Dennis, Draka deliver for Wheeling

After dropping its third straight game last week to Hersey and suffering its fourth loss of the season, visitng Prospect knew it needed to win out to qualify for the postseason.

Wheeling, on the other hand, had already been eliminated from the postseason with five defeats.

But that did not stop the Wildcats (1-5) from picking up their first victory of the fall, 33-21 in their homecoming game against the Knights.

"What it came down to is just all of us just fighting together as one," Wheeling junior quarterback Jalen Dennis said. "Everyone just came out with the mentality that we needed to have a chip on our shoulder and just come out and smack them in the mouth. That's what we did all four quarters and I couldn't thank the guys enough. It's a team win and it's awesome winning on homecoming. It was great."

Dennis and senior running back Dylan Draka led the Wildcats with 2 rushing touchdowns apiece, and Dennis threw for another score.

"I think our quarterback was absolutely outstanding," said Wheeling assistant coach Joe Rupslauk, who was at the helm on Friday night in head coach Brent Pearlman's absence. "(Jalen Dennis) showed a lot of courage. Draka and Dennis have been animals all year for us. They play with tons of courage. They have great attitudes and they're great overall kids. That's what we're trying to establish at Wheeling High School is that attitude, and those two kids exemplify it. Those two are unbelievable."

Wheeling raced out to a 14-0 first-quarter advantage via a 78-yard touchdown pass from Dennis to senior wide receiver Charlie Zettek with 7:49 left in the opening period, and a 53-yard touchdown run by Draka with 3:59 remaining.

Prospect (1-5, 0-2) countered with a 3-yard touchdown run from senior running back Bobby Jarosz to slice its deficit to 14-7 just 21 seconds into the second quarter. Wheeling responded with two more scores before the end of the first half including a 15-yard Dennis keeper for a touchdown and Draka's second rushing touchdown of the evening, this time from 14 yards out, to extend the Wildcats' advantage to 26-7 going into the break.

Dennis added his second quarterback keeper from 4 yards out with 9:51 remaining in the contest to extend Wheeling's advantage to 33-7.

Prospect recorded two fourth-quarter touchdowns, but it was too little, too late for the Knights. A Jarosz 6-yard rushing touchdown and a Matt Drew 3-yard quarterback keeper for a score closed the scoring for Prospect.

"I thought we did a pretty good job by coming up and hitting on defense," Dennis said. "We had to wrap up a little more, but I think overall we came up and smacked them in the mouth. That was our main goal, just coming up and hitting - and keep hitting all four quarters, just constantly. I think that started wearing down on them with our guys just rallying around each other and talking. That's what it came down to and everyone was just flying to the ball. Collectively, the defense played their butt off."

Rupslauk credited the win to Pearlman.

"That's coach Pearlman's program and he put a stamp all over this game tonight," he said. "It's all about coach Pearlman, really. Coach Pearlman was always telling the kids that we need to start telling a story around Wheeling High School and give these kids some high school football stories. Coach Pearlman's program is about fight and courage and that's what it is. That's what we want to teach the kids and it's really that simple. We love him for it. That's who we follow. We're trying to establish a program here and it's a big win for us."

Wheeling (1-1 in the MSL East) looks to make it two in a row at Buffalo Grove, while Prospect resumes action at Rolling Meadows in Week 7.