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Prospect resets with younger look

Prospect has shown an amazing knack, in recent years, for developing quality quarterbacks.

The Knights have had Miles Osei, Steve Dazzo, Sam Frasco, and most recently, Devin O’Hara, who is at Western Illinois.

This year Prospect is reaching to the sophomore ranks, promoting Matt Drew to follow the path set by past gunslingers.

“Matt won the job by his play this past summer,” Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen said. “We are very happy with his development. We know he will make some mistakes. But we are going to put a little less weight on our quarterback.

“In the past here, the quarterback has been the focal point of our offense. But he is just 15. He shouldn’t have to carry that burden yet. We think he has a nice future ahead of him.”

Drew will have a nice group of wide receivers to throw to. Luis Leguer, Jon Slupksi, Brian Maigler and Andrew Inserra are all seniors and have experience in pass catching. Juniors Mike O’Malley, Vinny Lai and Greg Suarez will also find their way on the field.

Running back will be by committee, at least early in the season. Lai, Leguer and Vinny Garmoe will be sharing time.

“They are all about the same size,” Sebestyen said. “But their running styles are all different. So it will give us some different looks.”

Prospect’s strength will be its defense, especially in the backfield. The Knights could start eight seniors on the defensive side.

Defensive backs Andrew Inserra, Eric Garmoe and Luis Leguer, who all started last season, will be joined by Casey Kurinec to lock down opposing wide receivers. Brady Eckert, who also returns, leads a talented linebacking corps that includes Tito De Los Santos, Zack McDermott, Griffin Sordo and Jon Slupski.

The defensive front will feature James Ford, Dema Govalla, Brian Maigler, Tom Castro, Jackson Wrede and Sebastian Koziol.

“We lost some kids in some key positions” Sebsestyen. “We lost four starters on the offensive line and four starters on the defensive line.

“That is going to be a task for our kids. These are young kids and hopefully they can step and in and help.”

Castro (6-foot 1, 215 pounds), Wrede (6-0, 207) and McDermott (5-10, 176) will all be going both ways, playing on the offensive line for the Knights. Alex Matasareanu (6-2, 224), who is the largest of all the offensive linemen, and sophomore Luke Wrede (6-0, 212) round out the starting five.

“We have some experience coming back at linebacker and in our secondary as well as our wide receiver positions,” Sebestyn said. “Hopefully that will be able to offset our other weaknesses.”

The Knights, who were 7-4 last season, are looking for a ninth consecutive trip to the state playoffs and their 13th in the last 14 years. They have qualified both seasons under Sebestyen.

“We still have some work to do,” Sebestyen said. “The fact that we are lacking experience along our lines, playing Glenbrook South will be good for us. We will find out Week 1 what kind of team we have.”

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