Four Downs: Revisiting St. Charles North's unthinkable comeback, sportsmanship and Jonas Williams' record

St. Charles North’s shocking win against Batavia in Week 5 was the best comeback I've ever witnessed in high school football.

The North Stars scored two touchdowns and the game-winning two-point conversion in the final minute to knock off the Bulldogs.

“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.”

North Stars quarterback JT Padron was exceptional on the last drive. He made three huge plays under pressure to get St. Charles North the final touchdown and conversion.

“Animal,” North Stars coach Rob Pomazak said. “[Padron] 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.”

With the fantastic ending taking most of the focus, I didn’t get a chance to write about the impressive play of St. Charles North receiver Keaton Reinke.

The Northwestern recruit had nine catches for 150 yards and two 2 TDs, but it wasn’t about the stats. On two of those catches, Reinke displayed tremendous poise, body control and an uncanny ability to look away from the ball and then find it again. That’s something many talented high school receivers haven’t mastered.

“It just comes from playing a lot of football growing up,” Reinke said. “But a lot of credit for that goes to [Padron]. Those balls were right where they were supposed to be."

Sportsmanship matters

A lot of the social media reaction to St. Charles North’s big win was disappointing. There were way too many adults blaming the officials. It isn’t a referee’s fault when a team blows a two-touchdown lead in the final minutes of a game.

Batavia coach Dennis Piron didn’t blame the officials. He was clearly disappointed after the game. But Piron is a leader, and he immediately put the target on himself, taking responsibility for a late touchdown the Bulldogs scored that gave the ball back to St. Charles North too quickly.

And the North Stars won with grace.


“They are an amazing team and great kids, so this is a really important win for us,” Reinke said. “That was a great Friday night game, and I wish [Batavia] luck the rest of the season. I’m pretty sure we are going to see them again.”

Record time

Lincoln-Way East quarterback Jonas Williams threw two TD passes against Naperville Central in Week 5. That gives the senior USC recruit 127 in his career and ties him for the state record with Aurora Christian’s Jordan Roberts from the class of 2008 and Greenville’s Tyler Hutchinson from the class of 2014.

South Side showdown

It’s been a fun football season, but there hasn’t been a truly massive game yet. That changes on Friday. Undefeated No. 3 Brother Rice is at undefeated, top-ranked Mount Carmel.

This might be the biggest regular-season game of the year. The Crusaders are hungry to prove themselves, and there isn’t a better way to do that than by knocking off Mount Carmel.