Xander Salazar’s 3-TD night helps St. Charles East beat Glenbard North, snap eight-game losing streak

ST. CHARLES – St. Charles East coach Nolan Possley got exactly what he was looking for from his team Sept. 13.

The Saints (1-2, 1-0) snapped an eight-game losing streak dating to last season with a 40-7 DuKane Conference victory over visiting Glenbard North (2-1, 0-1) at Norris Stadium.

Outgaining the Panthers 339-188, the Saints won the all-important turnover battle 4-0 and received a three-touchdown, 118-yard performance from 5-foot-5 junior tailback Xander Salazar.

“We’ve been saying it the last two weeks – we just flat out have not played complementary football the first two weeks,” said Possley, whose team’s last win also had come against the Panthers, a 14-0 victory in Week 3 of last season. “We went up against two tough opponents (Lincoln-Way West and Wheaton Academy in the first two weeks), but we hadn’t clicked together as a team. We preached all week long about coming together as one unit and it finally came to fruition for us.”

The Saints capitalized on a Glenbard North special-teams miscue when JT Padron recovered a fumble at the Panthers’ 32-yard line.

Five plays later, Salazar scored on a 1-yard run to give the Saints a 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter.

Midway through the second half, a penalty on a fourth-and-5 from the 15-yard line gave the Panthers a first down at their own 20.

On the next play, quarterback Ben Princis connected with Zechariah Moore on an 80-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.

The Saints answered with a five-play, 67-yard drive that was capped by Salazar’s 5-yard touchdown run to take a 14-7 lead with 2:11 left in the half. The key play of the drive was a 47-yard pass from Padron to Leo Bolsoni on third-and-11 near midfield.

“That has been the one thing our team has done is respond,” Possley said. “And we’re also very young. We’re learning those types of things.”

After the first of Bolsoni’s two interceptions, the Saints extended their lead to 20-7 on Padron’s 8-yard touchdown strike to Peter VanLue with 34 seconds left until halftime.

Salazar tallied his third touchdown of the night on a 9-yard run around the right side on the Saints’ opening possession of the second half to make it 27-7 before Padron’s 16-yard TD toss to Sheko Gjokaj extended the margin to 33-7 after three quarters.

“I’ve got to thank the O-line. I can’t do anything without them,” Salazar said. “Tonight, we just brought the energy together.”

Bolsoni capped the night with a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

“Unbelievable,” Possley said of Bolsoni’s 89 yards receiving and two interceptions. “An individual performance like that was so fun to see. He’s a kid who works his butt off.”

“I just try to play where I can and do the best I can,” Bolsoni said. “It was great coming off an 0-2 start and getting a win on homecoming.”

The Panthers were held to 188 total yards and only 46 in the second half.

“We just couldn’t do anything effectively offensively tonight,” Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens said. “They put pressure on us all game.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240913/prep-football/st-charles-east-snaps-losing-streak-with-lopsided-victory-against-glenbard-north/