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| Even when Coe was able to hang onto the football on Saturday, the Kohawks couldn't do much with it in the face of the swarming Aurora defense. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com |
By Brian Lester
D3sports.com
Well before the Aurora Spartans even took the field for their NCAA Division III playoff opener against Coe last Saturday afternoon, they were clearly locked in and ready for the challenge in front of them.
Especially on defense. A unit that has dominated all season behind a team-led effort was its usual self, and maybe even a notch or two better, forcing seven turnovers and allowing no points in a 20-7 win.
Those seven points came off a pick-six, and that victory was the first postseason win at home in school history.
“We knew Tuesday in our first scouting report meeting that we had to be completely locked in,” said senior Jaylen Jordan, a 2022 D3football.com All-Region pick. “To have everyone doing their job, it was a blessing. It was great to be a part of that kind of game.”
Coe rushed for just 94 yards. It threw for 156. But the Kohawks did little with those yards as the Spartans picked off three passes and forced four fumbles.
“It was an awesome environment. We wanted to go out there and have fun,” senior linebacker Christian Bower said. “We have a great mind in our defensive coordinator Troy Shepard and he makes sure we are well prepared for each game. He makes sure we can go out there and be efficient and make plays.”
Aurora has dominated all season from a defensive standpoint during an 11-0 season up to this point. The Spartans haven’t even given up 1,000 yards on the ground (919), and through the air, they have allowed only 1,836 yards. They have also forced 31 turnovers.
For head coach Don Beebe, the former NFL wide receiver, defense has long been something he’s believed has been the key to a team’s success, especially at this time of the year.
He certainly wasn’t wrong based on what the Spartans did on Saturday. Although the offense has gotten a lot of headlines for having one of the highest scoring totals in Division III during the regular season, the defense will be leaned on even more heavily as the postseason progresses. Beebe said after the first-round win against Coe that starting quarterback Ian Luyando-Penski sustained a leg injury and a subsequent MRI exam showed nerve damage that ended his season.
“I’m a firm believer at any level that you win big playoff games and win championships with defense and running the football,” Beebe said. “We have a great run game and great defense. I’m very proud of the defense. That was one of the top three to five games for them since I’ve been here. They were very dominant the whole game.”
Here’s the thing about that defense. It’s tough to crack.
“We have no weakness,” Beebe said. “We have 11 guys that can get to the ball. You look at the stat sheet and see we have a lot of guys getting tackles. You don’t see one guy with 100 tackles or 50 to 60 solo tackles. You see a lot of guys with a lot of tackles. It’s a testament to coach Shepard and the talent level we have. We are very deep, we have great chemistry and we have a lot of guys making plays.”
No question about that as the stat tells the story. Fifteen players have 20 or more tackles. Marcellus Romious leads the way with 79 to go along with three interceptions.
Jordan has racked up 56 tackles on the year as well as three fumble recoveries. Conner Nordmeyer has tallied 53 tackles. Bower has managed 48. Ernesto Ramirez (47), Ben Slatcoff (47) and Isaiah Perrin (40) all have 40 or more stops.
Ask Jordan what makes this all work, he points to the chemistry Beebe spoke of earlier.
“I feel we’ve all come together. We’re a very tight group. We’re best friends and love each other,” Jordan said. “Sometimes we mess up, but it’s on to the next play. We get right back after it, learn from the mistake and grow from it.”
This is an Aurora defense playing the kind of football Beebe always hoped it would.
He thinks back to past years when the offense scored 30 or 40 or more points in a big game and it simply wasn’t enough.
“It’s been very nice last year and this year feeling like we don’t have to outscore a team to win. Those days are over,” Beebe said.
The other thing Beebe loves is that his defense wants to be on the field as much as it can be.
“If we turn the ball over or we have a three and out two or three times in a row, it doesn’t faze these guys,” Beebe said. “They almost want us to do that so they can go out there and play more, which is crazy to say. They don’t act tired or complain about how they have to go back out there again. I haven’t seen or heard that once. It’s the attitude of ‘we want to go back out and play.’ It’s rare to see.”
Up next for Aurora is a showdown against UW-La Crosse. Both teams are in the top 15 of the D3football.com poll, with the Spartans sitting at 12th and the Eagles (10-1) ranked fourth.
The two teams have never met in the postseason. For the players, they know they have a big challenge but they embrace it.
“It’s a blessing,” Bower said. “The mentality is to go 1-0 every week. We don’t worry about the next week.
And Bower, who is from Arizona, is glad he came to Aurora to have this kind of opportunity.
“If you had told me senior year of high school that I would end up in Chicago, I would have told you that you were crazy. I don’t know how I got here, but I’m happy I did,” Bower said.
Jordan is equally thankful to be a part of the program and that he still has more football to play.
“Each we buy ourselves another seven days, and we don’t take that for granted,” Jordan said. “We understand the opportunity we have on a national level, to make history for the university. Being in this program has changed my life and I wouldn’t trade it. I’m so glad I made the decision to come here.”
Beebe chimed in with a quick follow up to his players’ thoughts.
“I’m glad Jaylen and Christian are here, too,” Beebe said.
Those two, of course, are not only instrumental to the success of the defense, but they represent the kind of players Beebe wants in his program.
“I say this all the time that we have zero knuckleheads on this team,” Beebe said. “A knucklehead shows up when he wants to, doesn’t know the playbook, gets bad grades and is not a team guy. It’s a testament to the leaders on the team that we don’t have those players. Our leaders hold everyone accountable, and the young guys have bought in. It makes it more fun as a coach to have it that way.”