It can happen in an instant, one painful or joyful instant, and East Aurora’s Jeremiah Brown experienced both in short order Friday night.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pound junior running back went from hero to goat to hero, and we’re not talking acronym as in Greatest of All Time. The sequence was pretty special, though.

Brown took a handoff on third-and-1 at the Larkin 32-yard line with time winding down and the visiting Tomcats barely clinging to a 20-14 lead at Elgin’s Memorial Stadium.

Clearing the line to gain an apparent first down, Brown was engulfed by a mass of bodies and coughed up the ball. It was recovered by the Royals at their 18 with 1:11 remaining.

“It was a goal line play and I fumbled the ball,” Brown said. “I had to make it up.”

But Brown, who also starts at defensive back, did not quit in the Upstate Eight Conference win.

He did have some anxious moments, however, as Larkin overcame a sack by senior defensive end Derrick Shamley. Two pass completions, an East Aurora penalty and a 14-yard scramble by junior quarterback Tizairian Johnson-Williams put the Royals on the Tomcats’ 17-yard line with 3.8 seconds left.

Brown drew coverage of senior receiver Erick Myrick, whose 39-yard reception for Larkin earlier in the fourth quarter set up a touchdown.

“I had seen him run a wheel route,” Brown said of Myrick. “I saw the QB’s eyes and saw him look at the receiver. I took a chance and came out victorious.

“That’s all I can say. I jumped the route and came up with the ball.”

His interception sealed the 20-14 decision in the battle for the Thunder Bucket trophy that dates to 1963, when former East Aurora assistant Ray Haley became Larkin’s head coach.

More importantly, the win boosts the playoff hopes for the Tomcats (3-3) with three games remaining — at home against Streamwood (1-5) and West Chicago (4-2), then on the road at Fenton (0-6).

This team wants to end a 40-year drought since East Aurora last made the playoffs in 1982.

“That’s the goal,” senior defensive end Arnold Walker said.

Walker teamed up with Shamley and tackles Anthony Beal, a senior, and Raul Navejar, a junior, to set the tone for East Aurora in a dominant first half.

The Tomcats led 13-0 on a 26-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Amado Martinez to Kevion Willis in the first quarter and a 4-yard TD run on an end around by Kenneth Cooley.

Brown ran for 57 of his 96 yards in the first half as East Aurora held a 141-46 edge in yards.

Martinez was intercepted twice in the third quarter, the first returned 75 yards for touchdown by Jalen Miller that started Larkin’s comeback.

“It was a rough second half,” Brown said. “We had to fight through it. We had to overcome.”

Cooley’s 42-yard punt return for a TD early in the fourth proved to be the difference.

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“We looked at No. 4 (Cooley) like No. 8 at Glenbard South,” Larkin coach Vincent Ray said of Notre Dame commit Cam Williams.

Cooley finished with three receptions for 43 yards.

That let Brown do it.

“You look at our film study numbers, Jeremiah is usually the one with the most film watched,” East Aurora coach Nick Kukuc said. “He’s a student of the game and takes pride in his work ethic.

“As a running back, having played it myself, you know you’re not supposed to drop the rock. But I give him credit for keeping his mind right. You never known when your moment is going to be. He made a mistake and surely made up for it.”

And a resilient group forges on.

“We’ve got something to prove,” Brown said. “A lot of people have been sleeping on us. East Aurora has always been the underdog, and we’re trying to upset everybody.”