Sitting out would have hurt Buscarini more

Rolling Meadows senior Colin Buscarini wasn't going to let a not-so-little injury prevent him from playing against Prospect and childhoold friends such as Peter Bonahoom on Friday night.

So, a week after suffering a torn meniscus in his knee, the standout inside linebacker Buscarini was flying around and making tackles even though he hadn't practiced all week before a 40-7 loss.

Buscarini said he felt almost 100 percent even though the post-operative brace he used broke on the second play of the game.

"What really hurt me inside was not being able to play on offense," said Buscarini, who also had to forego his usual wedge-breaking duties on special teams.

Buscarini also had arthroscopic surgery on the knee as a freshman and plans to have surgery to repair the meniscus after the season. He's also expected to have a more athletic brace to help the knee for Friday's game at Wheeling.

"He played well and they were running right at him," said Meadows coach Doug Millsaps. "He'll get better and have more range of motion (this) week."

That figures to get Buscarini back in the mix on the offensive line. His big priority is to help 3-3 Meadows extend its streak of playoff trips to eight.

"I'll be good for college," said Buscarini. "But it's my senior year and I've spent so much time with these guys, I wouldn't want to just watch them play."

Pearlman joins century club: Prospect's Brent Pearlman became the 10th coach to win 100 games at a Mid-Suburban League school or schools. But Pearlman deflected the credit elsewhere after reaching the milestone with just 33 losses in 12 seasons.

"I made no tackles, I never threw a ball and a I never caught a ball," Pearlman said. "The 100 wins is the team's honor. I'm thankful I've had great coaches and a wife and daughter who support me.

"And these kids made the wins happen with their courage and intensity."

Two other members of the 100 club were also on the sideline Friday current Meadows assistant Jim Rucks (107 at Hoffman Estates) and Fred Lussow (100 at Forest View and Meadows).

Fremd's Mike Donatucci leads the way at 128. The others are Dave Pendergast (115 at Conant), Tom Cerasani (112 at Schaumburg and Palatine), Grant Blaney (111 at Buffalo Grove), Rich Roberts (109 at BG and Prospect), Joe Petricca (103 at Palatine) and Don Schnake (100 at Elk Grove).