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St. Charles North dominates rivalry matchup

St. Charles North wasted little time seizing the momentum during Friday night's football rivalry clash with St. Charles East.

Following a 3-and-out defensive series, the North Stars' offense responded with junior tailback Drew Surges' 53-yard jaunt that set up his own 2-yard direct snap touchdown run.

Surges also added the 2-point conversion run after an East offside penalty to make it 8-0 just 3 minutes into the contest.

"That was a big run," Surges said of the North Stars' first play from scrimmage.

It was just the beginning for the North Stars (4-3, 2-3), who cruised to a 37-0 victory over the Saints (2-5, 1-4) before a packed house at Norris Stadium.

Surges, who finished the night with 7 carries for 109 yards and 4 touchdowns, added his second 2-point conversion run after quarterback Will Vaske's 10-yard touchdown pass to Jake Mettetal as the North Stars grabbed a 16-0 first-quarter advantage.

"We wanted to set the tone early," said North Stars coach Rob Pomazak. "We talked about tempo and momentum and how it can go back and forth."

On this night, both tempo and momentum belonged mostly with the North Stars.

Surges added second-quarter TD runs of 1 and 2 yards, respectively, as the visitors took a commanding 30-0 halftime lead.

"We executed on all levels," said Surges, who also collected 1 of the North Stars' 4 interceptions from his safety position on defense. "The running game was strong, and the defense played a great game. It was a great game plan."

Linebacker Kyle Nord, cornerback Joey Curzon and safety Brody Geary added interceptions for the North Stars, who defeated the Saints for the sixth time in 8 years.

"I give all the credit to our defensive staff and offensive staff for putting together a great game plan," said Pomazak. "We learned a lot over those three games (earlier 3-game losing streak). We didn't play as well as we should have because we feel like we should be in a different position - but we are where we are.

"This is a good starting point for us because it gets a lot harder from here (vs. Glenbard North and Batavia). East is a good team, too, but I just felt like our kids came out and had a point to prove today."

The Saints finished 0-for-3 on their red-zone trips with a pair of interceptions, as senior quarterback Nathan Hayes was 15 of 37 for 172 yards.

"That's definitely not what we wanted tonight," Saints coach Bryce Farquhar said of his team's 39 pass attempts. "They (North Stars) were able to execute early and put us in a hole."

"I wish we would've gotten to him (Hayes) more but he's such a great athlete and he's so elusive," said Pomazak. "We were just trying to keep everything underneath. With the field reduced, we were able to make plays and keep them out of the end zone."

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