March 18, 2024
Sports - Kane County


Sports

Prep football insider: 'Energetic' Pomazak steers North turnaround

St. Charles East's Max Powers (right) tackles Larkin's A.J. Hunter on Friday at East in St. Charles.

St. Charles North football coach Rob Pomazak moved quickly to stamp his personality on the program upon taking over before the 2013 season.

He’s been at the helm for 16 games now, winning 10, but players identified his platform much earlier.

“That’s coach Pomazak in a word, yeah: ‘Energetic,’ probably,” junior safety Jake Spaniol said. “He’s always on us in a positive way. Just always keeps us going. Keeps the motor going.”

Maybe it’s that lingering drive from a background steeped in strength and conditioning. Perhaps it’s the fact the 5-2 North Stars are playoff-eligible for the first time since the 2009 team advanced to a Class 7A state quarterfinal.

In any event, Pomazak isn’t toning it down. He has no reason to lately, as North rebounded from a two-game skid in Weeks 4 and 5 and has a realistic chance at clinching the fourth regular season of at least seven victories in program history.

“The kids, we feel like we’ve taken a big step forward,” Pomazak said. “They’re playing fast and taking ownership and really feeling good.”

Personnel changes after a Week 4 home loss to Geneva, namely switching Nathan Didier to quarterback and Kyle Novotney to receiver, rekindled the offense, which wants to work fast.

Of course, Pomazak preaches speed in all phases of the game, and players have responded.

"Just working hard at practice, not leaving anything left in the tank, kind of not saving anything for the next day," Spaniol said. "Just giving your all at practice because coach does condition us pretty well, I think."

East keeps playoff hopes alive, Kaneland's run ends

Pomazak’s counterpart, St. Charles East coach Bryce Farquhar, steered the Saints to their first objective of the season’s final third last week.

By defeating Larkin, 42-13, the Saints improved to 3-4. East now must win at St. Charles North and West Chicago in the next two weeks to become playoff-eligible.

"Really looking forward to the Crosstown Classic [this] week at North," Farquhar said. "Right now it's one game at a time, and we've got to win the North game to [have a chance] to become playoff eligible.
"If we win out the season, we finish with five wins. Nothing's guaranteed, but we think we'll have the [playoff points] to make it if we get to that point."

North can attest to that “nothing’s guaranteed” part, finishing 5-4 in 2013 but not advancing to the postseason because its playoff points – or opponents’ victories – did not stack up against those of its other 5-4 brethren.

Kaneland entered last week in the same scenario as East, needing three straight victories to become playoff-eligible. Morris’ fourth-quarter rally ended those hopes. The Redskins hadn’t defeated their longtime rival in four Northern Illinois Big 12 East meetings.

"It's pretty big," Morris defensive lineman Ryan Niewinski said. "We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game."

Spreading like a brushfire
Kaneland coach Tom Fedderly sounded as if he were starting a countdown.

Instead, he was describing the varied defensive fronts Morris might display at Peterson Field, working out of five-, four- and three-man schemes.

“I mean, everybody kind of does that. Nobody just sits in one thing anymore,” Fedderly said. “Everybody moves around. … That’s happened for a while now; probably, I don’t know, at least for the last five years everybody has multiple things that they do.”

Fedderly, indirectly, is part of that reason, cultivating the Knights’ spread offense that has known many new cousins throughout the state and nation over the past several seasons.

“With the advent of the spread and where the spread has gone, you kind of have to be able to throw multiple fronts these days,” Pomazak said. “The game is even more complicated than it was even four years ago from a defensive standpoint, so you have to be able to throw those multiple fronts, otherwise teams are going to move the ball all over you.”

Kevin Druley, kdruley@shawmedia.com

IN THE GROOVE

ZACH GARRETT

Batavia, Jr., RB

What he did: Garrett keyed the Bulldogs' 48-13 romp at Elgin, rushing 15 times for 136 yards and four touchdowns. The defending Class 6A state champion Bulldogs improved to 6-1 and clinched a playoff berth for the fifth successive season.

ST. FRANCIS' DEFENSE

What the Spartans did: Interceptions from Jack Ahern, Nathan Zito, Chris Smith and Matthew Hanson helped St. Francis limit Montini's attack as the Spartans earned their first victory in the series since 2009. St. Francis rolled, 31-7, against its Chicago Catholic Green rival to become playoff-eligible under first-year coach Mike Fitzgerald.

HITTING REWIND

Behind Adam Skirmont’s three touchdown passes, Trevor Davison’s game-high 113 rushing yards and another compete effort from the defense, host Burlington Central topped Richmond-Burton, 34-13, Friday, B-C’s first win against its Big Northern East rival since 2006. Playoff-eligible Central can clinch a postseason berth and take control of the league race Friday when it hosts Johnsburg.

COMING ATTRACTION

To be clear, it's really attractions. Plural.

Of course, Geneva at Batavia – the unofficial official Upstate Eight Conference River Division title game – headlines the Week 8 slate, and for good reason. But St. Charles East at St. Charles North has playoff implications for both teams. Ditto for Marmion at Aurora Christian, which now is a Chicago Catholic crossover.