Segobiano, St. Charles North roll past Elgin

St. Charles North's offense didn't work too hard Friday night, but it didn't need to. Taking advantage of some short fields created by the defense and special teams, the North Stars rolled to a 42-0 halftime lead against Elgin.

The clock ran throughout a scoreless second half in the Upstate Eight River matchup in St. Charles.

Lucas Segobiano scored 4 times on just 9 touches for North (5-1, 3-0), which became playoff eligible.

The North Stars totaled just 191 yards for the game. Their scoring drives covered 46, 19, 46, 75, and 9 yards, plus they recovered a fumble in the end zone.

After starting with a 3-and-out, the North Stars scored on their next 5 possessions.

"Offensively, we didn't start very well," said North coach Rob Pomazak. "That wasn't exactly how we wanted to come out offensively. Defensively, there's a lot of room for improvement, but to be 5-1, playoff eligible, and holding our fate in our hands in the conference is exactly where we want to be at this point in the season."

Set up by Alec Kritta's long punt returns each time, the Stars' first 3 scoring drives covered just 65 yards and 5 plays. The first consisted of 3 runs by Segobiano, the last covering 2 yards. Sam DeMarco paid off the second one with a 13-yard jaunt.

The third "drive" consisted of a 46-yard catch-and-run by Segobiano. He took Michael Hohensee's pass in the flat and raced up the right sideline untouched.

Segobiano finished with 98 rushing yards and 2 receptions for 52 more, all in the first half.

The Maroons (1-5, 0-3), moved the ball on the ground at times, but couldn't overcome their mistakes. High snaps on back-to-back punt attempts led to a pair of North scores. Egon Hein recovered the first in the end zone. Punter Cameron Jackson eventually recovered the second, but the North Stars took over on downs at the 9-yard line, and Segobiano scored 2 plays later.

Elgin also threw 2 interceptions. Quarterbacks Kristan Flowers and Trevon Morris were sacked 5 times. A scintillating 72-yard touchdown run by Andrew Staine was called back on a holding penalty. A potential touchdown pass was dropped on what turned out to be the game's final play.

"We couldn't execute," said Elgin coach Anthony Mason. "If you can't execute against a good team, if you shoot yourself in the foot, it's going to be that type of deal."

Dae'Vion Arthur finished with 47 yards on the ground for Elgin, while Brandon Bridges added 36.