Aurora Spartans Vs Benedictine Eagles, A rivalry from the view of the chain gang

In a game that featured two unbeaten teams in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC for short), I personally saw the game from quite possibly the second best seat in the house (that of course would be beaten only by those actually playing the game) from working as a part of the chain gang. As this was not my first time working from that spot of the Spartan Athletic Park, it was definitely one of the best experiences of the season this year. With all rivalry games, there does come some drama, but I’m sure the players and the fans in attendance wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Going into today, the Spartans were a combined 5-2 on the season (with both of their losses coming from top 10 nationally ranked teams at the time) and 5-0 in NACC play. The Eagles of Benedictine were a combined 6-1 on the season, with again an identical 5-0 mark in conference play. Both teams came into the game with their heads held high, and everyone expected a great game which is what it truly turned out to be. While the game did end in a 63-41 score, Aurora being the team to come out on top, it definitely was a game that had its battles throughout. Both quarterbacks (Gavin Zimbelman for the Spartans and Tyler Jarnagin for the Eagles) produced passing numbers that would fly off the page to the average joe reading the game score (Zimbelman passed for 432 yards while Jarnagin threw for 379). Keeping all of that in mind, a big difference maker in the game came from Sophomore Quintarius Davis in the second quarter, when he picked off Jarnigan which led to a Spartan touchdown a short while later.

This would put the Spartans up 34-7, and they would continue their hot streak throughout the rest of the game. This will make it 6 wins in a row for the Spartans, as their current run has seen them score 347 points against allowing 104 points. This team is definitely putting together something special right now, as they look to continue their run when they travel to play Lakeland University next week in Plymouth Wisconsin at 1pm. That should be another good game to watch, as the Muskies are a combined 7-1 overall and 5-1 in NACC playing, losing their only game to Benedictine by a score of 54-40.