South Elgin does it all in thumping St. Charles North

It wasn't surprising to see a Dale Schabert-coached football team put 52 points on the scoreboard Friday.

What was surprising was the manner in which Schabert's South Elgin Storm clobbered St. Charles North, 52-13, in the nonconference season opener at Millennium Field in Streamwood Friday.

Known for molding prolific passing offenses through the years, Schabert was the happiest man on the artificial turf as he watched his team rush for a school-record 325 yards against a St. Charles North defense that graduated all 11 starters from last year's state quarterfinalist.

"I think our leading rusher last year had 500 yards total, so that was a great night for us," Schabert said. "Coach (Mike Mackender) has done a great job with the offensive line. I challenged them to get better and he worked really hard with the kids.

"We thought this year coming in we'd be able to run and throw the ball a little bit and have some balance. Hopefully, we can keep this up. It's one night, but we've got to keep it up for eight (games) now."

The North Stars could not stop the Storm's one-two punch of senior Brad Birchfield and junior Adolfo Pacheco.

Birchfield rushed for 119 yards and touchdown runs of 3 and 65 yards and returned a punt 56 yards in the second quarter to put the Storm ahead 24-0.

Pacheco enjoyed a sparking varsity debut. The junior rushed 13 times for 223 yards and 2 touchdowns. Using an initial burst of speed to bust through the North Stars' defensive line, he ripped off runs of 30, 65, 62 and 54 yards. He rushed for 2 touchdowns and caught another.

"Brad Birchfield was great too," Pacheco modestly said when asked about his night. "The play calls, the coaching, everything was good."

The North Stars, who started backup quarterback Matt Shiltz due to an off-season injury to returning starter Jake Bergren, couldn't find much rhythm offensively in the first half. The South Elgin defense didn't allow a first down until 8:21 remained in the second quarter.

The North Stars only touchdown of the first half came when Shiltz rolled out to the left and connected on a bomb to wide-open Andrew Elliott for a 63-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit at the time to 31-7.

Senior running back Dirk Schmitt's 130 yards rushing accounted for more than half of the North Stars' 230 total yards. They found the sledding tougher against the revamped Storm offense Friday than they did in last season's 28-16 first-round playoff victory.

"They got a lot bigger," Schmitt said of South Elgin. "They're a good team. They have speed and they can hit. They're just a good team."

St. Charles North coach Mark Gould said his team needs to learn from Friday's game.

"A lot of mistakes," Gould said. "Guys lining up in the wrong position, dropped balls, stuff like that that would have made the game closer, but I'm not saying we would have won the game. A lot of mental mistakes.

"But they just have to realize it's a faster game, it's a tougher game. It's not good to get beat like this, but it's good to experience a good team for them to see they have to pick it up. Now they see it."

South Elgin senior quarterback John Menken completed 6-of-19 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. His No. 1 target was senior Kenny Lowden, who made 3 receptions for 97 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown that put the Storm ahead 17-0 with 11:01 remaining in the second quarter.

Menken was happy to watch his line open big holes for the best running game South Elgin has demonstrated in its five-year existence.

"The line did a fantastic job for us," Menken said. "The holes were there all day."