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Prospect dumps Buffalo Grove to punch playoff ticket

When informed that Prospect quarterback Gary Moeller threw for 341 yards, scored 2 touchdowns and passed for two more the junior quarterback had this reaction:

"The passing yards don't matter to me," said Moeller. "We got the win tonight and a playoff berth. That's what matters."

The host Knights broke their two-game Mid-Suburban East losing streak by stopping Buffalo Grove 51-34. The win gives the Knights a 6-2 overall record and 2-2 in the East with Wheeling being their final opponent next Friday.

The Bison, who needed the win to have a shot as an at-large team, fell to 3-5 and 1-3 in the conference.

"They (Prospect) did a great job with their offense," said Buffalo Grove coach Jeff Vlk. "Our offense did a good job scoring but our youth on defense showed. We just didn't play or tackle well. We just didn't have enough in the tank with our defense."

While Moeller was controlling the offense, rushing for 25 yards and completing 16 of 23 passes, the Knights were controlling Buffalo Grove's Max Oberman.

Oberman, who scored a touchdown in the second quarter on an 8-yard run, was held to 41 yards in 13 attempts. He caught 4 passes for 23 yards. Oberman was limited in the second half with a bruised hand.

"We watched film all week and we knew that they would be running that veer with Oberman," said Prospect senior linebacker Jack Friedrichs. "Our defensive coach, Brock Collins, put in a great game plan to take his offense away. As long as everyone did their job it would work."

"I was happy with my defensive game tonight," Friedrichs said. "Each week it seems someone on this defense steps up and makes plays. This was a good win for us. We're excited about making the playoffs."

The Knights put up two scores in the first quarter to lead 16-0.

Junior running back Luke Zardzin finished off two 80-yard drives with pair of 3-yard touchdown runs.

Zardzin, who finished with 110 yards in 19 carries, was described as a freight train on the field by Moeller.

The Bison closed the gap to 16-6 on Oberman's 8-yard run with 6:24 left in the second quarter.

Prospect countered on a 1-yard plunge from Moeller, who set up the score after connecting on an 84-yard pass to Zardzin to the BG 1-yard line. Zardzin would catch 3 passes for 110 yards and Noah Marx would earn 115 yards on his 4 catches.

With 2:24 left in the half BG quarterback Mark Antonetti found Jake Salzman open and connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass making the score 23-13.

Antonetti would pass for 210 yards on 19 of 29 with 1 interception at the Knights' 10-yard line just before the halftime break.

Prospect would open a 37-13 third quarter lead after Marx caught a 54-yard touchdown pass and then ran the ball in from the 2-yard line.

Ayden Anderson returned the kickoff 97 yards for the Bison but Moeller would connect to Marx for a 51-yard TD strike.

Moeller would score on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter and Pasquale Dellaquila would finish off the scoring with a 17-yard run.

"Moeller made some great plays," said Prospect head coach Dan DeBoeuf. "He threw well and our receivers played well. With this win we got our confidence back. It was a goal of ours to make the playoffs. We'll have to see how far this takes us."

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