Prospect defense hangs tough, takes down Buffalo Grove

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. - The Buffalo Grove-Prospect gridiron rivalry is becoming a great one, if it hasn't reached that level already.

That was evident after the two teams met in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs in Buffalo Grove as players from both squads stayed on the field once the game had long ended, chatting and laughing like they were best of friends for years.

That wasn't the case mere minutes earlier when the Knights (9-2) were putting the finishing touches on a 13-8 win over the Bison (9-2). The win marked the second one over their rivals for the Knights and ended the Bison's season, with both losses coming to Prospect.

"We gave them everything we had, we just came up a little short," Buffalo Grove coach Jeffrey Vlk said. "We had some missed opportunities and that was the key. You saw a few missed opportunities throwing down the field. We gave ourselves a chance but we just couldn't come up with it."

For the second week in a row, the Knights played without starting quarterback Frank Covey, who went down with an ankle injury in the team's Week 9 game against Rolling Meadows.

That meant that junior Brad Vierneisel was back under center for his second start of the season.

Vierneisel didn't look like a player making his second start of the year on the first drive, connecting on three-of-four passes for 54 yards and helping the visitors get out to a quick 3-0 lead on a 23-yard field goal by Benjamin Sahakian.

However, Vierneisel was knocked out of the game with an injury himself, leaving the Knights with two sophomores, Matt Guza and Griffin Limbers to take reigns of the offense.

The two combined to complete only five more passes the rest of the game, but it wasn't needed thanks to the running game of Matt Raitano and Owen Walter, who stepped in as a wildcat quarterback for the first time in his career on numerous snaps.

Raitano finished with 123 yards on 26 carries and became the guy the visitors went to when they needed big yardage.

"With our top two quarterbacks going down, we had to rely on our running game some more," he said "I knew we could do it though, we have a really good offensive line."

After going three-and-out-on its first two possessions, the Bison were able to get some offensive traction by doing something that's a bit out of their repertoire: passing the ball.

The Bison, who had rushed for over 2,500 yards coming into the game, got on the board courtesy of a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Cervantes to Dominick Marrazzo gave the Bison a 6-3 lead after the two-point conversion was no good.

"We struggled running the ball against them the last time we played them and we'd opened up our passing games in the games after," Vlk said. "Their front does such a great job of stopping the run, we just wanted to take advantage of their secondary and coverage, but just came up short tonight.

"Dominick's like a magic man. The ball's in the air and somehow he comes up with it, whether it's on offense or defense."

The Knights evened the score on another Sahakian field goal, this time from 28 yards and then took the lead when Walter scampered in from three yards out with a minute, 20 seconds remaining until halftime.

Earlier this season, when the two teams played each other in Week 5, the game also turned into a barnburner, as the Knights squeaked by with a 17-14 win.

Having played the Bison earlier in the year is something that helped prepare the Knights for the rematch.

"We knew we had a chance to beat them after the first game," Raitano said. "I knew our offensive line was going to make holes for me to be able to run through them and did enough to get the win."

Buffalo Grove looked primed to score after taking the opening kickoff of the second half and marching all the way down to the Prospect 2-yard line. But Cervantes was stopped at the 1-yard line on a fourth-and-goal try.

The Bison had a couple other good scoring chances late in the fourth quarter.

With just over four minutes remaining, the Bison blocked a punt and recovered it on the Knights' 25-yard line. Unfortunately for the hosts, Cervantes was picked off on the next play by Ethan Rossi at the one-yard line. After forcing a Prospect punt, the Bison got all the way down to the Prospect 33, but Cervantes again was intercepted, this time by Samuel Anderson in the end zone.

"Credit Prospect, they did a great job," Vlk said. "We knew it was going to be a great battle, great environment, we just couldn't get past them today."

"Our defense came up huge," Raitano said. "They do week-after-week. We know we can rely on them every week to get it done, so we just have to put up a few points because I know we'll be able to stop them enough to get a win."

The other Buffalo Grove score came on a Prospect safety.

The win sends the Knights to the state quarterfinals, a place they haven't been to since 2006. In the quarterfinals, the team will host Jacobs with time and date yet to be determined.

"We've got the mentality that we can win under any circumstances because this game was probably the most adversity we've faced all year and we're still able to overcome it," Raitano said.

But for Vlk and his squad, the loss marks the end of another successful season, one that saw the team pick up its first playoff win since 2017 and earn at least a share of the conference title for the first time since 2002.

"I told these kids 'don't let this be the best part of your life. It was a great season, but you guys have better things ahead,'" he said. "Enjoy the moment, enjoy what you did, but there are bigger and better things ahead."