Fast start lifts St. Charles North past Schaumburg
The big question fans had on their minds leaving North Stars Stadium after watching St. Charles North's 30-15 season-opening, nonconference football victory over Schaumburg Friday night - which team is which?
Are the North Stars (1-0) as good a team as the one that built a commanding 30-3 halftime lead or more like the one blanked throughout the entire second half?
"Oh, by far, the team in the first half," said junior halfback Eric Lins, who scored 3 first-half touchdowns on lengthy runs covering 11, 14, and 34 yards, respectively, and finished with 87 yards rushing on 12 carries. "We have a great season ahead of us."
On the other hand, do the Saxons better resemble the team that closed the second half strong and nearly pulled within a touchdown of the North Stars in the game's final minute or the one that allowed 20 unanswered second-quarter points?
"I think I expected some of that," Saxons coach Mark Stilling said of his team's disappointing first half. "They're (the North Stars) extremely well-coached. For us, it was a lot of little things that went wrong. I was proud as heck of the way we fought and responded in the second half but I'm not really out here for moral wins."
St. Charles North put together an 11-play, 74-yard drive on its opening possession before settling for Adam Durocher's 28-yard field goal.
The North Stars capitalized on Trey Kellogg's recovery of a botched punt a few minutes later as Lins ran up the gut for an 11-yard touchdown to extend the margin to 10-0.
Schaumburg's Mason Laramie connected on a 32-yard field goal to put the Saxons on the board with 24 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
From there, the North Stars seized control.
Lins broke free for a 14-yard TD run with 7:31 left in the second quarter to make it 17-3.
After the defense forced a 3-and-out series, Lins once again had his number called and he bounced off a couple defenders during an electrifying 34-yard TD run to make it 24-3.
"It was a great time," said Lins. "I've got to give it all to the O-line though. I'm buying all those guys breakfast."
Making his first varsity start, junior quarterback Zach Mettetal (17 of 22, 169 yards) capped the first half with an 8-yard touchdown pass to a prone Griffin Hammer in the back of the end zone with 41 seconds remaining before intermission.
"It's a long summer and to go out and be up 30-3 at the half - that's a good thing," said North Stars coach Rob Pomazak.
"I think the offensive tempo was good in the first half. The quick-tempo offense was clicking and the defense did a nice job handling their run game early."
Schaumburg's second-half touchdowns came on a 2-yard run by junior tailback Emanuel Little (24 carries, 95 yards) and a 4-yard keeper by junior quarterback Justin Perez.
"It was a great first half but the second half is really going to be important because we can see what we did wrong," said Pomazak.