No stopping Saxons' Little, Iannotti
Two proud coaches who would likely rather see their teams make a stop on defense than score a touchdown on offense watched just the opposite Friday night.
Nearly 1,000 yards of total offense later, plus 22 penalties for 190 yards, including two that wiped out touchdowns - and don't forget the 47 first downs recorded - Schaumburg emerged with an unlikely 54-33 win over Prospect at the Saxons' interim home field at Conant in a Mid-Suburban League crossover game.
Needless to say, both schools' perspectives on the game differed quite a bit.
Schaumburg quarterback Anthony Iannotti (11-for-13, 160 yards) proclaimed over and over how his team "rode the offensive line" up and down the field to the win, and entrusted the rushing game to sophomore Shepard Little (18 carries, 267 yards) behind John Mejia, Mike Scolire, Mario Echavaria, Richard Barnes and Craig Cruz.
"I can't say enough about our 'O' line," said Iannotti. "I can't be more proud of our line."
They sprung Little for runs of 51, 37 and 80 yards, the latter for a TD, and the 51 what was left of what would've been a TD if not for a downfield illegal blocking penalty. Iannotti had 80 yards rushing himself.
Schaumburg's defense, scarred at times this season, still helped the Saxons record their third win in four games by sticking to their game plan of making Prospect quarterback Miles Osei beat them bythrowing instead of running. He almost did, tossing for 294 yards and three TDs, and having one called back in the second half that might have turned the momentum of the game.
Consistently, he found Mike Przespolewski (6 catches, 2 TDs), Sean Baltowski (11 catches, 1 TD) and Peter Bonahoom (6 catches, 1 rushing TD). But he ran, mostly on scrambles, for just 46 yards and Prospect had "just" 105 total. The speedy Przespowelski ran back a first-half kickoff, which he initially muffed, for 90 yards and a TD.
But Schaumburg had too many weapons in addition to Little and Iannotti. Josh Spandiary continued his brilliant season with 7 catches, including one for a second-half TD. Diante Hackler split two defenders and made a great catch on a perfect throw for a 26-yard second-half TD.
For a team that started out getting throttled by state-ranked Maine South and has played its home games at Conant on an interim basis while its own field is being rebuilt, the Saxons are showing a lot of resiliency.
"As the season goes on, we've learned how to deal with adversity," said Iannotti.
"I don't like the points (33) on the (visitors') side of the scoreboard," said Schaumburg coach Mark Stilling, but paced by linebacker Alex Coglianese, the Saxons did pull off their defensive game plan.
For Prospect (2-2), it's back to the drawing board for perhaps a whole new game plan.
"I have to watch the film," said Prospect coach Brent Pearlman, whose teams rarely give up that many points in half a season. "I'm at a loss right now. There were some plays being made out there, but we've got some work to do."