Prospect’s defense turns it up a notch
Prospect’s defense was a bit testy after Rolling Meadows scored 22 points in the fourth quarter of a loss suffered the previous week.
The Knights’ defenders took out their frustration out on visiting Hersey in Friday night’s 35-0 Mid-Suburban East victory at George Gattas Memorial Stadium on homecoming weekend.
The Prospect defense, especially the line consisting of senior Mike Houghton, senior Colin Olson, senior Kevin Kern, senior George Shola and sophomore James Ford tightened the screws on a Hersey team that had scored 77 points in its previous two games.
“That’s the angriest I’ve seen our defense in terms of the way they played,” said Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen.
Hersey was held to 114 total yards, and minus-4 yards rushing.
Houghton, Kern, and Olson hounded Hersey quarterback Quinn Orlandi (8-of-17, 66 yards) and only allowed the Huskies 2 first downs on their first four possessions of the second half.
“We definitely played with a chip on our shoulder,” said Houghton, who also scored the Knights’ final touchdown on a punt return. “We were fighting for our lives and the defense stepped up.”
“Both teams were fighting for their lives,” said Olson. “We came out and played football — it’s just an attitude.”
Prospect (4-3, 2-1) started the night with mixed results offensively, as two turnovers stalled the Knights’ attack.
But senior quarterback Devin O’Hara hit junior Nikko Gountanis for a 77-yard reception with under a minute remaining in the first half, and then O’Hara cashed in with 3.9 seconds remaining on a 1-yard plunge to give the Knights a 7-0 halftime lead.
A 19-yard reception by Andrew Hajek on fourth down set up O’Hara’s 9-yard twisting score on the Knights’ opening drive of the second half, increasing the lead to 13-0.
Prospect then had its own fourth-quarter explosion, producing 22 points. The burst included a 5-yard scoring run by Stevan Isteefanos (21 carries, 62 yards) and a 31-yard TD pass to Hajek ( 3 catches, 91 yards) from O’Hara.
O’Hara rushed for 65 yards on 20 carries, and the 6-foot-5 senior completed 9 passes for 219 yards and 1 touchdown.
“He throws such great balls and I just go out and get them,” said Goutanis, who finished with 5 receptions for 113 yards. “When Devin throws the ball it’s always good.”
Hersey (3-4, 2-1) came in on a roll, and drove to Prospect’s 17-yard line on its opening possession but an interception by the Knights’ Joe Gleason ended the possession.
Hersey’s defense led by linebacker Nate Fakhouri limited Prospect to 83 total first-half yards before the Knights cashed in on its closing first-half drive. And it was all Prospect after that.
“We completely fell apart in every phase of the game in the second half,” said Hersey coach Dragan Teonic. “I don’t think we gave them enough of a fight.”