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St. Charles North overcomes West Chicago

Coming off back-to-back games delayed by lightning, St. Charles North defeated West Chicago 27-6 on Friday night on a soggy Wildcats field battered by rain throughout the game.

The North Stars are 3-0 for the first time since 2009, the last time they reached the state football playoffs. They head into critical games against rivals Geneva that could decide the Upstate Eight River Division championship and impact their postseason fate.

"It's been a challenging first three weeks of the season, weather-wise," St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak said. "This was the worst of the three games with the driving rain coming down throughout the game. It was really difficult for both teams. But our kids did the things we had to do on both sides of the ball to get the win. I'm proud of how they hung in there and got the job done."

St. Charles North's defense was particularly effective in flustering West Chicago's aggressive passing attack. Defensive back Brendan Joyce propeled the North Stars in front 6-0 in the teams' league opener when he intercepted a pass and returned it 45 yards for a pick-6 touchdown.

St. Charles North's lead grew to 12-0 on a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kyle Novotney, and sophomore placekicker Nick Duhownik's 30-yard field goal pushed the North Stars ahead 15-0 with 1:57 still remaining in the opening quarter.

Novotney found wide receiver Blake Kastein in the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4, giving St. Charles North a 21-0 edge with 10:02 left in the second quarter.

The North Stars looked to deliver the knockout blow when they reached West Chicago's 14-yard line with 45 seconds to play in the half. But the Wildcats (1-2, 0-1) gained new life in their UEC River debut when lineback Steve Gutowski scooped up a fumbled snap and sprinted 83 yards for a touchdown that drew West Chicago within 21-6 at halftime.

The Wildcats then caught the North Stars by surprise with an onside kick to open the second half, recovering the ball near midfield. West Chicago drove to St. Charles North's 13-yard line, but its quest to claw within a touchdown ended when Zachary Woeste intercepted a pass and ran it back to the 39. Another 15 yards were tacked on due to a personal foul on the Wildcats.

"If we had been able to finish that drive in their end zone, it could have changed the whole complexion of the game," West Chicago coach Ted Monken said. "But North stepped up and made a big play there."

St. Charles North then engineered an 11-play, six-minute drive capped by a 23-yard field goal by Duhownik that provided a 24-6 cushion late in the third quarter. The North Stars' defense did the rest, holding West Chicago's offense scoreless all night.

"We got behind, but we didn't change and we didn't panic," said Monken, a former St. Charles East coach. "We kept running our offense and continued executing our defensive game plan and hung in the game for awhile. We don't have the kind of line strength up front yet to push people off the line, which makes it tough, and we weren't able to pitch and catch the ball in some 1-on-1 situations where we had some good matchups. When the offense doesn't get on the scoreboard and when the defense doesn't stop them when we have a short field to defend, it's a challenge."

The rainy conditions and slick field made passing the ball particularly tricky, which especially hindered West Chicago and its aerial-friendly attack. Quarterback Peyton Seidler threw for 254 yards and 3 TDs last week against DeKalb but was intercepted twice and fumbled a pair of errant snaps while also dealing with a leg injury sustained in the first half and an aggressive St. Charles North defense that pressured the pocket for much of the night.

"Our defensive motto is 'Pressure is coverage,'" Pomazak said. "We got good pressure on the quarterback and made him rush some passes. And our offense, while making some mistakes in ball security, also made some big plays when it counted.

"Kyle Novotney stepped up and made some key plays for us in the air and on the ground. He's done a good job of dealing with some adversity in his first three starts as a varsity quarterback. And our sophomore kicker made three important field goals tonight in challenging weather conditions."

The Wildcats will try to climb back to .500 in their homecoming game next week against Elgin. A victory would even their record at 2-2 and guarantee the program its first two-win season of this decade with five games still to play.

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