Aurora wins first state football championship

The Greenmen hung on to win their first state football championship this past week, edging Columbus Eastmoor Academy 21-10.

Three weeks into the season few would have predicted the Greenmen would have made it this far, but they steadily improved as the season went on. After a slow 1-2 start, Aurora found its stride and never lost again. Despite going 7-0 over the last seven weeks of the season, the Greenmen entered the state tournament unranked, but that didn’t stop Aurora from knocking off favored opponent after favored opponent. 

Many observers will note that Eastmoor outplayed Aurora in three out of the four quarters. But, in what will go down in Aurora lore as “The Quarter,” the Greenmen dominated the second quarter. They scored all of their 21 points then and put the game away before halftime.

If there is a hero of The Quarter, it’s Dee Brizzolara. He intercepted an Alex Coleman pass in the waning moments of the first half. One play later, he scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Gallagher. Aurora might not have been the fastest or strongest team on the field this past weekend, but they played the best football.

Eastmoor had promising drives stalled by mistakes and had turnovers haunt them. Aurora played more sound team football, and it’s ultimately what guided them to their Division III state football championship.

The Quarter allowed the Greenmen to build a 21-3 halftime lead, and that’s when I knew the game was over. Few high school teams can come back from such a demoralizing deficit. Eastmoor came out strong in the second half and outplayed Aurora. But the Greenmen were able to weather the storm and keep the athletic school from down south from making too many big plays.