Prospect gets 5th win, awaits playoff fate
The Prospect football team went into Grant Blaney Stadium on Friday night and took care of business with a 42-8 win over host Buffalo Grove in each team’s regular-season finale.
Now, the Knights play the waiting game.
The win moved the Knights to 5-4 overall and 4-1 in the Mid Suburban League East, right on the bubble to get into the state playoffs.
The rest of Friday night is going to be a long one for Prospect senior quarterback Sam Frasco and his teammates.
Prospect finds out its playoff fate today, when the IHSA makes the announcement.
“It’s going to be crazy,” Frasco said. “After this win it’s going to be hard to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll all probably get together at someone’s house to watch the pairings.”
Frasco was patient with the ball in his hands all night, rushing for a game-high 166 yards and 3 touchdowns. He added another touchdown through the air and completed 5 of 7 passes for 186 yards.
“Their quarterback ran hard,” said Buffalo Grove coach Jim Farrell of Frasco. “They controlled the line of scrimmage. Tonight they got a good push.”
Prospect’s push started after they forced and recovered a fumble on the Bison’s second offensive play of the game. Prospect junior Mike Houghton recovered the fumble to set up the Knights’ ensuing three-play, 16-yard scoring drive.
“We told them we had to find a way to get out early and get moving in the right direction, and did they ever,” said Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen. “To punch it in early — it was big for us.”
Despite a running clock over the majority of the fourth quarter, Buffalo Grove senior quarterback/safety Richie Zirngibl kept his team together. Ultimately it paid off when Zirngibl was able to end the season the same way it started for the Bison (1-8, 0-5) — with a rushing touchdown.
“We came out the first drive of the season and scored a touchdown,” said Zirngibl who rushed for 48 yards and threw for 119 more. “Our last drive of the season offensively — we ended it the right way. Everyone was happy and that’s the way we want to be.”