High school football: St. Charles North comeback falls short in season-ending loss to Rockford Auburn

ROCKFORD – All Zach Mettetal wanted was a chance.

After three interceptions and facing a six-point deficit in a Class 7A game at Rockford Auburn on Nov. 5, the senior quarterback wanted one final chance to lead his team to victory like he had done a coupe of times in the past two weeks.

Mettetal got his chance, but a deep throw inside the final minute was intercepted in the end zone by Auburn’s Yahmir Muhammad in what turned out to be the final offensive play of the season for the North Stars in a 27-21 loss to the Knights.

It was the sixth turnover of the day for the North Stars (9-2) as Mettetal was unable to add to his 382 passing yards.

"It's the playoffs so anything can happen," said Mettetal, who finished 30-of-46 passing. "One our big things coming into this game was to take care of the football. We just didn't do that today and paid a price. We've been in those [adverse] situations before and believed we could do it again. Guys just don't give up. We said we we're not going to go out the easy and we didn't today."

The final drive was made possible after the North Stars stopped Auburn at the one-yard line, recovering a fumble by Auburn quarterback Nathan Jarrett. Mettetal's third interception was returned just short of the goal line, but the fumble gave him one final drive with his team.

A 99-yard drive with 3:04 to go just wasn't in the cards, though the North Stars did get down to the Auburn 33. A touchdown and extra point could have won the game after North's Jason Shanner blocked Auburn's extra point when the Knights (10-1) took the lead thanks to a 14-yard run by DaQwuan Bell (19 carries, 99 yards) on fourth-and-1 with 5:01 left.

One matchup that did favor the North Stars, despite the outcome, was Mettetal's connection with Griffin Hammer. The senior and Colorado State-committed wide receiver had a career day, catching 12 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Mettetal's final deep ball that was picked off was Hammer's 16th target of the afternoon.

"You're going to have mistakes and off plays, but our coaches always say you can have a perfect effort," Hammer said. "I think we got some momentum [early], but we didn't execute when we needed to."

Hammer opened the scoring when he and Mettetal hooked up on a slant route for an 18-yard score, but Auburn answered with touchdowns from Jarrett (1-yard run) and Jarrett's 54-yard pass on a busted coverage to Kavaceiah Jones.

The Knights led 14-7 at halftime, as North's momentum that Hammer spoke of was hampered by two lost fumbles and an interception. The six turnovers proved very costly after North out-gained Auburn 493-315 in total yards.

The loss doesn't summarize the season for North coach Rob Pomazak, but there were moments when things did speak of what kind of season the North Stars ended up having.

"I thought we were going to go down and finish the game like we have all season," Pomazak said. "I really thought that. It's no fault to anyone, but we just didn't protect the ball well enough today. I'm really thankful I got to coach this group of kids and seniors. They won the most games in school history through their four years and they are just all character. I'm extremely proud of each and every one of them."

North did have three takeaways of their own, but second-half touchdown passes to running back Eric Lins (six yards) and Hammer (55 yards) were not enough to overcome mistakes throughout the contest.

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BOX SCORE

AUBURN 0 14 7 6 – 27

ST. CHARLES NORTH 7 0 14 0 – 21

HOW THEY SCORED

First quarter

SCN: Hammer 18 pass from Mettetal (A. Durocher kick), 8:43.

Second quarter

AUB: Jarrett 1 run (DeBruler kick), 11:23.

AUB: Jones 54 pass from Jarrett (DeBruler kick), 3:43.

Third quarter

SCN: Lins 6 pass from Mettetal (A. Durocher kick), 9:22.

SCN: Hammer 55 pass from Mettetal (A. Durocher kick), 7:28.

AUB: Friar 12 run (DeBruler kick), 3:49.

Fourth quarter

AUB: Bell 14 run (kick failed), 5:01.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: St. Charles North – Segobiano 12-56, Lins 17-45, Nubin 2-12, Mettetal 8-minus-2. Total – 39-111. Auburn – Bell 19-99, Jarrett 20-72, Friar 13-56. Total – 52-227.

PASSING: St. Charles North – 30-46-4-382. Auburn – Jarrett 3-9-1-87.

RECEIVING: St. Charles North – Hammer 12-205, A. Durocher 3-63, Segobiano 5-43, Nubin 5-38, Lins 3-19, Dehut 2-14. Auburn – Jones 1-54, Muhammad 1-19, Bell 1-14.

TOTAL TEAM YARDS: St. Charles North 493, Auburn 315.