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Buffalo Grove back on track after beating Elk Grove

After dropping a close game to Prospect last weekend, host Buffalo Grove wanted to get back on the winning track when the Bison hosted Elk Grove for their Homecoming contest Friday night.

And after storming ahead of the Grenadiers 28-0 early in the second quarter, Buffalo Grove never looked back as almost three players rushed for 100 yards each to help pave the way to a 49-6 Mid-Suburban League East Division victory.

Senior running back Jacob Pond (96 yards on 10 carries) got Buffalo Grove (5-1, 1-1) going right out of the blocks as his 17-yard touchdown run followed by Andrew Smith's extra point made the score 7-0.

Elk Grove (2-4, 0-2) could not stop the Bison on their next possession as Scott Murray's 25-yard run was followed by Murray's 2-yard TD run for a quick 14-0 advantage.

Buffalo Grove's Dominick Marrazzo stripped Elk Grove receiver Brady Tosterud of the football to set up the Bison's next score as Murray's 11-yard TD run seven seconds into the second quarter made the score 21-0.

Then Buffalo Grove scored again when quarterback Michael Cervantes (107 yards on 17 carries) ran for 6 yards before pitching the ball back to Murray as Cervantes was falling down. Murray (116 yards on 10 rushes) went the remaining 51 yards down the left sideline for a 28-0 lead.

"It's all the offensive line, they let us get our jobs done, and they do a great job," said Cervantes. "We think we can go pretty far, we have to take one game at a time and go 1-0 every week."

The Grens' offense got going on their next possession as they marched 66 yards with a 1-yard TD run by Jacob Elsner cutting the lead to 28-6. Elk Grove quarterback Mitchell Janczak threw for 160 yards on 16-for-25 passing.

But Buffalo Grove responded with a 69-yard scoring drive as Andre Luyando made a great 16-yard TD catch in the far left corner of the end zone for a 35-6 lead with just 16.1 seconds left in the first half

The Bison went up 42-6 on another 11-yard TD run by Murray early in the fourth quarter before teammate Mitchell Verdico wove through traffic for a 28-yard TD run to account for the final score.

"Our kids did a great job up front with the offensive line," said Buffalo Grove coach Jeff Vlk with a postgame homecoming fireworks show going on in the background. "Michael Cervantes is a great leader, and he's a great kid running our offense so I'm happy with the outcome."

Cervantes was 5-for-6 passing for 45 yards as Buffalo Grove piled up 15 of its 24 first downs in the first half of the contest. The final 5:48 of the game was played with a running clock based on the IHSA's 40-point lead rule.

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