St. Charles North offense in high gear against Streamwood
The Upstate Eight Conference River Division's highest scoring football team was back at it Friday night.
St. Charles North, which entered its conference clash with Streamwood averaging 40 points per contest, surpassed that mark during its 56-7 victory over the Sabres (2-5, 1-4) in St. Charles.
The North Stars (6-1, 3-1), who punched their third consecutive trip to the postseason with the win, scored a pair of big-play touchdowns in the first quarter and added 3 touchdowns in the final 4:57 of the second quarter to take a commanding 35-0 halftime advantage.
After a three-and-out defensive series, junior Nick Hunnewinkel began the scoring when he returned a punt 59 yards for the North Stars' first touchdown.
"He's pretty electric when he gets the ball in his hands," said North Stars coach Rob Pomazak. "That's his second return (for a touchdown) in two weeks. He had a kickoff return for a touchdown last week. If he gets some open space, he can accelerate quickly.
"Tom Poulin, our special teams coordinator, comes up with great game plans every week. The kids take pride in it."
An interception by Streamwood defensive back Malik Butler in the end zone stopped the North Stars' first offensive series but junior tailback Lucas Segobiano (4 carries, 106 yards) changed the momentum with a 73-yard touchdown run the next time they had the ball for a 14-0 lead.
Senior tailback Eric Lins added a pair of short-yardage touchdowns before quarterback Zach Mettetal (7 for 10, 113 yards) tossed an 18-yard TD pass to Adam Durocher with 36 seconds left in the second quarter to extend the North Stars' lead to 35-0.
"We look for our opportunities," said Pomazak. "We feel like we have a lot of weapons."
Segobiano returned the opening kickoff of the second half 56 yards to set up Lins' 1-yard touchdown run - his third TD of the contest - and begin the running clock with the North Stars ahead 42-0.
"When everyone does their part, it's a scary thing," said Lins, wearing jersey number 48 for the first time since being elevated to the varsity team as a sophomore.
"Everyone can put points on the board when they get the ball."
Second-half touchdown runs by backup quarterbacks Michael Hohensee and Collin Srocki extended the North Stars' lead to 56-0.
Streamwood's Malcolm Davis-Wilder (18 carries, 78 yards) snapped the North Stars' shutout bid with his 10-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining.
"You can't spot a team like that 14 points," said Sabres coach Don Guindon. "That allowed them to get into a rhythm and once they did that, it was tough."
St. Charles North, which finishes its regular season with tough road games against Geneva and Batavia, guaranteed itself a first-round playoff game on Oct. 28 or 29.
"It's where we want to be," said Pomazak. "To be here, we're really excited and now we shift our focus to our (playoff) seeding."