Kickoff return thrusts North Stars past Sabres

STREAMWOOD -- St. Charles North used this method of success before, although coach Mark Gould would rather they produced a victory via more conventional means.

North led scrappy Streamwood in the Sabres' homecoming game Saturday at halftime but only by a 14-7 margin. Then wide receiver Jeff Stolzenburg fielded a bouncing kickoff that already struck a few hands and ran straight up the left sidelines for an 84-yard touchdown return to turn around the game.

The Stars' defense quickly went to work and before the second half was seven minutes old that one-touchdown lead had become 35-7 en route to a 35-13 St. Charles North victory Saturday in Upstate Eight Conference play.

"The first half of this game was almost identical to our first game of the season with Batavia -- a tough struggle, then Jeff started the second half off with a kickoff return for a touchdown and it kind of got things going for us," Gould said, as his team improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the UEC.

"It pretty much happened the same way for us today."

The Sabres (1-5, 0-4) had hung tough in the first half despite being outgained 216 yards to 78. A pair of lost fumbles and four penalties for 30 yards had kept North's point output down. Then Stolzenburg, who had 114 yards on six catches for the first half and the game, rain for the game-changing TD.

"There was just a little bit of room on the sidelines," Stolzenburg said. "We had set up for a left return anyway. I just took the little bit of room and ran as hard as I could straight up the sideline and don't think I got touched.

"Connor McShane had a big block and Mike Ghanem had a nice one and it just led me up an alley on the sideline."

Spencer Swarts recovered quarterback Nick Pryor's fumble one play after the ensuing kickoff and North needed two plays to complete a 17-yard TD drive with Ben Hodges barreling off right tackle 14 yards.

In the first 1:11 of the second half, the Stars had gone from a seven-point edge to 28-7. With 5:02 left in the third quarter, Dirk Schmitt powered in from 8 yards out for a 35-7 lead.

"We had the quick turnaround and then we said we needed to run the ball at them a little bit more and Dirk Schmitt did a great job of it -- we gave it to him four or five times in a row there," Gould said. "We felt we needed to go right at them."

Streamwood had led 7-0 on Pryor's 10-yard rollout TD pass to Matt Nykaza, 5:16 into the game, but the Stars' offensive line gradually started taking control and Ben Hodges had powered into the end zone from 2 and 3 yards out for a 14-7 halftime edge.

Then came the kick return, lost fumble and a quick 14-point swing.

"We were right there and just needed to get the defense out there and hopefully get a stop and get that tying score and obviously it (the return) just turned things around," Streamwood coach Cal Cummins said. "Then we got the turnover.

"It's unfortunate. The kids were playing hard in the face of adversity."

The Sabres are on their third quarterback and lost a few linemen to injury. They kept battling anyway and scored on the game's final play when Derrick King broke a run around right end for an 89-yard touchdown.

St. Charles North became playoff eligible with the win, but has big games with Neuqua Valley, South Elgin and St. Charles East ahead.

ST. CHARLES NORTH 35, STREAMWOOD 13

ST. CHARLES NORTH    7     7     21    0   --   35

STREAMWOOD              7      0      0     6   --   13

S -- Matt Nykaza 10 pass from Nick Pryor (Dion Banda kick). 6:44

SN -- Ben Hodges 2 run (Cory Harmon kick), :31

SN -- Hodges 3 run (Harmon kick), 3:50, 2nd

SN -- Jeff Stolzenburg 84 kickoff return (Harmon kick), 11:46

SN -- Hodges 14 run (Harmon kick), 10:49

SN -- Dirk Schmitt 8 run (Harmon kick), 5:02

S -- Derrick King 89 run (no PAT attempted), :00

                                    SCN                  Swood

First downs                    17                        12

Rushes-yards              39-198                43-224

Passing                        8-12-0                 6-15-0

Passing yards                142                        40

Total yards                   340                       264

Fumbles                        4-3                       3-2

Penalties                       6-40                     2-20

Punts                            2-41.5                 4-36.0

Individual statistics

Rushing

St. Charles North: Max Novak 5-33, Ryan Jones 3-8, Hodges 10-50, Mike Ghanem 3-10, Schmitt 8-46, Connor McShane 3-16, Jake Bergren 6-35, Pat Reid 1-0.

Streamwood: King 6-98, Wayne Holloway 8-22, Pryor 18-47, Alex Morrow 11-57.

Passing

St. Charles North: Bergren 8-12-0-142.

Streamwood: Pryor 6-15-0-40.

Receiving

St. Charles North: Stolzenburg 6-114, Novak 1-17, Andrew Elliot 1-11.

Streamwood: Holloway 1-12, Nykaza 2-23, King 3-39.