St. Charles North outlasts Larkin

ST. CHARLES – Field position and fourth-down execution made the difference for St. Charles North on Friday.

In a meeting of two of the top defenses in the area, the North Stars hung on for a hard-fought 20-7 victory against visiting Larkin in Upstate Eight Conference action. North started all three of its scoring drives in Royals territory and was a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth-down conversions.

Both factors came into play on the game's pivotal drive as the North Stars took over at the Larkin 22-yard line while clinging to a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter following a Larkin punt from its own end zone.

Despite the good field position, North faced fourth-and-21 three plays later when quarterback Jake Bergren eluded a host of Larkin defenders and lofted an off-balance throw down the left sideline to receiver Jeffrey Stolzenburg, who hauled in the pass while keeping one foot in the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown completion.

"I was rolling out and I was under a lot of pressure from their linemen," Bergren said. "I saw downfield that Jeffrey somehow kept behind the defensive backs and I put it up. It seems to happen a lot that I just put it up and he's there."

The touchdown strike provided more than enough cushion for the North Stars defense, which shut down a Royals rushing attack that came into the game averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

Larkin (3-2, 0-2) mustered only 71 yards of total offense and a meager 41 rushing yards on 28 carries against North. Area rushing leader Jalen Williams, who was coming off a 364-yard effort in Week 4, was held to 48 yards on 20 carries.

"This is the hardest game we've had this season as far as getting the run going on the perimeter because of their speed," Larkin coach Matt Gehrig said. "We just weren't getting our offensive linemen covering up their linebackers enough for us to have a consistent run game like we've had in the past this year."

The North Stars led throughout after scoring on the game's opening drive. North (4-1, 2-1) started the possession at the Larkin 41-yard line and converted on two fourth-down plays before junior Ben Hodges crossed the goal line on a 1-yard run.

A long punt return from Connor Mohs gave the North Stars the ball at the Larkin 20 late in the second quarter. Hodges struck again four plays later on a 9-yard touchdown run to put North ahead 14-0 with 1:31 left in the half.

Larkin answered that scoring drive when a lengthy kickoff return by Williams gave the Royals possession at the North 36. Four plays later sophomore quarterback Kyle Newquist connected with Alex Wahl for a 6-yard touchdown pass to pull Larkin within 14-7 at the intermission.

The Royals couldn't build off that momentum in the second half, though, managing only 13 yards during the final two quarters. North coach Mark Gould was pleased with his team's defensive effort, especially after allowing a season-high 35 points and 444 yards in a loss against Waubonsie Valley the previous week.

"It was a nice bounce back by the defense," Gould said. "(Williams) is a great runner and he's dangerous. Our guys did a great job against him."

Hodges led all players with 97 rushing yards on 23 carries. Senior running back Jordan Huxtable was not available for the game. Gould said Huxtable twisted his ankle in practice Wednesday and declined to comment when asked if there was any truth to rumors that Huxtable missed the game for disciplinary reasons.

ST. CHARLES NORTH 20, LARKIN 7

Larkin           0     7     0     0    --    7

North            6     8     0     6    --   20

SCN – Hodges 1 run (kick failed), 7:45

SCN – Hodges 9 run (Hodges pass from Bergren), 1:31

LARK – Wahl 6 pass from Newquist (Munoz), 0:11

SCN – Stolzenburg 34 pass from Bergren (kick failed), 11:44

TEAM STATISTICS         LARKIN          SCN

First downs                                 5                   19

Comp.-att.-int.                         4-8-0             6-15-1

Passing yards                             30                  107

Rushing att.-yards                    28-41            44-172

Total yards                                71                   279

Fumbles-lost                             1-1                  4-1

Penalties-yards                         7-64                3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing:

LARKIN – Williams 20-48, Smith 4-5, Ellis 3-(-2), Newquist 1-(-10).

SCN – Hodges 23-97, Bergren 11-53, Schmitt 8-29, Novak 2-(-7).

Passing:

LARKIN – Williams 1-1-0 23, Newquist 3-7-0 7.

SCN – Bergren 6-15-1 107.

Receiving:

LARKIN – Whitehead 1-23, Wahl 2-13, Smith 1-(-6).

SCN – Stolzenburg 2-47, Ghanem 1-31, Elliott 2-25, Hodges 1-4.