St. Charles North's first offensive snap of the state final went 57 yards for a touchdown. Its last meaningful defensive snap was an interception. In between, the North Stars finished the job they'd been building all fall, beating Prospect 32-13 on Saturday, October 17, at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park to win the IHSA girls flag football state championship.

It's the program's first state title, and it capped a 26-0 season, according to Shaw Local's Friday Night Drive. Prospect came in unbeaten too.

St. Charles North vs. Prospect: How the State Final Played Out

Senior Alexzandria Richardson opened the scoring on the 57-yard run and finished with 95 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries. Quarterback Kaelie Tomalak, also a senior, threw for 154 yards and ran for a score.

Prospect made it a game. A 22-yard touchdown pass cut the lead to 19-13 with about 10 minutes left. Richardson answered on a 7-yard option pitch from Tomalak, and junior Bri Leycock sealed it with a late interception. The North Stars forced five turnovers, three of them picks, per Shaw Local, and the Daily Herald also had it 32-13.

Coach Mike Taormina summed it up simply: "It's kind of surreal at the end of the day."

A Comeback Semifinal Against Marist

The title nearly didn't happen. In Saturday morning's semifinal, Marist of Chicago jumped out 14-0 before St. Charles North steadied itself and won 27-13. Two games in one day, both against top teams, and the defense held each opponent to 13.

MaxPreps Top 25: North Stars Climb to No. 2 in the Nation

The national rankings noticed. MaxPreps now has St. Charles North No. 2 in its girls flag football Top 25, behind only 24-0 JSerra Catholic of California. MaxPreps says the North Stars held 17 opponents to 10 points or fewer and averaged nearly 38 points a game.

This was only the program's second season as an IHSA team. Next up for Illinois flag is the offseason, while Kansas and Colorado still have finals to play. Keep up with the sport on the BallerTube flag football page.