St. Charles East handles Lake Park for 5th win
The fireworks display during the national anthem was the only aerial show that St. Charles East put on during its home season finale against DuKane Conference foe Lake Park Friday night.
The Saints relied on their tried and true triple option Offense to grind out a 42-7 win over the Lancers.
The victory, St. Charles East's fifth of the season, makes the team play off eligible.
"We went back to our brand of football tonight. We didn't turn the ball over a lot and that was big," said East coach Bryce Farquhar. "Our running game was on and clicking tonight. Overall we did a lot of nice things offensively and defensively."
The Saints gained 305 of their 324 total yards on the ground.
Senior Justin Jett led the rushing attack, scoring three touchdown while gaining 136 yards on 26 carries. Jacob Guzick crossed the goal line twice while carrying the ball 91 yards on 10 carries. Ronan Macaluso gained 83 yards on 9 carries.
"Jacob Guzick stepped in and did a great job," Farquhar said. "And Justin Jett played really physical football."
"We wanted to make an extra push tonight," said Jett, "We knew that this was a must win if we wanted to make the playoffs,"
St. Charles East's defense came up with three interceptions. Dillion Gearhart picked off two of Nathanael Merchant's passes. The senior returned one for a 30-yard TD in the second quarter and the other, nabbed in the end zone in the third quarter, ended a Lake Park scoring threat.
Five of the game's seven TDs were scored in the second quarter.
The Saints took an early lead in the first quarter, scoring their first drive of the game, a 1-yard run by Guzick.
St. Charles East (5-4, 3-4) widened its lead to 14-0 45 seconds into the second quarter. Jett ran up the middle for 7 yards to score.
Lake Park (2-7, 1-6) narrowed the margin to 14-7 on a 30-yard pass from Merchant to Jordan Colon with 9:27 left in the half. Colon finished the night gaining 164 total yards. The junior gained 58 yards on the ground on 14 carries. He caught five passes for 106 yards.
The Saints then scored 21 unanswered points to break the game open and take a 35-7 halftime lead.
After Jett scored on a 20-yard run, Gearhart returned the interception for the second score. Jett scored his last TD on an 8-yard run with 1:10 left in the half.
Guzick scored the only touchdown of the second half on a 1-yard plunge at the end of the third quarter.