Landon Conroy and Dashel Von Qualen share the wealth at QB as St. Charles North rolls past South Elgin
In St. Charles North’s ongoing timeshare situation at quarterback, sophomore Dashel Von Qualen thinks of himself as the big-play threat alongside senior Landon Conroy.
Both signal callers are getting a chance to show what they can do in the first two weeks of the season, and the results have been impressive so far for the North Stars.
“I think it’s great,” Von Qualen said. “I think we have like a yin-and-yang thing going. If we have the hot hand, we keep the hot hand. If someone’s not making plays, we switch it around.
“We’re two great quarterbacks.”
Von Qualen showed how explosive he can be Friday night in a 56-21 nonconference win at South Elgin. His first three passes all went for touchdowns and he also ran for 96 yards on six carries.
While Von Qualen completed 4 of 4 passes for 153 yards and also scored on a 35-yard run for St. Charles North (2-0), Conroy did his part as well, completing 4 of 6 passes for 120 yards and a TD. He added 45 yards and a TD on eight carries.
Jameson Walters returned a kickoff 94 yards for a TD and caught a pair of 39-yard passes, including one for a TD. Tommy Vendl tallied a 1-yard TD run and a 71-yard TD catch.
Freshman running back Jeremiah Torres returned a kickoff for an 89-yard TD for South Elgin (1-1). Carter McDonald chipped in with a 1-yard TD run.
Conroy, meanwhile, has waited patiently for his chance to start. He’s willing to do whatever it takes for the team, though, and that means working in tandem with Von Qualen to start the season.
“It’s working out pretty well,” Conroy said. “We’re 2-0, we’re both putting up stats, both making the team better. Both of us add our own part to it. It’s definitely fun.
“It’s more of a competitive advantage for us.”
Conroy also has taken the sharing scenario in stride.
“The thing at North is we’re all about team players here,” Conroy said. “One of our core values is selflessness, and I think that’s something everybody needs to go through.”
The fact that both quarterbacks checked their ego at the door has impressed North Stars coach Rob Pomazak.
“We’re very luck to have both Landon and Dash in the lineup,” Pomazak said. “I give them credit for both accepting the roles we’ve given them because it could be like, ‘No, I should start.’ The first two weeks it’s been great because it gives us that fastball, change-up type of deal.
“Both can do what the other guy can do, but one guy does one thing better and the other does the other better. We don’t really have to chance what we’re doing, so that’s great. I’m proud of both of those guys.”
Conroy got things started Friday for the North Stars. He completed a 57-yard pass on the first play of the game and followed that on the next play with an 18-yard TD run before connecting on the next drive with Jackson Weasler for a 10-yard TD.
Then Von Qualen got going. His three passes went for TDs — 39 yards to Walters, 35 yards to Jack Leigl and 71 yards to Vendl.
“I think we understand it gives teams two completely different things to prepare for,” Von Qualen said. “We’re both starter caliber. When you have that, it makes it really hard for opponents.”
Von Qualen acknowledged that both quarterbacks want the starting job, but in the end, winning matters the most.
“If you can have two guys that want to be the guy and are selfless and throwing the ego out the door and just trust that whoever is out there is going to make the team better,” he said. “We’re here to win.”