Wicho DelaPaz still remembered what his grandpa told him before St. Charles North ’s regional final game against Huntley.

“Great players show up in big games,” he said. “And I felt like I needed to produce that.”

The senior captain didn’t get that opportunity in the regional finals. But with a Class 3A South Elgin sectional semifinal knotted at 1-1 in the 75th minute against Dundee-Crown , a ricocheted shot landing at his feet gave him the opportunity.

And he wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste.

“When I saw it rolling in front of me, it was just on a gold platter,” DelaPaz said. “I just saw it and hit it with my right foot first time, and it was just a great feeling.”

DelaPaz’s strike in the 75th minute proved to be the difference maker, as the eighth-seeded North Star

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