Huxtable, N. Stars humble Sabres
You couldn't call Jordan Huxtable a "mudder" because the St. Charles North junior halfback really didn't have any mud on him after he ignited a record-breaking romp on the North Stars' soggy home field Friday night.
With Huxtable running for 160 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns in the first half alone, St. Charles North dropped a 54-0 load on Streamwood in the rain-soaked Upstate Eight opener. It was believed to be the most points a St. Charles North team has ever scored.
Huxtable made life easy for backup quarterback Sean McGushin, who was filling in for injured Nicholas Neari and did so admirably with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Stolzenburg late in the first half and his own 54-yard touchdown run in the second half.
"The linemen were blocking great, especially the left side opening holes on the plays we were running," said Huxtable, who saw limited playing time in the second half. "And the right side was holding their blocks for when I cut back against the grain, and the wide receivers' downfield blocking was just unbelievable."
So unbelievable, in fact, that Huxtable had scoring jaunts of 2, 19 and 70 yards, as well as a 55-yard romp that set up the 19-yarder. It all helped North (1-0, 2-1) cruise to a 34-0 halftime lead.
Meanwhile, a defense led by a stellar front line and linebacker Jake Juriga was making the Streamwood (0-1, 0-3) offense look like an old car in need of a tuneup.
Any time the Sabres got some momentum with a first down, they stalled or turned over the ball (two interceptions and three lost fumbles in the game). St. Charles North scored 27 points in the first half that were set up by turnovers, and North Star defensive back Mike Lefelstein added insult to injury early in the second half by picking off a Noel Rivera pass and returning it 35 yards for a score.
That put the route into full throttle, as the North Stars capped things off with McGushin's 54-yard scoring dash and two late touchdown runs of 5 and 6 yards by Eric Battle.
"Our guys have got to find a way to get over the hump," Streamwood coach Cal Cummins said of his team's penchant for stifling its own momentum with mistakes.
"When we watched films, we thought their down three front people were some very tough kids, certainly as tough as we've seen this year."
St. Charles North coach Mark Gould was pleased with the victory, saying he was not aware of a North Star team ever scoring so many points.
"Sean McGushin did great tonight," said Gould. "He threw a beautiful touchdown pass and made a long run on a broken play. Sean and Nic have been so close in skill, so when Nic was banged up a little bit, we really had no worries with Sean going in there."
The North Stars rushed for 311 yards on a night in which St. Charles officials decided to cancel the sophomore game in an attempt to save the rain-soaked turf for the varsity contest.
Gould is now hoping his team can stay under the radar while continuing to improve.
"You have to earn it, and these other teams that are on the radar have earned it," Gould said. "I'm not saying we have earned anything yet, and that's how we are playing it."