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St. Charles North has easy time with Elgin

Playing on a rainy October night, the ability to play a turnover-free game paid dividends for St. Charles North's football team.

Capitalizing on several Elgin (0-9, 0-6) special teams miscues, the North Stars (7-2, 4-2) scored touchdowns on 6 of their 7 first-half possessions while jumping out to a 42-0 halftime advantage during their eventual 45-0 Upstate Eight Conference River Division triumph Friday night in St. Charles.

"They struggled with the snap on punts and that put us in a favorable position," said North Stars coach Rob Pomazak. "In conditions like this, it could have gone either way. It was so darned wet."

The North Stars took the opening kickoff and marched 69 yards in 8 plays, capped by Eric Lins' 5-yard touchdown run. Lins, who finished with 85 yards on 11 carries in limited action, added a 41-yard gain on the team's second offensive play from scrimmage.

After the defense forced a 3-and-out series, senior Jack Glavin recovered a fumble on a botched punt to set up the North Stars' second TD - an 8-yard run by junior quarterback Zach Mettetal - to make it 14-0 just 4:45 into the game.

"We wanted to come out and play well in three phases and I thought we did," said Pomazak. "The goal was to set a tone early and I thought the offense did a great job and the defense did a good job."

St. Charles North broke the game open with a 28-point second quarter that featured a pair of touchdown runs by senior tailback Billy Duhownik (9 carries, 94 yards), a 12-yard TD run by backup quarterback Kyle Novotney, and a wobbly 19-yard TD pass from Mettetal to Brendan Joyce.

"It was a flying saucer but whatever, it's all right," Mettetal said of the pass that appeared to slip out of his hands. "It was fun."

Junior Adam Durocher, who was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra point attempts, accounted for the second-half scoring with a 40-yard field goal.

"He's one of the best kickers in the area and we're super lucky to have him," Pomazak said of Durocher.

Pomazak also credited center Liam Kelly and holder Brenden Norberg for their contributions in less-than-ideal conditions.

"Those three guys getting it done - that's a highlight to me," said the coach. "We talk about not leaving points on the board and those guys have really bought into it. We learned the hard way against Geneva (a 42-41 Week 4 loss)."

Senior quarterback Terrance Miller Allen accounted for 71 of the Maroons' 109 total yards of offense.

"I feel like we came out working harder than last year even though we didn't win a game," said Miller Allen. "We still had fun. One thing athletes have to remember is that at the end of the night, it's just a game."

St. Charles North now prepares for Class 7A state playoff action next week.

"We're not just happy to be in the playoffs - we'd like to make a nice run," said Pomazak, whose team will gather at the high school to watch the playoff pairings show.

"We'll find out who we play (Saturday) then we'll prepare and go from there," said Mettetal.

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