Prospect remains undefeated with decisive victory against Naperville Central
Prospect senior defensive end Colin Fouch ended Naperville Central's first and last possessions in Friday night's nonconference football game at George Gattas Memorial Stadium in Mt. Prospect.
He wasn't so bad in between either.
The former safety finished with a personal-high four sacks not to mention some other key plays to help his team to a 45-14 victory, the Knights' third straight to start the season.
“This team is coming along great,” said Fouch, who also plays basketball and power lifts. “I love all these guys and I loved moving to the defensive line (past two years). It's the most fun I've had at any position I've played. I get to fly around and hit people.”
Which is exactly what he did when Prospect (3-0) held Naperville Central (1-2) on fourth down and two from the Redhawks’ own 41-yard line on the first series of the game. Fouch sacked QB Simon Hayes for a 2-yard loss and the Knights took over at the NC ' 39-yard line.
“He's a freak athlete,” said longtime Prospect defensive coordinator Brock Collins. “He's strong and fast. It's hard for offensive tackles to block him.”
After his big sack, the Knights scored 31 unanswered points, beginning with senior QB Jackson Cacini's 1-yard run up the middle with 6:28 left in the first quarter.
With 2:13 left, Eastern Illinois pledge Jackson Cacini found Gordon Kemp in the corner of the end zone for a six-yard TD strike that made it 14-0. That was followed by a one-yard run by Yale-bound Matt Donnelly that made it 21-0 with 8:04 left in the second quarter. Carlo Siviero's 40-yard field goal sent the Knights to halftime leading 24-0.
The third quarter saw 28 points, more than the whole first half. Cacini found Kemp again for a 19-yard TD early in the third quarter for a 31-0 cushion before the Redhawks got on the scoreboard with a 21-yard pass from Hayes to Mark Williams. Cacini's 43-yards bomb to senior Henry Koziol made it 37-7 before Naperville Central got to within 38-14 on an 85-yard pass from Hayes to Kyle Clark.
Kemp's two TDs were a personal best.
But the senior wide receiver wanted to credit the defense.
“Those guys have our backs.” said Kemp, who caught 8 passes for 107 yards from Cacini. “Colin is one of the most athletic defensive ends I've ever seen. He's super powerful and he's a great player on our team. Without him I don't know where we'd be. It's great to have him.”
“Colin is an incredible player on the edge for us,” said Knights head coach Dan DeBoeuf. “When we get ahead against a team that has to sit back and pass, it puts us in a really good spot for him to pin back his ears and go. He's a gotten a lot bigger the last two years. He put a lot of time in the weight room and it shows.”
And Fouch showed up plenty in the Redhawks backfield on Friday night.