St. Charles North takes it to Larkin
The Larkin football team opened its game against St. Charles North Friday with its best drive of the season. Twelve plays covering 80 yards in 3 minutes, 28 seconds, culminating in a snazzy 10-yard pass from junior quarterback David Hibbler to senior wideout A.J. Hunter.
Unfortunately for the Royals, that did nothing but North Stars on notice, and they responded - replicating that feat 8 times en route to a 55-7 Upstate Eight River victory at Elgin High School's Memorial Field.
North, coming off losses to River powers Geneva and Batavia, was uber-efficient in its dismantling of the Royals. Only 2 of its scoring drives lasted longer than 2:39 and 4 of them took 1:14 or less.
"We're very up-tempo at practice. Our kids aren't sitting around, they're always moving," said North coach Rob Pomazak, whose team improved to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in conference, and is a win away from becoming playoff-eligible. "When we're moving, we're moving. The refs have a tough time keeping up with it, and so that's one thing that teams have to prepare for.
"We can't come out slow. It's one of those things where we have to come out and create our own atmosphere with a chip on our shoulder."
After Hibbler piloted Larkin to its opening-drive score, his North counterpart, Zach Mettetal, took over, orchestrating a 7-play drive in 2 minutes that covered 53 yards and going 4-for-4 passing in the process. His final completion wound up in the hands of bulky junior receiver Griffin Hammer, who caught the ball at the Larkin goal line with 6:31 left in the first quarter.
But there was plenty more work to be done. Larkin senior Chevelle Clements intercepted Mettetal on North's next drive, and the Royals' offense pushed the ball to the North Stars' 26 before fizzling out.
It only took 1:11 for North to score again. Junior running back Eric Lins did most of the damage, rushing 5 times for 58 yards before Mettetal found Hammer again, this time wide open in the right corner of the end zone with 9:26 left in the half.
Turns out the North Stars were just getting started.
Their next drive: 3 plays, 41 yards in 21 seconds, with Lins scoring on a 5-yard run.
The one after that: 4 plays, 47 yards in 1:14, with Lins punching the ball in from 8 yards out.
And the one after that: 5 plays, 47 yards in 1:17, with Lins dashing up the middle for a 32-yard scoring run, breaking a tackle at the 15-yard line. The extra point was no good, however.
Suddenly, it was 34-7, and that made the second half pretty much academic, though senior running back Bill Duhownik rushed for 103 yards on 13 carries and 2 touchdowns to start a running clock.
What got things turned around for North after Larkin's opening-drive success?
"I knew we were going to come down, drive and score quick," Mettetal said. "That was our game plan coming in. Obviously, the offensive line did a great job, receivers, running backs, everyone worked quick to get to the ball, and think our tempo wore them out."
Despite the lopsided score, Larkin coach Dragan Teonic could point to plenty of positives beyond that effective opening drive.
"We battled," said Teonic, whose team fell to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in conference. "I'm really proud of the way Chevelle Clements has really grown up over the last couple of weeks. A.J. Hunter played tough tonight. David Hibbler is a battler. I mean, he did a lot of great stuff, especially those first few drives. I thought he really handled himself well."
Clements rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries, and even completed 1 pass after relieving Hibbler late in the game. Hibbler completed 10 of 19 passes for 67 yards, including going 3-for-4 in the opening drive.
"We came out with a lot of energy," Hibbler said. "We knew we had nothing to lose, so we just came out and gave it all and left it all on the field."
Still, it was hard to overlook 174 total yards of offense, versus a whopping 453 for North. Lins finished with 125 yards rushing on just 11 carries, all in the first half. Senior receiver Jayson Reckards led all North receivers with 66 yards on 7 catches. Hammer finished with 5 catches for 52 yards.