More drama, more thrills for Elk Grove
Elk Grove came out of the Mid-Suburban League football crossovers at a bit of a crossroads.
The Grenadiers had won two straight games to improve to 3-1 but were suddenly filled with questions. Senior standout Dejan Basara, who coach Brian Doll called “an all-state leader,” had just busted his collarbone.
Defensive starters Johnny Assimakopoulos, Alfonso Lavin and Dylan Edwards went out with injuries. So, how would a team that also suffered major graduation losses deal with these adverse turns?
A minute and 19 seconds after Basara made a triumphant comeback with a 38-yard field goal that easily cleared the crossbar at Prospect's George Gattas Stadium, Elk Grove was celebrating a dramatic 24-21 victory Thursday night that upped its record to 6-1 and put it in sole possession of the Mid-Suburban East lead.
“After we lost Dejan and all the other players we came back and fought hard in that (Schaumburg) game and after that game we knew,” said senior linebacker-running back Darren Little. “If we stuck together no one was going to beat us. We stuck together.”
Now the Grenadiers haven't lost in five straight games and will make a third straight playoff appearance for the first time in program history. They beat Prospect for the first time in seven tries and a win next week guarantees them of a share of their first division title since 2004.
“It's pretty special for our community and our school,” Doll said. “We talked all week that to be the top dog in our conference you have to beat the conference champs.”
It wasn't easy, but what has been for the Grenadiers most of this year?
Defending East champion Prospect, which was also fighting for its playoff life, had quarterback Sam Frasco rip off touchdown runs of 35 and 40 yards and throw a touchdown pass and 2-point conversion for a 21-14 lead.
Then Prospect opened the second half by driving from its 42 to the Elk Grove 32. But on consecutive plays Assimakopoulos and linebacker Luke Dybicz combined to stop runs a yard short and force a turnover on downs.
“It was great because we always do well in the second half,” Elk Grove 5-foot-8, 165-pound senior nose tackle Tom Jansen said of the fourth straight game Rob Pomazak's defensive crew pitched a second-half shutout. “We know we have to come back. That's how it goes and that's how we do it. We switched up to a four-man front just to try to confuse them and it worked.”
Prospect went three-and-out on its next four possessions as Dan Egan, Greg Johnsen, Jansen, Little, Stefan Skoneczka, Jeff Miceli, Travon Royal and Mike Maize kept making big plays.
“They did a nice job in the second half of controlling the interior,” said Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen. “(Jansen) made it difficult for us to get any movement inside and that took away our inside zone stuff.
“But the kids fought hard and didn't give up. They fully believed they were going to go down and make a play.”
Prospect's defense also came through after Skoneczka's 21-yard run tied the score. Mike Mayreck helped stuff a drive deep in its own end to force a missed field goal at the end of the third quarter.
Andrew Hajek, Frasco and Shola George forced Basara into another attempt that was hardly a chip shot. But in a fitting way for the Grenadiers, Basara rebounded from two earlier misses and left no doubt about his third field goal try.
“As much as we like winning big, we play better when the game is on the line,” Little said.
It was still in doubt as Prospect raced downfield against the clock. But Kishan Patel was among those stopping Frasco's last-gasp scramble 8 yards short of the end zone and starting another Elk Grove celebration.
“Everyone thought since we lost (all-area captain) Nick Meyer and all those bigger kids that we'd become an average team,” Jansen said. “But we're stepping up and bringing it.”
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com