Buffalo Grove wins bragging rights vs. Rolling Meadows in ‘family’ reunion
Devonte Amos didn't have a ton of coaching experience before being hired as head coach at Rolling Meadows last year at 26.
The one main entry on his resume was four years at Buffalo Grove, where he coached the freshman team and also spent a year as varsity receivers coach. Amos is a 2017 Rolling Meadows graduate.
So Friday's game was a reunion, with the Mustangs hosting BG and coach Jeff Vlk. Buffalo Grove's defense dominated this one, pitching a shutout and scoring a touchdown off an interception as the Bison rolled 21-0 in the MSL East.
“The new athletic director (Matt Mishler) was (Amos') football coach at Meadows too, who I used to coach against,” Vlk said. “So there's definitely a little football family circle there between me, Matt Mishler and him. Then Matt Mishler's brother-in-law used to work for me too.”
Amos' first game against Buffalo Grove last year was a high-scoring Meadows victory. The Mustangs went 7-4 and won a playoff game in Amos' first season.
“It was definitely a fun experience, obviously coaching there for four years and having a good relationship with a lot of those guys,” Amos said. “It's fun to compete against them. (Vlk) was a great mentor for me. A lot of my coaching philosophies, ideas, a lot of that does come from him.”
After graduating 22 seniors off that team, Rolling Meadows (2-5) is still trying to lock down a playoff spot for this season.
Some might view this one as the MSL East's “third-place game,” since Hersey and Prospect are way out in front.
Buffalo Grove (5-2) was aggressive from the opening kick, with Alex Glenn recovering a surprise onside. The first offensive play was a 47-yard swing pass to Matthew Kaput, who ran it in from the 2 for a quick 7-0 lead.
The Bison offense drove deep into Meadows territory twice more in the first half, but the results for a fourth-down stop at the 15 and an interception by the Mustangs' Dominic Polenzani.
The defense provided a second score when Owen Erickson picked off a screen pass and ran it back for a 45-yard pick-six on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-0.
“We have several guys that go both ways and two of them are on the line of scrimmage — Erickson and Andrew Carrison,” Vlk said. “They've been absolute Iromnen for us the entire year. They refuse to come off the field, and when we do take them out here or there, they come out for like three plays and are right back in our ear saying, 'Put me back in.'”
The best Rolling Meadows threat in the first half came after a 50-yard kickoff return by Polenzani set up the Mustangs at the 15. They couldn't move the ball and turned it over on downs.
Kaput started the night needing roughly 500 yards to break the school's record for career rushing yards, held by Tom Zbikowski.
In the first half, Rolling Meadows clogged the runs lane fairly well and Kaput produced just 33 yards on 11 carries. He did have two receptions for 77 yards before halftime.
To start the third quarter, though, Kaput ripped off 10 and 11 yards on his first two runs, then capped the drive by bouncing off about three tacklers for a 29-yard touchdown. Kaput finished with 134 yards on 27 carries.
Rolling Meadows split ballcarrying between Luke Harvey (45 yards) and sophomore Ryder Smialowicz (43). BG junior quarterback Nathan Raef completed 9 of 15 attempts for 146 yards.