurora made it 21-0 at the break when Yung took a swing pass from Gallagher 19 yards for a touchdown.
Yung's rushing touchdown came on the opening drive of the second half, after the Greenmen tried and recovered an onside kick. He scored from nine yards out.
In the fourth quarter, Aurora reserves game in and played just like the starters. They marched 86 yards on a drive that was highlighted by junior tailback Eric Schultz. Schultz made a dazzling run on a 38-yard touchdown to give Aurora a 35-0 lead. But they also fumbled twice - one led the Lions' only touchdown with 45 seconds left in the game.
A win next week in the season finale at Wickliffe would give Aurora the out right CVC title.