St. Charles North set to score plenty of points
St. Charles North will catch you on the flip-flop.
Having graduated all 11 defensive starters from a fast, physical team that reached the state quarterfinals for the first time since its 2001 program debut, coach Mark Gould now looks for the other side of the ball to do the heavy lifting till defense catches up. Last season worked the other way.
"Offensively we know what we have," Gould said. "We've got some pretty good kids, so we're hoping the offense can help the defense out a little bit more this year, at least early on."
Early on the North Stars will lack senior Jake Bergren, who in 2009 won a three-way quarterback battle that extended through Week 3. Bergren (574 yards rushing, 8 touchdowns; 81 of 164 passing, 1,113 yards, 14 touchdowns), suffered a broken left throwing hand when hit by a pitch in summer league baseball. Gould expects him back by Week 3 or 4.
All is not lost. Another signalcaller from last year's QB competition, Matt Shiltz, is back. Shiltz threw no passes after Week 3 but has grown bigger, stronger and smarter, Gould said.
"We feel we're fortunate to have somebody like Matt to step in," said the coach, on a run of eight straight playoff appearances.
Shiltz will feel fortunate for his supporting cast. Behind returning starters Curtis Van Petten and Pat Smith on the line, St. Charles North returns its two leading rushers, Ben Hodges (393 yards, 7 touchdowns) and Dirk Schmitt (568 yards, 7 touchdowns).
Record-setting receiver Jeff Stolzenburg graduated, but the Stars have reloaded. Along with returning starter Andrew Elliott (15 receptions, 189 yards, 1 touchdown) they bring back a cadre of fliers - high jump state qualifier Oshay Hodges, 6-foot-4 Sean Donlevy and younger brother Pat, and particularly 6-foot-4 Josh Mikes, a team leader Gould said has healed from back stiffness that limited him to the Stars' last four games, 10 catches, 185 yards and 2 TDs.
Mikes also hopes to light it up on punt returns. Senior Gage Cantrell, a 5-foot-6, 145-pound scooter returning to football, will try to do the same returning kicks.
"We're pretty confident with our offense going into the season," Gould said.
Defense? Gould and Co. feel pretty good about defensive linemen Mike Claney, Vince Fricke, Hayden Lewis, Sean Donlevy and Shawn Meaney, son of Bartlett coach Tom Meaney. Claney's 3 tackles in 2009 head the list.
North has a good rotation of defensive backs like Pat McGushin, Shawn Collins and Ryan Engesser, but as far as linebacker goes, "We've got a lot of big shoes to fill," Gould said.
The way this program is rolling, no doubt he's got solid fits out there.
"Some kids wonder, are we going to be as good as last year?" Gould said. "I tell them, 'I think we're going to surprise you.'"