Prospect’s Cacini shows he chose well in victory against Rolling Meadows

There is baseball in his bloodlines, but Jackson Cacini fell in love with football, and that decision has proven to be a home run.

The Eastern Illinois pledge and Prospect quarterback has flourished in the offense and at Friday night's Homecoming game at George Gattas Stadium in Mt. Prospect, Cacini hit for a milestone.

He threw for a season-high 317 yards while surpassing 1,000 yards on the season to help lead the Knights to a 56-14 triumph against Rolling Meadows.

“I played baseball as a kid, but I'm only football now,” said Jackson, whose uncle Ron played at Prospect before making it to the Houston Astros organization. “Freshman year at Prospect was the first time I did not play baseball. I just loved the culture of our freshman team.

“We went 9-0 and I made so many new friends which was important because there were only seven players from my middle school (South in Arlington Heights).”

Four years later, Cacini and running back Matthew Donnelly helped the Knights to a 6-0 record and 2-0 in the Mid-Suburban East as one of the top-ranked teams in the state.

Prospect wasted little time hitting the scoreboard, scoring on the game's second play from scrimmage.

After starting the game with a 27-yard pass to Henry Koziol, Cacini dashed 32 yards up the middle for the quick 7-0 lead, which increased to 14-0 when Matthew Donnelly scored from four yards out with 53 seconds left in the opening quarter.

The Knights scored two times in the second quarter, getting a 55-yard TD pass from Cacini to Gordon Kemp and a six-yard run up the middle by Donnelly for a 28-0 lead with 4:12 left until halftime.

“Obviously, starting out strong like we did allows you to stack on and just build,” said Cacini, who was protected by linemen Daniel Simon, Owen Dewey, Benaiah Johanson, Kevin Meyer and Liam McDonnell. “It gets rid of the nerves at the start of the game and gets you into the zone.”

“Our linemen have a great coach in Tim Beisher,” said Knights coach Dan DeBoeuf. “He does a great job developing those guys and I think they are coming into their own.”

Rolling Meadows (2-4, 1-1) scored first in the second half when QB Gavin Prickett connected with Marcus Stienstra for a 15-yard TD.

Sophomore Ryder Smialowicz rushed for 99 yards for Rolling Meadows (3-3, 1-1).

“Their offense is very explosive,” said Rolling Meadows coach Devonte Amos. “They do a good job over there. Their defense was tough.

“I thought we battled offensively. We were able to move the ball, but we just weren't able to punch it in and capitalize on some of our big plays. It was unfortunate, but hats off to Prospect. They played a heck of a game.”

The game brought Cacini's passing yards to 1,295 for the season.

“I thought he did a lot of really good things tonight,” DeBoeuf said. “He is playing well right now.”