St. Charles North steamrolls Larkin

The sky above St. Charles North's football stadium was filled with post-game homecoming fireworks Friday night, but the North Stars had plenty of bang and pop on the field beforehand.

Quarterback Nathan Didier threw three touchdown passes and the North Stars tallied five rushing touchdowns in a 56-7 Upstate Eight River wipeout over Larkin.

The North Stars' offensive line of Sam Ambrogio, Kevin Bagrowski, Ryan Turner, and Kyle Begovich opened the holes that led to 390 yards rushing and 517 total yards. Running backs Eric Lins (17 carries, 137 yards, 1 touchdown) and Dominick Sidari (10 carries, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns) benefited the most from the blocking up front.

But Didier also took off for 86 yards rushing on 13 carries to go along with his touchdown throws.

"I thought the offensive line was great today, our protection was better and the holes for our running backs were better," Didier said. "Our goals are to improve from the week before, and I thought we did that."

The improvement started quickly in a 21-7 first quarter, as Didier found a diving Jack Callaghan on a 2-yard touchdown toss and Sidari bulled over for a 1-yard touchdown and zig-zagged his way through Larkin defenders on a 24-yard jaunt.

Larkin's touchdown came in spectacular fashion as quarterback David Hibbler hit AJ Hunter on a hitch-and-go for a 60-yard touchdown. Later in the game, Hibbler and Hunter hooked up on the same play for a 62-yard gain, but they would be Hibbler's only completions on the night.

Lins tallied his lone touchdown in the second quarter on a 2-yard smash off right tackle, and Didier gave the North Stars a 35-7 halftime lead by taking off to his right and finding Blake Kastein in the end zone with a 6-yard touchdown pass.

Didier's third touchdown pass came early in the third quarter on a toss to Kyle Novotney in the flat before the speedy wideout went 20 yards for the score.

Sophomore Tyler Mettetal got into the scorinig action to give the North Stars a 49-7 lead with a 30-yard touchdown run off the left side.

St. Charles North (4-2, 2-2) got its final score on running back Johnathon Fullem's 2-yard run.

The North Stars' defense held Larkin (0-6, 0-4) to just 54 yards rushing and four first downs. But the defensive backs were a nightmare for Hibbler, as the North Stars notched five interceptions in the game, two of those occurring in the end zone from Tyler Bell and Jake Spaniol.

With the stadium lights going out immediately after the game for the post-game show, Larkin's players and coaches made a quick exit.

The St. Charles North coaches and players hung around to enjoy the fireworks and savor the victory after setbacks against conference heavyweights Geneva and Batavia the previous two weeks.

"A win on homecoming is a win, and we are really happy," St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak said. "We wanted to play a clean game, and I give credit to our offensive coaches because they worked day and night to get us ready."

Pomazak, who was glad to have Sidari back in the lineup after being out, called sophomore Lins "a great running back."

But the North Stars had far too many penalties for Pomazak's liking, being whistled 13 times for 135 yards.

"We talked at halftime about playing clean football, we can't let the penalties happen because good teams will beat you because of those."

North Star kick returner Jayson Reckards likely wishes the referees hadn't spotted at least one of those penalties. He busted off an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game, but it was called back on an illegal block.