Prospect pulls away from DePaul for DeBoeuf’s 100th career win
Matthew Donnelly helped Prospect turn back the clock.
Donnelly rushed for 250 yards and scored three touchdowns as Prospect overcame a slow start and pulled away from DePaul 56-22 Friday in Mt. Prospect in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.
Prospect (9-1), which is seeded fifth, will host No. 12 Rockford Guilford in the second round next weekend. Guilford beat Zion-Benton 40-20 to advance.
With the win over DePaul, Prospect coach Dan DeBoeuf picked up his 100th career victory.
“I didn’t even realize that,” said DeBoeuf, who is currently 69-24 after going 31-5 at Johnsburg.
“I have been lucky to coach at two great schools.”
DeBoeuf said that slow start by his team was due to their bye last week.
“I think our rust showed a little but today,” DeBoeuf said. “We are all learning how to do the bye week and I think that showed in some facets of the game.”
Donnelly’s tough running inside gave the Knights the ability to keep the Rams (4-7) on their heels the entire night.
“It didn’t really feel like 250 yards,” said Donnelly, who carried the ball 24 times and scored two rushing touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass.
“After a week off it felt real good out there. My legs feel great. Everything feels great. We are looking forward to the rest of the playoffs.”
The Knights came into their Friday playoff game not beating a Chicago Catholic League school in the state playoffs since 2005 when they beat Mt. Carmel for the state title.
The Knights were on a three-game losing streak with CCL teams in the playoffs.
“DePaul played a battle-tested schedule,” DeBoeuf said. “They really played some tough teams.”
Prospect built a 28-10 halftime lead thanks to a pair of touchdown runs by Donnelly.
The senior ran a yard for one score and caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Cacini, who is committed to Eastern Illinois. Cacini also added a one-yard sneak for a touchdown and a two-point conversion run. Carlo Siviero added field goals from 21 and 27 yards.
No. 37 seed DePaul made things interesting to start the second half. Andrew Campbell (24-of-36, 271 yards), threw an 11-yard touchdown pass halfway through the second quarter to make it 28-16.
But Prospect closed strong behind Cacini and Donnelly.
Cacini fired a 51-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Collins just three plays after the DePaul touchdown. Donnelly then followed with a 23-yard touchdown run after an interception.
Cacini would later score on a five-yard touchdown run and Wesley Tosch closed out the scoring for the Knights on a one-yard run to make it 56-16 and start the running clock with six minutes to play.
“We were a bit off having the bye the last week,” said Cacini, who was 16-of-26 for 316 yards, with 222 of those yards coming in the second half.
“We have never had that in our four years of high school. Plus, they came out on defense with something a little funkier than what they have done before. But once we got to the second, third and fourth quarters, we found our groove.”