St. Charles North cruises past Larkin in UEC

The St. Charles North football team isn't nocturnal but the North Stars certainly enjoyed playing under the lights on Friday night.

Playing at home on a Friday for the first time since Sept. 19, the North Stars overpowered Larkin 41-0 in Upstate Eight action.

"I seriously was worried about them moving the ball using their speed and getting outside and breaking containment," North Stars coach Mark Gould said. "Especially early in the game and getting that confidence. But I thought our defense really stepped up for us."

Stepping up is probably an understatement. St. Charles North (5-2, 3-1) didn't allow a first down in the first half while intercepting 4 passes and recovering a fumble in the lopsided contest.

"We kind of knew if we came out and played our game we'd be successful," North Stars linebacker J.J. Weaver said. "We knew Larkin had to win to make the playoffs so it's always good to get a team down early."

Larkin (3-4, 2-3) literally didn't know what was in store as the North Stars jumped ahead 7-0 on a 53-yard pass from Sean McGushin to Nic Neari.

"He knows the receiver routes as a quarterback but running them is a little bit different," Gould said. "I feel great for Nic that he was able to catch that and it was a smart play on his part to get open when the quarterback scrambles."

Larkin, which turned the ball over on the first play of three possessions in the second quarter, continually gave the North Stars advantageous field position.

"St. Charles is a good football team," Larkin coach Matt Gehrig said. "What opponent this team played, we don't have a lot of what we could control as a team, and that includes intensity and effort."

The North Stars found the end zone on four occasions in the second quarter to start the running clock just before halftime. McGushin (5-of-9, 135 yards, 2 TDs) connected on a 29-yard strike to Jordan Huxtable and a 25-yard pass to Eric Battle while Huxtable (16 carries, 144 yards) added a pair of touchdown runs.

"Defense gave us some turnovers and good field position," Huxtable said. "We feel like we have to reward them and we did that tonight."

Last year, Nic Higgins victimized the Royals for 3 scores and 195 yards, this year they yielded nearly 400 yards of offense while being held to just 58 of their own.

"The kids came out really strong which was big," Gould said. "It felt great to be back home on Friday night."