Trailing at halftime, Wheaton North rallies past St. Charles East

WHEATON – Football can present itself in many types of games.

Friday night’s game at Wheaton North was a battle between the Falcons and St. Charles East from beginning to end, with Wheaton North getting control to win 27-19.

“It was just our drive to win,” said Falcons quarterback Nick Johnson. “We dug deep and stopped making mistakes.”

St. Charles East (1-3, 1-1 DuKane Conference) led 13-7 at halftime, but the Falcons (3-1, 1-1) outscored the Saints 20-6 in the final two quarters.

St. Charles East took its biggest advantage of the contest on a 12-yard TD pass from J.T. Pardon early in the third quarter.

Later, Wheaton North took the ball over at the Saints’ 4-yard line and several plays later Ryan O’Connor ran it in. Luke Bellini’s extra point brought the Falcons to within 19-14.

“We went inside at halftime and the coaches said we had to be more physical and we were more physical in the second half,” Dylan Jung said.

Wheaton North took its first lead of the contest just seconds into the fourth quarter. Johnson hit Tyler Kading on a scoring throw, and Jung added insurance points on a run that made it 27-19 with 6:26 left in the game. Jung’s interception in the first quarter provided Wheaton North’s first points of the night.

Johnson said the Falcons executed plays well Friday, but will have to step it up this Friday hosting Batavia.

“It’s important we execute all our plays,” Johnson said.

St. Charles East got its first touchdown halfway through the opening quarter as Xander Salazar turned a draw play into a 63-yard TD run. Later in the second quarter, Salazar ran into into the end zone from 1-yard out to put his team up 13-7 at halftime.

“The effort was there from both teams. (The Falcons) came out stronger,” said St. Charles East coach Nolan Possley, whose team hosts Lake Park next Friday. “But we can’t turn over the ball like we did.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240920/prep-football/wheaton-north-pulls-away-from-st-charles-east/