St. Charles N. knocks Neuqua out of playoff hunt
On the game's first play from scrimmage, St. Charles North defensive end Brian Pedersen shot through the Neuqua Valley offensive line to sack Wildcats quarterback Joey Ippolito for a 3-yard loss.
While the Wildcats turned a 58-yard kickoff return by Bobby Herzberger into a 3-0 lead after Trent Snyder booted a 37-yard field goal on the game's opening drive, Pedersen's defensive prowess helped set the tone for things to come.
The North Stars' stingy defense held Neuqua Valley (2-5, 2-2) to 98 yards of total offense, including just 5 yards rushing, during St. Charles North's 31-5 Upstate Eight Conference triumph Friday night in St. Charles.
"It did set the tone," North Stars coach Mark Gould said of Pedersen's first-down sack. "When you see them on film, their quarterback (Ippolito) has been kind of their linchpin offensively.
"Coach (defensive coordinator Jared) McCall did a great job getting his defense ready to take care of the quarterback."
The North Stars (6-1, 4-1) certainly appeared ready from the outset, limiting the normally fleet-footed Ippolito to 4 yards rushing on 12 carries while also frustrating him into a 5-of-15 passing night for 53 yards and 3 interceptions.
"We thought we might have to spy on him (Ippolito) but we really didn't have to," said Gould. "We still had to know where he was at all times though and get off blocks because when he starts running, he's dangerous."
A sloppy, mud-caked field that slowed Ippolito also didn't hurt the North Stars.
"I'm sure the conditions hurt him because he's a very good cutting, slashing-type runner, and on this stuff, I'm sure it didn't help him one bit."
"We were getting to him early and it looked like he didn't want any part of it," said Pedersen, who later added an interception that led to Cory Harmon's 26-yard, second-quarter field goal that extended the North Stars lead to 17-3 at halftime.
St. Charles North compiled a pair of 40-yard scoring drives during a 17-point second quarter. Quarterback Jake Bergren (15 carries, 100 yards) tallied the first of his 2 touchdowns on a 40-yard run through the middle of the Wildcats' defense to put the North Stars on top to stay, 7-3, early in the second quarter. After a 22-yard punt, the North Stars' Dirk Schmitt capped a 12-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 14-3.
Bergren's nifty 21-yard TD run on the North Stars' opening possession of the second half extended the lead to 24-3 before the junior signalcaller connected with Andrew Elliott on a 24-yard TD pass that made it 31-3 with 6:33 remaining.
"Offensively, we got ahead early with a couple big runs and Bergren's third-quarter touchdown run was a big one because it gave us a little bit of a cushion," said Gould, whose team clinched its eighth consecutive playoff berth with the victory.
"This one was big because five wins wasn't going to get us in. There's no way we would have had enough playoff points. Now we're still in the conference (race) and just trying to get a better seed in the playoffs."
Defensive end Trevor Lilovich recorded a pair of sacks, while linebackers Ben Dvorak and J.J. Weaver each made interceptions to bolster the Stars' defense.
"They were flying around," said Gould. "We challenged them before the game and told them 'you can't let the elements, field and all that stuff bother you - it's an obstacle you overcome,' and they did it."
The loss, meanwhile, eliminated Neuqua Valley from postseason contention for the second straight year.
"It's a sick feeling," said Wildcats coach Bryan Wells. "We're not happy about that at all.St. Charles North has a good defense and certainly the field didn't do us any favors."
Those two things combined were a large part why our offense could never get going."