Prospect produces at Palatine

Prospect's Peter Bonahoom scored 4 touchdowns, including a 95-yard kickoff return.

That effort helped the Knights pick up their third straight win with a 41-27 decision over host Palatine at Chic Anderson Field on Thursday night in a Mid-Suburban League crossover.

"There was one thing that would be missing from the kickoffs in other games," said Bonahoom, who also rushed for 190 yards in 16 attempts. "Tonight on that return it was like the Red Sea opened. Anyone could have run with the blocking I had. This week we challenged the receivers to be an extension of the offensive line, and they did a great job."

Things did not start out so well for the 3-1 Knights.

Palatine quarterback Cody Bobbit (24-of-31 passing, 242 yards, 2 TDs) gave the Pirates (2-2) a 6-0 lead with the first of 2 touchdowns to Dan Haze (5 catches, 119 yards) on a 12-yard completion.

Bonahoom returned the ensuing kickoff and the score was tied at 6-6 at half.

A fumble recovery by Mike Geweneger set up Bonahoom's 33-yard touchdown on first down following the second-half kickoff and a 13-6 lead.

Jimmy Smearman tied the game at 13-13 with a 3-yard run with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

Knights quarterback Steve Dazzo put Prospect ahead for good (20-13) with a 42-yard run and Jimmy Ott's extra point kick with 4:33 left in the quarter.

Bobbit connected with Haze for the second time after the kickoff with a 71-yard scoring strike. The extra point try failed and Prospect led 20-19.

"The two extra points that we missed and the fumble really hurt," said Palatine coach Tyler Donnelly. "It was just too many errors on our part."

Bonahoom put some distance between the two teams with a 19-yard run to finish a 58-yard drive on the next possession.

Bonahoom scored on a 39-yard run, and Dazzo on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter to build a 41-19 lead with 3:10 left in the game.

Cody Bobbit finished the Pirates' scoring with a 14-yard run and 2-point conversion pass.

"It's been a big change of attitude," said Dazzo of the three-game winning streak. "Today, we started out slow but at halftime we made a nice comeback. We're not where we want to be as a team but we're heading in the right direction."

"We just made a few adjustments at halftime," said Prospect coach Brent Pearlman. "We wanted to get outside of them more. We had some real good blocking. We talked about playing for each other more this week. "

Prospect finished with 363 yards of offense while the Pirates had 343.