St. Charles North beats Batavia with touchdown, 2-point conversion in final second
Things were looking grim once again for St. Charles North.
With less than three minutes remaining in the contest and trailing Batavia 35-28, the North Stars turned the ball over on an interception from sophomore Luke Gardner. Two plays later, senior Henry Hahn pushed his way into the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown to give them a 42-28 advantage with 2:41 remaining.
Yet when the final buzzer rang out, it was the North Stars that stormed the field in celebration.
St. Charles North scored two touchdowns in the final 2:41 of play, and had the game-winning two-point conversion with 0.9 seconds remaining to stun the Bulldogs with a 43-42 victory.
“You never know where winning is going to show up, and that’s why every play matters,” North Stars coach Rob Pomazak said. “Our kids never gave up, and that’s a testament to our seniors. I gave them the keys to the car and they freaking drove us home.”
The North Stars (5-0 overall, 3-0 DuKane) took two minutes on the ensuing kickoff to cut the lead to one score in the contest, with running back Carsen Durante (15 rushes for 91 yards, two touchdowns) scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 42-35 with just 42 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing kickoff, the North Stars attempted an onside kick that fell right into the hands of senior Aidan McClure, who downed the ball on Batavia’s 46-yard line.
“We work on that play every single day,” Pomazak said. “We are so confident in that play, we love it. That was just awesome.”
With 41.7 seconds left in the game and no timeouts, all the pressure was put on senior quarterback JT Padron.
But in his mind, he knew exactly what the game plan needed to be.
“It’s just two-minute offense,” Padron said. “We practice it every Thursday morning, just got to ball out.”
He did just that. Padron (267 passing yards, four TDs) drove the ball down the field, and hit senior EJ Mondesir (11 catches, 104 yards) for a seven-yard touchdown to bring it to 42-41 with just 0.9 seconds remaining.
The North Stars then went for two, and the win, with Padron hitting junior Chris Akepede on a slant route to secure the victory.
“(Offensive coordinator Brian) Flynn told us as soon as we scored that we were going for two to win the game against these guys,” Padron said.
For Batavia (3-2, 2-1), it’s their second loss of the season that was decided on the final play of the game, with their Week 1 31-28 loss to Glenbard West being decided a game-winning field goal.
“That was just a brutal ending,” Bulldogs coach Dennis Piron said. “There’s just so many different details in the game that could’ve changed the result.
“It’s really disappointing because we played a really good football game and it was a hell of a game. But this one’s going to sting for a while.”
Quarterback Michael Vander Luitgaren finished the game 16 of 22 for 299 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to junior tight end Thomas Prescott, while his other went to senior Brett Berggren (6 catches for 120 yards). Prescott, who only had four catches for 91 yards heading into the game, finished with 122 yards and took all three of his catches to the house.
“Tom’s a hell of a tight end for us,” Piron said. “He works very hard for us, and he continues to get better and better all season long. Everything he does is great.”