Prospect shakes off Guilford's sudden chance
Prospect kept its composure even though it trailed by a touchdown just 11 seconds into its Class 7A first-round playoff football game against visiting Rockford Guilford.
It would have been easy to become flustered, distracted or discouraged after Guilford's speedy junior Dontrel Chance returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, but that's not even close to what transpired over the next 25 minutes.
The No. 4 seeded Knights scored the next 7 touchdowns and prepared for next weekend's second-round visit by Lake Zurich (9-1) by beating the NIC-10 Vikings (6-4) 54-14 at windswept George Gattas Stadium on Saturday night.
Prospect quarterback Steve Dazzo added to his impressive credentials by rushing for 4 first-half touchdowns and throwing a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter, as the Knights (9-1) held a 41-6 lead by halftime.
Dazzo finished with 265 yards total offense, all in the first half. He carried the ball 12 times for 158 yards and TDs of 41, 7, 24 and 8 yards. He completed 2-of-5 passes for 107 yards and touchdowns of 48 yards to Peter Bonahoom and 59 yards to Grant DePalma.
Bonahoom's 25-yard touchdown just 1:14 into the third quarter gave Prospect a 48-6 lead and a running clock for the remainder of the evening.
His 159 yards pushed him past the 1,000-yard mark for the season with 1,002, and Dazzo's total offense reached 2,561 yards and 32 touchdowns.
When the Knights answered Chance's electrifying game-opening return with a 4-play, 80-yard drive, a collective sigh of relief came over the Prospect faithful, and the hosts never let up until reserves came in to finish the game during the running clock.
"That kid (Chance) is quick," Bonahoom said. "It was a lapse mentally, but we weren't down."
"He proved it on that play," Prospect coach Brent Pearlman said. "We did not intend to kick it to him."
"Nothing really fazes us," said Dazzo. "We could have gotten down, but we didn't.
"We've done the same thing all year. No matter what we see, we run it."
They rolled up 404 yards on the ground, including 64 yards and a touchdown from reserve Chris Meersman, who handled most of the rushing in the fourth quarter.
"They came out and gave us 10 different looks, but the O-line adjusted well," Bonahoom said.
"We responded to the challenge," Pearlman said. "We've been down 14 points before, in the Elk Grove game. If we play our style of game, things will work out in the end."
Dazzo's brilliant first half was nothing new, especially to those who see him week-in and week-out.
"To some people, he's a surprise," Pearlman said, "but not to us. We've always known he's special. We're the least surprised."
The victory also put an end to a two-game losing streak to Rockford-area teams Rockton Hononegah in 2008 and Boylan in 2007.
"We've had some troubles with that conference in the past," Bonahoom said.