Another special effort for Conant's Klosowicz

Neither the Hoffman Estates defense nor the homecoming crowd at Dennis Garber Stadium could stop Conant running back Kyle Klosowicz on Friday night.

Having entered the game with a Mid-Suburban League high 812 yards rushing, Klosowicz racked up 249 more to lead the Cougars (2-3) to a 35-6 victory over the Hawks (0-5) in their West division opener.

The fleet-footed senior is becoming more comfortable and more confident with the support he's getting from his blockers up front.

"With the same O-line it's going to happen," said Klosowicz, who ran for 3 touchdowns, all of which were for more than 30 yards. "They're so big and the holes are there. You just have to hit them."

Conant coach Bill Modelski acknowledged that his team was built for the ground game, and said Klosowicz has been something of a surprise to him.

"It's been interesting for sure," he said. "I thought he'd be good, but he's kind of exceeded my expectations. Hes faster than he looks like he should be."

Senior quarterback Rico Prestia did his part, too, throwing for 145 yards on 9-of-10 passing. Prestia found wide receiver Garrett Gatz for a 65-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half.

The Cougars have now beaten the Hawks in nine straight meetings and hold a 25-11 overall record in the cross-town series.

Hoffman was unable to gain any momentum on the ground or in the air, accumulating just 144 yards of total offense.

Quarterback David Gutierrez returned from a foot injury and split possessions with Bryan Proskey. The pair only went to the air three times for 7 yards passing.

"It just shows you that in this conference, you take five weeks off, the game's pretty fast when you come back," Hoffman coach Bill Helzer said of Gutierrez. "I liked our offense moving the ball, we just had too many mental breakdowns."