By Ben Dojutrek
There were 5 minutes and 36 seconds on the clock, the Knights needed to drive 86 yards to take the lead or even possibly win. The last time something like that happened, they lost on August 28th to Jacobs, 26-24. However on Friday Night at George Gattas Memorial Stadium, The Knights would not let that happen again.
On the last drive of the game, junior Dante Cecala converted on a fourth down to keep the Knights hope alive, but maybe the largest moment of the drive was a 36 yard throw from senior Matt Drew to fellow senior, De’Angelo Roberson.
“He [De’Angelo Roberson] is a big time player, and he makes big time plays,” senior Bobby Jarosz said.
With 8 seconds remaining, Jarosz’s 26th carry of the game on a 3rd and goal from just outside the one sealed a 26-21 homecoming game victory for the
Knights with a one yard touchdown.
“We know that we are not making the playoffs, we just played our hearts out and played for Prospect,” Jarosz said.
This season Jarosz has more than 934 yards of rushing. He has also scored ten times on the ground this year.
According to Head Coach Mike Sebestyen, what may have been overlooked was the Prospect Defense. Sebestyen states they, throughout all of the games twists and turns, had stayed strong and were a big part of the victory.
“Our defense played its tail off, they kept playing and kept rallying…” said Sebestyen. “[Rolling Meadows is] a good football team and it was great to see the guys making plays no matter the circumstance.”
In the first half the Knights were fueled by a Drew sneak from a yard away which gave the Knights the 7-0 lead early. Later on after a Knights defensive stop on fourth down, Jarosz went around the Mustang defense for his first touchdown of the game on a 21 yard carry.
However, the Mustangs did not let the Knights shut them out in the first half as Rolling Meadows quarterback and ex Prospect student, Asher O’Hara, took the football to the house on a 40 yard carry.
As the third quarter entered its last few minutes, sophomore Brandon Onori scored from 36 yards away. A missed extra point gave the Knights a 13 point lead.
The Mustangs came back on the field toward the end of the third quarter with an answer to the last Knights touchdown by scoring seven points of their own on a 24 yard throw from O’Hara to Mustang receiver Devonte Amos.
After the Knights went three and out, Rolling Meadows scored six more points to tie on a throw from O’Hara to tight end Luka Pavlakis, and an extra point gave the Mustangs a late one point lead.
Sebestyen also gave credit to Joe Siracusa, Knights linebacker and tight end, for playing great defensively.
“Joey [Siracusa] really didn’t practice much because he’s banged up, he comes and plays football games, and he is the heartbeat of our defense,” Sebestyen said. “Our defense came out with an attitude that we wanted to win this game.”
This week it’s the Battle of the Student Sections, The Underground vs. Gren Nation, in a fight between two conference foes Elk Grove and Prospect.