So much for the plan.

By the end of Friday’s first half, with West Aurora staring at a 24-14 deficit to Noble Bulls, more than a few of the Blackhawks’ faithful fans were getting nervous.

A perceived easier nonconference schedule leading into the annual Southwest Prairie West grind that wouldn’t start for three weeks wasn’t looking very easy.

Senior middle linebacker Luis Estrella had concerns, too.

“I felt we started out slow,” Estrella said. “We didn’t understand how to contain the outside, but once we got to the locker room, we had a big talk about it, started to draw some stuff up.

“We came out in the second half and showed them.”

That they did.

Sparked by the play of Estrella and a key lineup change, the defense came to life and pitched a shutout in the second half. Meanwhile, the offense was sparked by two touchdown runs from junior Michael Williams in putting up 31 points for a 45-24 win.

The 6-foot, 195-pound Estrella said he contributed to the halftime discourse for West Aurora (2-0).

“I had a big speech,” he said. “I had to set the tone. It felt like the energy dropped. I had to bring it back in the second half.

“It was like they did surprise us. Proviso East (a 42-0 win) the first game was an easy wipe-away. But coming to this game, they were a playoff team. We had to step it up.”

Starting defensive ends Trey Kerns and Romaine Forbes being sidelined by injury didn’t help in being unable to slow the Noble Bulls’ running game.

The Blackhawks gave up 251 of the 331 totals yards in the first half on three long scoring drives, all capped by 2-point conversions.

But the Noble Bulls were limited to just 80 yards in the second half.

To compensate for the loss of Kerns and Forbes, tackle Fernando DeLeon and guard Malcolm Smith played defensive line as well in the second half.

“It made a difference,” West Aurora coach Nate Eimer said. “Malcolm and Fernando played like warriors. Maybe that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ll see what happens.”

Fortunately for West Aurora, junior wide receiver Terrence Smith helped keep things close in the first half, scoring TDs on his first two touches.

He made a leaping grab of a 5-yard throw from senior quarterback Reece Wagner on the opening possession and caught a screen pass from sophomore Mason Atkins and motored 55 yards on the second play of the second drive.

Eimer alternated his quarterbacks on each drive like he had in the opener.

Smith finished with five receptions for 106 yards. Williams, who reached 100 yards rushing for the second straight week, went 61 yards on a reverse and added a 4-yard TD run.

Azuriah Sylvester had a 20-yard TD run and Eliseo Liscano caught a 16-yard TD pass from Wagner. Both are juniors.

“It’s a lot less stress on the running backs,” Williams said. “Everyone is good and contributes.”

Slowed last season after coming back from a broken ankle suffered in the previous offseason, Estrella ended up with 12 solo tackles and one assist to ease the stress on Eimer.

“I got back for the first week of my junior season, but I was a lot weaker than before,” Estrella said. “I felt like I was 100% for maybe the last two games.”

Missing a full summer hurt, according to Eimer.

“Luis is a heckuva football player,” Eimer said. “You see now what kind of player he is. The college recruiting will come. Truthfully, I’m a little frustrated it has been slow, but I know how good he is.”

Happy with his team’s response in the second half, Eimer said he tried to be calm with them during the break.

“To be honest, I was a little hopeful (Friday night) would bring some stress because we know the next seven weeks are going to have some stress,” said Eimer, whose team faces Romeoville and Plainfield East in conference crossovers the next two weeks.

“Then, we know what the West Division brings.”

Estrella thinks overcoming some adversity helps.

“I felt like this win was really big for us because we came off that Proviso East win thinking we were all big and bad,” Estrella said. “We came into this game, got smacked up a little bit, to set the tone for us.

“It made us realize we had to keep fighting. There’s going to be stronger and better teams out there. We need to just keep putting our heart into the game.”