Neuqua Valley runs by St. Charles North
Listed at 5-foot-9, Trent Snyder may be one of the smaller players on the field but he continues to come through with big plays for Neuqua Valley's football team.
Snyder, who rushed for 245 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Wildcats' 20-18 victory over Naperville Central last week, carried the ball 24 times for 224 yards and 3 TDs during the Wildcats' 49-12 Upstate Eight Conference crossover triumph over St. Charles North (1-2) Friday night in St. Charles.
His biggest play of the night may have come on a 3rd-and-9 call midway through the third quarter with the Wildcats clinging to a 21-12 lead.
Snyder found a crease, cut to the outside and raced down the right sideline on his way to a 60-yard touchdown gallop that extended the Wildcats' margin to 28-12.
"I thought that might have been the back breaker," said Neuqua Valley coach Bryan Wells. "It was third-and-long and we've been passing a lot in that situation this season. That was the tendency and we may have caught them a little bit there."
It also didn't hurt that Snyder followed the lead block of 6-3, 302-pound offensive tackle Jordan Young.
"Jordan got out in front of him and he's a big body to hide behind, and Trent hit the seam," added Wells.
Later in the third quarter, Snyder set up his own 1-yard TD plunge with a 48-yard run - part of the Wildcats' 28-0 second-half surge.
Neuqua Valley finished with 349 rushing yards.
"Once again, I've got to tip my hat to the offensive line," said Snyder.
Wells felt his team's offensive line strength played a key factor in the victory.
"We wanted to come out and be physical with them," said the coach. "In the past couple of years, St. Charles North has been a physical team with us so we wanted to set that tone tonight."
Neuqua grabbed a 7-0 lead on a 45-yard, first-quarter TD strike from quarterback Jeff Samuel to tight end Dan Menendez.
After the North Stars' Matt Shiltz scored on a quarterback keeper to narrow the deficit to 7-6 late in the opening quarter, the Wildcats answered just 12 seconds later when Dillon Strack took the ensuing kickoff and raced 95 yards for a TD.
St. Charles North, which added its other touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Shiltz to Ben Hodges, was held to just 28 second-half yards - including 2 rushing yards.
"Too many times in the second half we had three-and-outs," said North Stars coach Mark Gould. "We didn't run the ball very well tonight.
"And I think they just wore us down. They're big, they're physical, and usually when you give up big plays like that people are getting worn down."