Plumb, St. Charles North stun Palatine with last minute 99-yard TD drive
Opening night of the 2024 IHSA football season turned out to be an unbelievable finish between St. Charles North and host Palatine Friday night.
Palatine led 27-14 on a 27-yard field goal by Alek Huyser with 8:01 to play only to see the North Stars pull off a 28-27 nonconference victory with a 99-yard drive late in the fourth quarter.
An 11-yard TD pass from Ethan Plumb to Keaton Reinke cut the lead to 27-20 with 4:16 to play as the extra point hit off the right upright.
On fourth-and-1 from the Pirates' 43, Palatine went for the first down and got it. But they were called for a 5-yard aiding the runner penalty and they had to punt with 2:34 to play.
"I trusted my offensive line, they got it done, and they had it taken away," said Palatine coach Corey Olson. "They made plays, we needed to make some stops, and we didn't make the stops."
Plumb (19-for-24, 249 yards) marched the team quickly down the field ultimately hitting Reinke with a 20-yard TD pass with 10.1 seconds left. Then Plumb hit Braden Harms with the 2-point conversion and that sealed the comeback win.
"We showed our resilience and it was a true team victory," said St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak. "Ethan is a four-year starter, he did the 99-yard drive with 1:50 left and one timeout left, and he's just a gamer."
A 21-yard field goal by Huyser and a 2-yard run by Kole Fager gave Palatine a 24-14 lead with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
"It's the stuff we do on a daily basis that when a moment comes like that the team finds a way to get it done," said Plumb. "It's a team game. We had catches left and right, and the defense had to get a stop there for us to even have a chance to score that TD."
Neither team could establish the upper hand in the first half despite the host Pirates marching 80 yards on their opening drive. Ray Gaspard's 3-yard TD run capped the drive before the extra point by Huyser made the score 7-0.
A long kickoff return by the North Stars' Joell Holloman put the ball on the 11-yard line before Plumb scored on a 4-yard keeper two plays later. The extra point by Lucas Tenbrock deadlocked the score at 7-7 with 4:44 left in the first quarter.
The Pirates scored again on their second possession as a 4-yard TD run by Fager capped another 80-yard drive for a 14-7 lead with 28 seconds left in the first quarter. A 29-yard pass from Will Santiago (11-for-17, 127 yards passing) to Ryan Donnelly had put the ball on the 4.
St. Charles North responded with 3:36 left in the first half when Plumb hit Reinke with a 9-yard TD pass to deadlock the score at 14-14.
Gaspard had 88 yards on 18 carries while teammate Jesse Blake had 82 yards on 14 rushes. Holloman had 60 yards on 12 attempts.