Northern football upends St. Charles, advances to state quarterfinal

Northern committed turnovers on two of its first three possessions and five overall on Nov. 12, but the Patriots overcame the handful of miscues while benefiting from two pivotal special teams plays.

“One thing I could never figure out when I was at Mt. St. Joe’s was the best way to have the guys ready coming off a bye week,” said Northern coach Rich Holzer. “Tonight we probably played one of our worst games and it was coming off the bye. Give St. Charles credit. They came out fast and aggressive and they took advantage of our mistakes.”

St. Charles (6-4) had actually scored first in prior lopsided losses to both Northern and Huntingtown before eventually falling to those squads, 42-12 and 42-6. But last Friday evening the Spartans again scored first in both halves and were never more than two touchdowns behind at any point. It was an effort that St. Charles coach Patrick Orndoff quickly commended.

“I can not be any prouder of these guys,” Orndoff said. “They were able to overcome so much adversity from missing all of last year because of COVID and then having to deal with so many things this season. We played much better this time around then we did when we played them earlier this season. I’m proud of the seniors and I’m happy that we have so many younger guys back.”

Lauded for its explosive offense, Northern started the game in rather inauspicious fashion when running back Gavin Whittington fumbled on his second carry and St. Charles’ Kordell Batten picked up the loose ball and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown and an 8-0 Spartans’ lead. St. Charles had also scored first in the first meeting between the two teams.

Northern immediately answered by marching 65 yards in 10 plays and running back Nathan Torres scored from six yards out to trim the gap to 8-7. St. Charles answered when Justin Palmer, the Spartans’ genuine workhorse of the ground attack, plowed forward from seven yards out for a 14-7 lead that would prove to be their last of the outing.

Northern scored twice before the end of the first half to claim a 21-14 advantage at the intermission. Torres capped a short drive that began in Spartans’ territory with his second touchdown of the evening then Whittington atoned for his two first half fumbles by finding the end zone on a 13-yard run up the middle in which he appeared virtually stopped twice inside the five.

St. Charles committed its first turnover on its first possession of the second half, but the Spartans’ defense responded when Batten intercepted a Zach Crounse pass and returned it 35 yards for his second touchdown of the night. But Crounse atoned for his second interception of the outing in a big way over the last 22 minutes of play.

On the Patriots next possession, Crounse capped another Patriots drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown then after Northern blocked a St. Charles punt, Torres went off right tackle and found the end zone on a 10-yard run to extend the Patriots lead to 34-20 heading to the fourth quarter.

St. Charles ended the third quarter with a long pass from quarterback Jason Taylor to Batten for 40 yards then Taylor connected with #3 for 24 yards. Palmer then carried twice for the last five yards and his second score of the night to bring the visitors within 34-26. But the Patriots countered immediately as Crounse connected with Tyler Baskett on a seven-yard strike.

St. Charles clawed back to 41-34, but Torres returned the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the Spartans’ 20 then three plays later Crounse connected with Baskett again, this time from 15 yards out to seal the verdict. The Spartans crossed midfield on its final possession but turned the ball over on downs.

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