St. Charles North has made it a habit to leave its fans on edge during Week 1.

For the past two years, the North Stars had left it down to their final offensive drive before Ethan Plumb threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to secure Week 1 victories of 37-34 in 2023 and 28-20 in 2024 over Palatine.

And while both their opponent and their starting quarterback had changed in 2025, the North Stars still made sure to bring the thrill in Week 1.

After going down 35-21 with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter against Minooka, St. Charles North went on to score consecutive touchdowns, with Northwestern commit Keaton Reinke sealing the deal after scoring on a two-point conversion with 55 seconds left to secure a 36-35 victory.

“We just put that play in this week,” Reinke said about the two-point conversion. “I was pretty psyched when it was called. It wasn’t a great start for us, but we have a lot of great leaders on this team and they didn’t let us get down. We just stayed with our game plan and kept working.”

Setting up the game-winning conversion was quarterback Jesse Padron, who transferred in from St. Charles East prior to the season. The senior finished his North Stars’ debut with 253 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, including a 15-yard TD to senior Braden Harms to set up the eventual conversion.

“It’s not easy to come on the road and beat a good team like Minooka,” North Stars coach Rob Pomazak said. “They came out with a point to prove and got us on our heels a bit early. But, our defense tightened up and we took care of the ball in the second half.”

New quarterbacks shine in varsity debut

The first game under the Friday night lights can always be a scary experience for a first-time starting quarterback.

Especially when it’s with a completely new team.

But for St. Francis senior Brock Phillip, he saw it as an opportunity to shine.

In his first career varsity start, Phillip, who was a backup quarterback for Geneva a season ago, completed 19 of 27 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns, including a game-winning pass to senior Dario Milivojevic with 12 seconds in the game, while also rushing for a score in a 38-35 victory over Kenwood.

“With all the emotions going around with my first start and everything, I had a lot to prove with this team,” Phillip said. “I’m excited with what we’re going to do.”

Speaking of Geneva, the Vikings also threw out a new starting quarterback in their season opener against Larkin in junior Ben Peterson.

And the new quarterback didn’t disappoint, going 8 for 11 with 118 yards and four passing touchdowns while leading the Vikings to seven consecutive scoring drives in the first half of their 56-0 victory over Larkin.

“Coming into [Friday] I was super nervous because it was my first varsity game. We prepared a lot and were ready for this game,” Peterson said. “After that first touchdown, I was all good and calm.”

Unfamiliar territory

It’s not often that Batavia finds itself coming into Week 2 with a losing record.

But after a 31-28 loss to Glenbard West on Friday, it’s exactly the uncommon position the reigning Class 7A runner-ups find themselves in.

It’s just the third time in 14 seasons under coach Dennis Piron that the Bulldogs have started Week 2 with a losing record, with the other two times being in 2014 (40-38 loss to Oswego) and in 2019 (31-17 loss to East St. Louis).

But the Bulldogs still had some good moments. Outside of four plays that all went over 50 yards, the Bulldogs’ defense allowed just 37 yards. The offense also controlled the possession of the game, running over double the amount of plays (70-34) while also picking up 17 first downs to the Hilltoppers’ six.

And even though the team didn’t come out with a win, Piron isn’t worried about how the Bulldogs will fare in the grand scheme.

“A couple things didn’t go our way. It was heck of a game from our kids. I know they’re disappointed with the loss, but we’ve got a long way to go‚" Piron said. “We’ve got to regroup, and hopefully we’ll get some guys that are injured back in the coming weeks so we can get back to full strength and be the team that I know that we can be.”

Kaneland, Burlington Central defense take control

While offense was a big shining point across Kane County teams in Week 1, it was the defense that showed a giant impact for both Kaneland and Burlington Central.

For the Knights, it was the team’s ability to stop the run that was put on display in their 44-7 victory over Rock Island, with the Rocks finishing with minus 82 rushing yards in the game.

On the other side, the Rockets didn’t allow a single offensive yard in the second half, and only allowed 52 in total in the team’s 21-0 victory over Crystal Lake South. It was their second shutout victory in as many years, with the Rockets blanking Crystal Lake Central in Week 4 of last season.