North Stars notch another blowout win
By halftime, the only real suspense left was which students were going to be crowned as homecoming king and queen.
Scoring on 7 of 9 first-half possessions, including its first three, St. Charles North built a commanding 42-0 advantage at the intermission. While the North Stars (3-1) were held scoreless over the final 24 minutes, they still cruised to a 42-7 nonconference victory over T.F. North (1-3) Friday night in St. Charles.
"We told the guys (before the game), 'You've got to get a fast start,'" said North Stars coach Mark Gould. "They're (T.F. North) such good athletes (and) we didn't want them to come in here and start to get some confidence going.
"We're pleased with the fast start that we got."
After the defense forced a 3-and-out series on the game's opening possession, the North Stars' offense compiled a 9-play, 82-yard scoring drive capped by Sean McGushin's 39-yard TD strike to Jon DeMoss (4 receptions, 90 yards).
McGushin, who started his second consecutive game at quarterback and eventually alternated with Nick Neari behind center, completed 3 of his first 4 passes on the drive, connecting on all of them with the 6-foot-4 DeMoss.
On their next offensive series, the McGushin-to-DeMoss combination played out once again, this time on a 26-yard TD toss to make it 14-0.
McGushin, who played tight end before his switch to quarterback last week against Streamwood, received word Thursday afternoon that he would be making his second straight start.
"I was definitely a little more relaxed (this week)," said McGushin, who completed 7-of-8 passes for 145 yards and 3 TDs, which were all in the first half. "Even in practice during the week, everything was clicking real well and it showed in the game."
McGushin has already developed a nice rapport with DeMoss, who made a few nifty moves on his way to the end zone for the game's first TD.
"When they go man-to-man (defense), Jon's definitely the go-to receiver," said McGushin. "He's always going to get open. I just want to get it in his hands because he's going to be running it all over the place. He's a special receiver."
The North Stars have also found a special running back the past two weeks in Jordan Huxtable. Huxtable, who rushed for 161 yards and 3 TDs against Streamwood a week ago, duplicated the feat with his second consecutive 161-yard, 3-TD performance, scoring on 3 straight carries covering 15, 21 and 33 yards.
"It was good to see it two weeks in a row," said Gould. "Sometimes you wonder if it was the other team maybe one week or the field or something but two weeks in a row he's showed he can run. And there were some nice holes made by the offensive line."
With a running clock to start the second half, T.F. North snapped the North Stars' bid for their second straight shutout when Katrell Sykes scored on a 65-yard TD run with 3:58 remaining.
"We all kind of wanted the shutout," said junior linebacker J.J. Weaver, who recorded a sack and 2 tackles for loss. "It was kind of disappointing but it (the outcome) turned out how we wanted to."