PREP ZONE: Resilient North Stars still standing

Comments (...)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Comments

Share

No football team in the area – not Geneva, not Marmion, not anybody – was brimming with more optimism back in mid-September than St. Charles North.

The North Stars beat each of their first three opponents by at least three touchdowns – including a 43-13, opening week win against Batavia – and did it mostly without their marquee offensive player, who they expected to return for the bulk of the season.

It looked like little could go wrong for the North Stars. A lot did, yet North is still standing, digging in for Friday’s second-round 7A playoff game against Elk Grove Village.

“It’s a really resilient group,” North coach Mark Gould said. “We’ve had a lot of stuff happen, some of it’s out there and people know about, some of it people don’t know about, and they keep marching on. They’re a very confident group. Some of the confidence might lead to some stupid things .... but we’re trying to get a handle on it.”

The season has required a thick hide. Several kicks to the gut have been absorbed but never detracted from North’s resolve.

Senior running back Jordan Huxtable – who The Chronicle projected in the preseason as one of the top five football players in the area – has missed almost the entire season with injury and off-field woes, most recently a knee injury in Saturday’s win against South Elgin that Gould said might end his season.
There were painful losses in the final two weeks of the regular season against South Elgin and archrival St. Charles East – both in overtime – that called into question whether North was fading at the wrong time.

“In the last two [regular season] games that we played, when you really look at the film, a lot of things weren’t really too bad in there,” Gould said. “It was just making some godawful mistakes at horrible times, and then some penalties at horrible times, and then we played some teams with good defenses, too.”

North, though, regrouped nicely, conquering South Elgin in Saturday’s first-round rematch to set up Friday’s home game against Elk Grove Village. Against the Grenadiers, North will have to contend with quarterback Nick Meyer, a dynamite passer and runner who is also one of the team’s top defensive players.

“When you watch the film, you’re seeing him a lot,” said Gould, who said Meyer reminds him of Neuqua Valley quarterback Joey Ippolito and South Elgin quarterback John Menken. “It becomes obvious what you need to do.”

For North this season, that usually has meant persevere.

Thrown back to the Wolves: Marmion’s second-round playoff opponent on Friday, Prairie Ridge, is the program that knocked the Cadets out of the playoffs the last time Marmion made it in 2007.

Prairie Ridge won that game, also played in Crystal Lake, 41-16. This time around, Marmion (9-1) is the favorite, but Prairie Ridge (7-3), which has fewer two-way players than Marmion, commands Cadets coach Dan Thorpe’s respect.

“Quality program, classy coaching staff and classy kids,” Thorpe said of Prairie Ridge. “They do not fear us. They will be prepared.”

Thorpe said that standout running back/linebacker T.J. Lally, who left Marmion’s first-round win against Huntley early after taking a blow to the head, should be available this week.

• Jay Schwab is sports editor of The Chronicle. He can be reached at 630-845-5382 or jschwab@kcchronicle.com.

Comments