By Peter Fusilero
Executive Sports Editor|
There might have been not one football player in the Prospect vs Elk Grove game this past Friday that wasn’t caked in dirt from cleats to helmet.
Elk Grove is the only Mid Suburban East school that is without turf, so the field was not in ideal condition.
That didn’t seem to bother Prospect because they came from behind to win the game 14-10.
The win clinched the Knights (6-3) a spot in the playoffs and captured a Mid Suburban East title that they will share with Rolling Meadows.
“This team deserves to have a share of the east title,” said head coach Mike Sebestyen. “I’m happy for them because of the adversity they dealt with.”
In the first half of Friday night’s game, Elk Grove was able to run the ball well and jumped off to a 10-0 lead.
It was a very sloppy first half that junior Jack Tuttle describes as not being up-tempo.
“It was very slow out there especially in the middle of the field and our lineman didn’t have enough time to get up,” Tuttle said.
Luckily, the Knights were able to score off of a 24-yard touchdown pass to junior Nikko Gountanis (4 catches, 65 yards) from senior Devin O’Hara (87 yards passed, 43 yards rushed) before the half ended keeping the game within reach.
The second half seemed to spark Prospect’s defense because they allowed the Grenadiers only 53 yards of offense.
“Defense was huge all day,” Tuttle said. “We were having a little trouble moving the ball, but defense kept coming up big time after time.”
In the fourth quarter with not having one single carry in the first half, Tuttle ran for 83 yards with only six carries.
One of those carries was a 43 yard dash to the two yard line where O’Hara then ran the ball in for a one yard touchdown.
Even though O’Hara and Tuttle were key factors to the win, Sebestyen praised the offensive line for their performance.
“When they needed to, they took over the football game, it was awesome to watch,” Sebestyen said.