St. Charles North scores twice in final minute to stun WW South
Trailing Wheaton Warrenville South 32-23 with 2:30 remaining, St. Charles North (4-1, 2-1) rallied for a pair of touchdown over a 37-second span to pull out a stunning 37-32 DuKane Conference victory Friday night in St. Charles.
Following quarterback Ethan Plumb’s 1-yard touchdown run that trimmed the deficit to 32-30 with 51 seconds left, Braden Harms recovered teammate Lucas Tenbrock’s onside kick at the North Stars’ 46-yard line.
“We practice onside kicks every Thursday at 5 a.m.,” Harms said.
From there, Plumb connected with Brogan Sons for a 14-yard gain at the Tigers’ 40, but an incompletion and 4-yard loss left the North Stars with a third-and-14 situation at the 44 with 25 seconds remaining.
Plumb completed a 26-yard pass to Keaton Reinke to the Tigers’ 18 with 18.8 seconds left before the game-winning, 18-yard fade pass to Harms in the corner of the end zone to give the North Stars a 37-32 lead with 14.1 seconds remaining.
“I’ve really got to give it to Ethan (Plumb),” said Harms, who had 6 of his 7 receptions for 68 yards in the final 2½ minutes. “He kept his composure, kept the team under control, and he knows how to finish games.
“This is what we live for. That’s what I love about this team — there’s no give up in us.”
Plumb, who scrambled 15 yards on a fourth-and-12 play at the Tigers’ 27 to help set up the touchdown that enabled the North Stars to pull within 32-30, echoed his teammate’s sentiments.
“We’re never out of it,” Plumb said. “It was very similar to the situation we faced against Palatine (28-27 win in Week 1). It’s on us to make big plays. The belief never wavers.
“Anything can happen at any moment. The offensive line did a great job at the end giving me time, the receivers made plays, the defense got stops, and we got the huge special teams play on the onside kick. I was thinking just give us one more chance and we’ll make it happen.”
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Tigers (2-3, 1-2), who grabbed a 29-23 lead midway through the third quarter on a 6-yard touchdown by Owen Yorke and 2-point conversion pass from Luca Carbonaro to Yorke.
Brendan Hary’s 47-yard field goal stretched the Tigers’ lead to 32-23 with 2:30 remaining, but the Tigers couldn’t finish the job in the frenetic final minutes. Carbonaro’s desperation pass attempt near midfield was batted down by Kai Lincoln as time ran out.
“That’s a tough one,” said Tigers coach Sean Norris. “Honestly, I’m at a loss for words a little bit.”
St. Charles North received a pair of onside kick opportunities despite a penalty on the first attempt.
“There was an illegal formation called on the first kick, so it’s a dead-ball penalty,” Norris said. “That’s why there was a rekick.
“We practice onside kicks every Thursday, and I felt like we were prepared for it, but we didn’t execute. I’ll take that on me because it felt like these kids fought their hearts out.”
Amari Williams caught 6 passes for 93 yards, while Luke Beres had 3 receptions for 33 yards, including a 19-yard TD pass from Carbonaro in the second quarter.
North Stars tailback Joell Holloman rushed for 111 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown, while adding a 20-yard TD reception.