St. Charles North hoping for history
St. Charles North's Class 7A first-round 28-16 win over South Elgin was just what the doctor ordered after taking consecutive overtime losses into the 7A playoffs.
Coach Mark Gould doesn't believe retribution over a Week 8 loss to South Elgin was his team's motivation.
"I think right now it's a matter of going farther than any St. Charles North team has gone before," he said.
For this eight-straight qualifier, that would be a state quarterfinal, surpassing the prior high-water mark of a second-round berth in 2006.
Standing in the way of No. 12 seed St. Charles North is a squad that also comes into Friday with a 7-3 record, No. 13 seed Elk Grove.
The Grenadiers have matched their win total of the past four seasons since reaching the 2004 7A quarterfinals. They're a first-time foe for the North Stars.
"What they have," Gould said, "is a very good and athletic quarterback who pretty much the offense revolves around."
Two-year starter Nick Meyer, a junior, not only returns kicks - he took the opening kickoff 80 yards to score in Elk Grove's eventual 28-21 win over No. 4 Machesney Park Harlem - he's also intercepted 5 passes at safety and returned one for a touchdown.
Meyer has run for 962 yards with 16 touchdowns; he's completed 126 of 197 passes for 1,807 yards, 15 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.
Meyer's cadre of receivers includes favored target Matt McEnery, Eddie Solorio and Joey Bishoff.
First-year Elk Grove coach Brian Doll said of St. Charles North's 3-5 defense, "They press their corners and play a lot of man (coverage), but I don't know if they can against us with four receivers. If they do it will be interesting to see how we handle it and how they handle it."
Meyer handled Harlem through the air. He was held to 55 yards rushing on 28 carries, but completed 22 of 30 passes for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns.
St. Charles North also gave Elk Grove lots to scout in its win over South Elgin.
The North Stars unfortunately lost senior tailback Jordan Huxtable to a knee injury after just 3 carries, but quarterback Jake Bergren's 119 yards rushing and 66-yard touchdown run led the Stars' 194-yard ground game.
Bergren connected on big-play touchdown passes to Jeff Stolzenburg and Josh Mikes, a couple nice tosses to Andrew Elliott, and Justin Miller added a 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown.
Doll, who praised a lot of the Stars' game including running back Dirk Schmitt, could point to the same key to a quarterfinal berth - but we'll let Gould do the honors:
"Keep the ball out of the quarterback's hands."