Donnelly, Prospect end streak vs. Chicago Catholic foes

Matthew Donnelly and Prospect made sure that the string ended.

Playing on their new home turf, Donnelly scored four touchdowns as the Knights erased three consecutive losses to Chicago Catholic League opponents. The Knights ended that skid with an impressive 44-7 win over St. Laurence Friday in Mt. Prospect.

“I can’t tell you what’s going on,” said Donnelly, who has an offer from Yale, rushed for 84 yards and had 131 receiving yards.

“I’m just in a flow state and trusting my guys. I lost to Mt. Carmel my freshman year and that was the first time I played against a Catholic school. So it does feel good to beat one for the first time.”

Donnelly has been on roll to start the season, scoring seven touchdowns in his first two games.

“I think my biggest weakness is just thinking,” Donnelly said. “Just not thinking is like a big component for me. It is basically all instinct.”

Coming into the game, Prospect (2-0) had lost twice to St. Rita and also to Mt. Carmel in the state playoffs from 2021 through 2023. So, when Prospect head coach Dan DeBoeuf had an opportunity to schedule St. Laurence this season, he didn’t hesitate.

“Obviously, they had a real nice season last year,” DeBoeuf said. “And they had some talented players back. We are trying to play tough opponents to get ourselves ready for the postseason. And they gave us all we could handle.”

Donnelly, along with Gordon Kemp and Jackson Cacini, helped the Knights build a 23-7 halftime lead.

Donnelly scored on a three-yard sweep on a nice seal block by Kemp in the first quarter. He would then score on an 85-yard option pass from Wesley Tosch on the first play of the second quarter.

The Knights added a 14-yard touchdown pass from Cacini to Kemp and a safety on a bad snap on a punt. Prospect saved its best for last in the half as Collin Murrin and Evan Sohl combined to stop the Vikings at the 1-yard line as time expired to end the half.

Prospect used that momentum to block a punt on the Vikings’ first possession of the second half. Oliver Koczhaj raced in untouched to block the punt and Colin Fouch returned it 10 yards for the score.

Donnelly picked up his third touchdown when Cacini (16-for-20, 150 yards) found him racing down the left side on a 21-yard scoring play.

“It has been a different game for us the last three years,” said Cacini, who has committed to Eastern Illinois and played against Mt. Carmel when he was a freshman.

“We are not worrying about the extra factors like private schools. We are focused on us and how we can do our job better. You saw in the third quarter that they started to get tired. We just wanted to do our job the best we can.”