The defining moment of Friday’s Class 8A quarterfinal between York and Warren came early in the third quarter.
With Warren facing a second-and-seven deep in its own territory, the handoff went to star running back Aaron Stewart. But York’s Joe Reiff, a Notre Dame-bound defensive lineman, circled around to catch Stewart from behind for a six-yard loss.
It was that kind of night for the resurgent Dukes, who rolled into the semifinals for the third straight season with a dominant 34-15 win in Elmhurst.
Bruno Massel, York’s lightning-fast senior quarterback, ran nine times for 175 yards and four touchdowns of 33, 66, 26 and 40 yards. Two-way standout Jimmy Conners added 125 yards on 11 carries and the Dukes finished with 362 yards on 38 rushes.
York (10-2) plays at Naperville Central (11-1) next week, seeking the first trip to the state finals in program history.
With Reiff leading the way, the Dukes bottled up Stewart, who came in averaging more than seven yards a carry with 32 touchdowns. He had 13 yards on seven carries in the first half, which ended with York up 27-0. Stewart finished with 112 yards on 20 carries and a pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game, from 20 and 53 yards. But the outcome was decided by then.
“Tons of respect for that guy,” Reiff said of Stewart, who also is a nationally ranked wrestler. “He’s had a hell of a season. I wish him the best of luck wherever he goes to play at the next level.
“The game plan was to shut him down. So proud of the way our guys played.”
“I thought our guys matched up pretty well with them,” York coach Don Gelsomino said. “Aaron’s an incredible football player. But when you see a guy like Joe taking up some bodies up front, that helped our linebackers a lot. And if he got one-on-ones I thought he would be able to win them.”
Massel expected the same.
“When any team has a great player like that, you have to key on him,” Massel said. “And that’s what we did in practice. The defense really focused on him. He had an amazing season, over 2,000 yards, 30-something touchdowns. When you see your defense stopping a hell of a player like that, it gives the offense a lot of momentum and we were able to roll with it.”
No one did so more effectively than Massel. His elite speed — he won a state track medal in the 4×100-meter relay last spring — has played well the last two weeks in decisive wins over previously unbeaten Oswego and Warren.
“It’s amazing,” Gelsomino said. “He breaks a little tackle in the box and he’s gone. … It’s an extra hat that people have got to worry about. We’re adding a hat to the run game. And then we get our [run-pass option] stuff going, too, it’s tough to defend.”
Warren coach Bryan McNulty agreed with that.
“As a defensive guy, the worst player you can defend is a running quarterback,” McNulty said. “They’re tough. That kid proved to be that.”
It was the fifth quarterfinal berth since 2018 for Warren (7-5).
“We lost six starters by Week 7,” McNulty said. “Our top three receivers were out, we lost a couple offensive linemen, So we had a lot of injuries and these kids just fought and just kept coming back from it. I couldn’t be any more proud of how they handled it. To be a 27 seed and make it here is a pretty remarkable thing.”