St. Charles North rambles past Glenbard East
After rallying from a 14-point third-quarter deficit to edge St. Charles East 35-34 in overtime a week ago, spotting Glenbard East an early 6-0 lead Friday night wasn't going to deter St. Charles North's football team.
The North Stars (4-1) turned a pair of turnovers into short-field touchdown drives during a 28-point second-quarter barrage and eventually cruised to a 38-6 Upstate Eight Conference crossover victory over Glenbard East (0-5) in St. Charles.
"It's kind of what happened last week," said North Stars coach Rob Pomazak. "When we get down, we're not out. I was happy to see that they trusted each other."
St. Charles North committed a costly turnover of its own late in the first quarter.
One play after Lucas Segobiano's 72-yard run set the North Stars up at the 1-yard line, Rams defensive tackle James McNicholas recovered a fumble at the 6 to end the scoring threat.
Five plays later, Glenbard East struck first on a 64-yard touchdown run by Jack Oberli (10 carries, 85 yards) with 4.4 seconds left in the first quarter to grab a 6-0 lead.
"When they scored that touchdown, it was a little confusing but we knew that when we got the ball back we would punch it in," Segobiano said. "We weren't too overly worried about it."
The North Stars responded by scoring a pair of touchdowns within a 24-second span to take a 14-6 advantage.
David Beach (15 of 21, 141 yards), starting at quarterback for the injured Michael Hohensee, connected with Tyler Nubin for a 13-yard TD on a 4th-and-1 play and Brandon Eickert's PAT kick gave St. Charles North a 7-6 lead.
On the Rams' next play from scrimmage, St. Charles North defensive back Ethan Romero's fumble recovery helped set up Segobiano's 2-yard TD run to make 14-6.
Segobiano, who finished with 180 yards rushing on 13 carries, made his presence on the defensive side of the ball with an acrobatic interception at the Rams' 32.
From there, the North Stars extended their lead to 21-6 on Beach's 2-yard TD shovel pass to Ben Furtney.
"Their quarterback kind of threw it up and I was able to make a play there," said Segobiano. "It was nice to get a pick."
"When you're playing a team of their caliber, that'll do it," Rams coach John Walters said of his team's 2 second-quarter turnovers. "When you play a quality opponent, you can't provide those opportunities and we did tonight."
Segobiano's 42-yard TD run upped the North Stars' halftime lead to 28-6 before Eickert's 30-yard field goal and Sam DeMarco's 2-yard TD run with 11:32 remaining capped the scoring.
"Tonight, we weren't good enough to win but we're going to go back and practice for four days and put our best product on the field next week," said Walters.