QB duo helps St. Charles North handle Minooka in season opener
St. Charles North’s football team rolled out its two quarterbacks Saturday afternoon.
The plan worked to near perfection, as senior Landon Conroy and sophomore Dash Von Qualen combined for three touchdowns during the North Stars’ 28-7 nonconference victory over Minooka in St. Charles.
“We came into this game knowing that we were both going to touch the field,” said Conroy, who completed 12 of 18 pass attempts for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns — both to senior receiver Jack Leigl.
“We just had the mindset of ‘let’s go dominate.’”
Conroy got his first varsity start off on a positive note, engineering a 15-play, 80-yard drive capped by his six-yard touchdown pass to Leigl on the North Stars’ opening possession.
Following an encroachment penalty on the extra-point attempt, Von Qualen entered the game and converted the two-point run for an 8-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Conroy, who completed his first 10 pass attempts, began the North Stars’ second possession with a 37-yard strike to sophomore receiver Jameson Walters, setting the stage for Tommy Vendl’s six-yard touchdown run that upped the lead to 15-0.
“I give a lot of credit to my offensive line,” said Conroy, “and our running back, Tommy Vendl, was literally running dudes over.”
Von Qualen, who gained 91 yards on 12 carries, scored his first varsity touchdown on a 50-yard burst early in the second quarter.
“I saw the defensive end fly out — it was a great job by our offensive line to give me space, and I just the did the rest.”
Together, Conroy and Von Qualen combined for 290 yards of offense — a perfect split with each gaining 145.
“It’s a credit to the boys for being open to doing whatever is needed for us to be our best,” said North Stars coach Rob Pomazak. “Landon has worked his tail off to be our starter, and Dash is a sophomore who is extremely athletic.”
One of 12 sophomores up on varsity, Von Qualen also completed a pair of passes for 54 yards.
“We had a lot of sophomores out there,” said Pomazak. “We didn’t know who we were. It’s still going to be a long road, but we’ll take one today.”
Minooka snapped the North Stars’ shutout bid when junior quarterback Nathan Danielson tossed a seven-yard scoring pass to tight end Bennett Lindstrom with 1:45 remaining.
Vendl, the North Stars’ backfield workhorse, finished with 127 yards on 23 carries.
However, this day belonged to the rotating quarterbacks.
“I think we work well together,” said Von Qualen. “He’s (Conroy) a great leader as a senior.
“We understand how two different quarterbacks creates two different game plans for the defense that can really throw them off.”