St. Charles North football coach Rob Pomazak had a premonition about how Friday night’s nonconference clash with Homewood-Flossmoor was going to turn out.

“I told the guys before the game that this was going to be won with us running the ball the entire second half, and they did it,” Pomazak said following the North Stars’ 35-16 victory in St. Charles.

Running behind an offensive line anchored by Grayson Fuhr, Ty Weiersheuser, Cooper Kowalczyk, Jonathan Medina, and Fynn Brown-Chase, the North Stars rolled up 300 yards on the ground, as the tailback tandem of Carsen Durante and Tommy Vendl both topped the 100-yard mark.

Durante, a 5-foot-5, 170-pound senior, scored three touchdowns — two on the ground — to bolster the North Stars’ attack.

“Our offensive line is insane at blocking,” said Durante, who also caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from JT Padron to put the North Stars (2-0) on top to stay at 13-7 early in the second quarter.

“It’s probably the best offensive line in the state. I’m little so I can pick the running lane.”

Pomazak was pleased with his team’s run-first approach.

“Carsen (Durante) and Tommy (Vendl) — they’re so selfless,” said the coach. “They’re both rooting for each other. The offensive line did an amazing job. They paved the way.”

Homewood-Flossmoor (1-1) struck first, grabbing a 7-0 lead on Rahsaan Coleman’s 41-yard shovel pass to Joaquin Jordan, who raced to the outside and sprinted his way into the end zone.

The North Stars answered with a 5-play, 60-yard scoring drive that was capped by Padron’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Braden Harms. Following an offside penalty, St. Charles North failed on its 2-point conversion run.

Following Durante’s screen pass reception for the go-ahead score, he added a 10-yard TD run to make it 19-7 at halftime.

Keaton Reinke, whose 42-yard punt return gave the North Stars excellent field position on their second touchdown, also helped set up the short field with a 41-yard punt return on their third TD.

Lucas Tenbrock continued the scoring barrage for the North Stars with third-quarter field goals covering 22 and 47 yards, respectively, to extend the margin to 25-7.

Tenbrock added a 38-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 28-10, and Durante’s 19-yard touchdown run with 6:34 left closed out the scoring.

Padron completed 11 of 22 passes for 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns with an interception, while the North Stars’ defense recorded five sacks — two each by Wyatt Brandt and Declan Smith, and another by Matthew Plumb.

“Keith Snyder, our defensive coordinator, had a great game plan,” Pomazak said. “They’re a great football team. I’m so proud of our guys for playing a hard-fought, physical game.

“We’ve got some things to clean up, but we’re going to get there, and when we do, it’s going to be fun.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250905/prep-football/st-charles-north-gets-the-running-game-going-against-h-f/