There’s nothing glamorous about the job Jake Furtney gets done for St. Charles North.
A two-way star at tight end and inside linebacker, Furtney puts his considerable 6-foot-5, 235-pound frame to good use where the North Stars need him the most.
“I like a hard-nosed game and working in the trenches,” said Furtney, a junior who should be a sought-after recruit in the offseason. “When I get out there, I do my work.”
The host North Stars had their work cut out for them Saturday during a 28-7 loss to St. Rita in the Class 7A state quarterfinals, but Furtney came through with a fine performance.
Furtney caught three passes for 81 yards against St. Rita (10-2). On defense, he added six tackles for St. Charles North (10-2), which had a 10-game winning streak snapped.
In retrospect, a 26-14 season-opening loss to Palatine proved to be an eye-opening experience, propelling the North Stars through the regular season.
St. Charles North went undefeated in the DuKane Conference. The North Stars began the playoffs with a 47-10 win over Maine West, followed by a 25-9 win over Hoffman Estates.
“After the Palatine loss, we banded together and said that’s not going to happen again,” Furtney said. “We really loved each other, and that’s what kept us going.”
Senior quarterback Will Vaske agreed with Furtney. Vaske walked off the field Saturday with no regrets, no surrender.
The season started with more questions than answers for Vaske, who threw only 35 passes for the North Stars as a junior transfer from Marmion.
“I was a very unseasoned quarterback with only a couple of games of snaps under my belt,” Vaske said. “I had some great coaching.”
The 6-1, 175-pound Vaske complemented the size to absorb pressure in the pocket with the athleticism and elusiveness to make plays on his feet.
“If you ask me, I can make any throw on the field,” he said.
After the loss to Palatine, Vaske missed time dealing with complications from a shoulder injury. He went out on his own terms, however.
Vaske completed 14 of 33 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown against St. Rita.
“There was really nothing going into this game that we were not ready for,” he said. “We knew we were going to face some adversity. We knew not to let the negativity get into our heads.”
Despite the loss, the North Stars matched the 2018 team that reached the state championship game for the single-season program record for victories.
“We were battle tested, playing some of the toughest teams in the state,” Vaske said. “We beat two teams, Batavia and Lake Zurich, that are in the final four.”
St. Charles North also beat defending Class 7A state champion Wheaton North on a two-point conversion and survived Batavia in two overtimes during DuKane Conference play.
The North Stars discovered something invaluable, according to junior receiver Anthony Taormina.
“Because of the culture here and the family atmosphere, we all trust each other,” he said. “We have great chemistry.”
Taormina’s 40-yard catch from Vaske in the first quarter set up Surges’ 16-yard TD catch for the North Stars’ only score Saturday.
A return specialist on special teams and one of the St. Charles North’s fastest players, Taormina grew into his role.
His improvement was one of the many reasons the North Stars rose from being an inexperienced team that finished 4-5 last season.
“Last year was a big learning year for me,” Taormina said. “This year, I was a lot smarter. We had a lot of returning talent, but it was talent on top of preparation and investment.”
The 10 straight victories are also unmatched in program history.
That range of accomplishments will end up lessening the sting of a loss hampered by fumble on the 1-yard line or two TDs by St. Rita coming off blocked punts.
“We knew what we were capable of,” Vaske said. “We had to clean some things up, figure some things out and find out who we were.
“How we were able to bounce back and keep it rolling showed the kind of heart that we had.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
