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Schools

Fort Zumwalt North Ground Game Too Much for St. Charles

FItzpatrick, Bockhoff each run for over 200 yards and combine for eight touchdowns.

By the time quarterback V.J. Fitzpatrick took the field, the Panthers were already down 13-0.

It didn’t matter.

Fitzpatrick ran for 231 yards and three touchdowns while bruising running back Vinny Bockhoff added 222 yards and five touchdowns as the Panthers stormed past host 65-42 in a shootout Friday night at Jim Rash Stadium.

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“I was really impressed with what St. Charles did offensively,” North coach Joe Bacon said. “Last year when we played them, they were just starting in that offense. Obviously we have some work to do (defensively) and I’m sure their coach feels the same way. Neither defense was very effective.”

The Panthers (2-0) rolled up 623 yards—all on the ground—while St. Charles had 426 yards of total offense.

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“Our offense wasn’t good enough," St. Charles coach Joe Leibner said. "We needed 66 (points).” 

The Pirates (0-2) got the ball first and senior quarterback Brandon Howard marched St. Charles 80 yards on seven plays to grab an early 6-0 lead. The score came on a 25-yard run by Luke Bornhop. The Panthers then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, leading to a 5-yard score by Chvon Richardson, who danced into the end zone untouched.

“Anytime you get out to a good start, it’s a real positive experience,” Leibner said. “Coach Bacon has done a phenomenal job and we knew they were going to be pretty tough, offensively. They did a great job.”

When Fitzpatrick finally got a chance to answer, he led the North offense on an 11-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard plunge from Bockhoff.

“We just had to keep fighting,” said the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Bockhoff.

St. Charles was poised to answer the score, but Howard had trouble handling the shotgun snap. Once he regained control of the ball, he scrambled but was stripped and North’s Quinton Moore fell on the ball. Six plays later, it was Bockhoff scoring from 20 yards out and, with Zach Nelson’s extra point, North led 14-13 with 6:29 remaining in the first half.

Pass plays of 31 yards to Shawn Satterwhite and 26 yards to Antonio Smith on the ensuing drive led to a 2-yard Howard scamper into the end zone.

A 22-yard run by Fitzpatrick with 2:32 remaining tied things at 20-20 as Nelson’s extra point caromed off the right upright. The Panthers then forced the game’s first punt and got the ball back with just more than a minute remaining and no timeouts.

The Panthers nearly regained the lead on the half’s final play, but Bornhop’s touchdown-saving tackle at the 10 stopped Bockhoff after a 35-yard gain.

Bockhoff had 121 yards on 13 carries at halftime. He finished with 222 yards on 19 attempts and five touchdowns.

“It was pretty good,” Bockhoff said. “The O-line was blocking perfectly. It was just open for me.”

Howard also hit the century mark at halftime, with 101 yards on 17 carries. Howard had 147 yards on 26 carries at game’s end. He also went 9-of-15 through the air for 210 yards with a touchdown and interception.

“For a guy who has played quarterback for two weeks, he’s not bad,” Leibner said of Howard. “We started the spring having no clue who our quarterback was going to be. His leadership is phenomenal and, as far as his development on the field—what a dream to have a kid like that.”

Following a first half that saw 25 combined first downs and just one punt, Bockhoff picked up right where he left off with a 48-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second half. North did not punt at all on the night while the Pirates punted just three times.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, North linebacker Ryan Roth stepped in front of a Howard pass to get the ball back for the Panthers. That led to the fourth Bockhoff touchdown of the game—this time from seven yards out.

The Pirates needed little time to respond. Scrambling to keep a busted play alive, Howard found a wide-open William Lillard 10 yards down the field. Lillard then outran everybody for an 88-yard score. A two-point conversion pass to Smith cut the North lead to 36-28 just 3:06 into the second half.

Beginning the ensuing drive from midfield, thanks to a pair of St. Charles penalties, the Panthers added to their lead with a 5-yard Fitzpatrick run. The score was set up by a 40-yard scramble by Fitzpatrick, who now has nine touchdowns in two games.

North’s spread-option offense hit 50 points for the second straight week as Fitzpatrick pitched it out to Dallas Overkamp, who took it in from 10 yards out. Fitzpatrick’s run on the two-point conversion made it a 50-28 game with 2:34 still remaining in the third quarter.

“Our kids have bought into what we’re doing,” Bacon said. “V.J. had a great game last week, numbers-wise. Some days it will be him, some days it will be somebody else. We don’t know going into the game what the defense is going to give us and the kids don’t care who gets the ball. They just want to be successful. That’s what this team is about.”

Bockhoff found the end zone again early in the fourth, bouncing off a tackle and breaking away for a 34-yard score. The onslaught continued less than two minutes later as Fitzpatrick scored from 35 yards out.

Richardson added his second touchdown of the night for St. Charles with 2:53 remaining to cap the scoring.

The Panthers will look to go to 3-0 next Friday at Warrenton, which beat St. Charles in the opener. The Pirates will play host to Fort Zumwalt South.

“V.J. is one of the fastest quarterbacks we’ve ever had,” Bockhoff said. “I’m just trying to run down the middle when I can. We have receivers we haven’t even used yet. So I think we’ll be good this year.”

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