RIVER RIDGE — St. Charles stole the momentum of its District 9-2A showdown with John Curtis on Marcus Hall’s 92-yard kickoff return to begin the second half. But then, as St. Charles coach Frank Monica put it, John Curtis did “what good football teams do.”

The Patriots scored the next 20 points of the game to put away the Comets, 34-20, in the process clinching at least a share of the District 9-2A championship. Only Lusher stands in the way of an undefeated season within district for Curtis.

“They played better than we did. They blocked better. They tackled better,” said St. Charles coach Frank Monica. “There is no magic formula to it. We don’t match up well, but there’s a lot of things we didn’t do well … I think our kids played with a lot of heart. It was an uphill battle. But we have a lot of work to do. We’re not on their level right now.”

“It was what we expected from them,” said Patriots’ coach J.T. Curtis. “They didn’t quit. We didn’t quit. That’s a good football team and I wouldn’t be surprised to see us pair up again down the road.”

Curtis (7-1, 5-0) struck first when it made a fourth down play count. On fourth and three with 7:07 left in the first quarter, Torrey Pierce (making his return from injury) took a handoff and zipped 16 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0.

The next time Curtis would threaten, the SCC defense stiffened up – again, on a fourth and three play. A Curtis drive late in the second quarter spanned 10 plays and over 60 yards, culminating in a fourth and goal from the three play. SCC stopped Torrey Peirce for a two yard gain and took over at its own one.

But although the Comets (7-1, 4-1) drew an encroachment penalty on a hard count, it wouldn’t gain a first down and Curtis took over on the Comet 29 after a punt. Again, Curtis got to the SCC 3, but this time converted on third down in unconventional fashion: Pierce fumbled on his carry, but the ball squirted into the end zone and Curtis recovered for a score with 1:11 remaining.

To this point, the Comets had only gained 44 yards of offense. But in the two minute drill, quarterback Donnie Savoie heated up and guided SCC to its first points. He went 4-for-4 on 69-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by a 36 yard pass to a leaping Jeffrey Hall in heavy coverage, and a spectacular 5-yard touchdown pass to John Wood in which Wood dove to the sideline to haul it in and was ruled inbounds with 15 seconds left in the first half.

The second half began as the first ended: with a bang for St. Charles. Hall took the opening kickoff and rocketed up the middle of the Patriot coverage, roaring 92 yards for a score. Curtis blocked the extra point attempt to maintain a 14-13 lead.

“That was tremendous for them,” said Curtis. “They just did a great job on the return. But I can’t say enough about how our offense answered.”

But from there, the Patriots asserted their will. An eight play touchdown drive culminated in a Pierce 23-yard score to make it 20-13. JCC missed the extra point.

St. Charles went to the Wildcat for the first time in the third quarter, but Curtis had an answer. The Comets got one first down in the quarter — Marcus Hall’s draw play gained seven yards and converted a third-and-six — but the Wildcat only generated 17 yards of offense on eight plays in the third.

“We were soft up front,” said Monica. “We didn’t block anyone..”

Curtis took a two score lead after forcing a Comets’ punt. The Patriots drove 68 yards and scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Bourgeois to Dillon Gordon.

The Comets had a chance to pull within a score, but Curtis defensive back Raydell Mason intercepted Savoie early in the fourth quarter on fourth and 10 from the JCC 31. It was the only turnover of the night.

“I kept hoping that maybe we’d punch the ball out, force a mistake,” said Monica. “But it didn’t happen, and they sustained drives.”

Curtis capped off its night with a 3-yard Seth Wanda scoring run to make it 34-13.

Savoie connected with John Wood for the duo’s second touchdown pairing of the night, but SCC would not see the ball again.

“We wanted to get this thing to the fourth quarter and see where we’d get from there. It didn’t happen. We know where we stand and we’ll look into what we need to correct now,” said Monica.