St. Charles North scores 2 TDs and the game-winning conversion in 42 seconds to shock Batavia

When a high school football team is down by two touchdowns with 42 seconds to play, the only fans remaining in the stands are the special ones. It is the parents and girlfriends and best friends and diehards.

It’s the group that waits outside the losing locker room to hug their loved ones after a rough night. But that’s not how it went on Friday in St. Charles. A magical night unfolded for those true supporters, with a series of plays that are already legendary in St. Charles North football history.

The No. 10 North Stars scored two touchdowns in 42 seconds and topped it off with the game-winning two-point conversion with 0.9 seconds left on the clock to beat No. 9 Batavia 43-42.

“Nobody lost hope,” St. Charles North receiver Braden Harms said. “We kept our belief, and we powered through. It was dudes being dudes. It was players making plays.”

St. Charles North quarterback JT Padron was 30-for-56 for 265 yards with four TDs and two interceptions. But throw the stats out the window. Padron was unbeatable in the final minute that decided the game, making exceptional plays to drive the North Stars (5-0, 3-0 DuKane) down the field after they recovered the onside kick with 40 seconds remaining.

Padron was under heavy pressure, dodged defenders and nearly fell down. But he picked himself up and found Keaton Reinke (9 catches, 150 yards, 2 TDs) for a 13-yard gain to get St. Charles North to the Batavia 6.

Then Padron lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone, and EJ Mondesier leaped and grabbed it for a TD with 0.9 seconds left.

The two-point conversion was all smarts and guts. Padron looked left initially but defenders blanketed both receivers. In the half second he had before three Batavia defenders got to him, he stopped on a dime, turned right and found Chris Akpede for the game-winning two-point conversion.

“Animal,” St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak said. “He took like four guys on and kept his composure. God bless him and the kids. They played so hard. They did the unthinkable here today.”

Padron, a St. Charles East transfer, said he’d never thrown so many passes in a game: “Never. But coach believed in me. The whole team has had my back since I got here.”

“I can’t thank my offensive line enough,” Padron said. “They gave me unbelievable protection [on the conversion].”

Batavia (3-2, 2-1) led 28-21 at halftime and 42-28 after Henry Hahn’s 40-yard TD run with 2:41 remaining. That turned out to be a key play.

“We talked to the guys after [Batavia] scored that last touchdown,” Pomazak said. “I told them that was a mistake. We had no time outs left. Now we had a chance.”

Bulldogs coach Dennis Piron agreed.

“That’s a mistake I made,” Piron said. “We knew we had to get a first down and we won the game. We talked about it, but we didn’t take care of it. The play was wide open and we took the score.”

Batavia quarterback Michael Vander Luitgaren was 17-for-23 for 303 yards and four TDs. Thomas Prescott caught TD passes of eight, 96 and 17 yards.

“They have a really great receiving corps and an exceptional quarterback,” Piron said. “The running back is tough to tackle. So they have you on your heels a little bit. They have playmakers. We had great coverage on the TD, but we didn’t get one break down the stretch.”