Prospect passing game, defense lead way in 43-0 blanking of New Trier

MT. PROSPECT –You might say Prospect “passed” its test to gain its first win of the season Friday night at George Gattas Memorial Stadium in Mt. Prospect.

The Knights, who threw for 182 yards in their first two games, compiled 248 yards under QB Jack Skoog and rolled to a 43-0 victory over New Trier (1-2).

“It feels really good,” Skoog said. “We had a really good practice week. We were focused on the passing. I had to focus on my feet. I had to get aggressive with my throws. Coach (Dan) DeBoeuf and I had really good individual segments this week, and we proved ourselves today.

“It felt good.”

Skoog was 16 of 24 while finding six different receivers, led by Nathan Cichy who caught six passes for 105 yards. Noah Easter complemented the passing game well with his 95 yards on 20 carries.

“I thought Jack (Skoog) played really well,” DeBoeuf said. “He is a really special player. For whatever reason, we just weren’t sharp the first two weeks. He worked really hard getting extra work in and extra individual segments this week, and it showed.”

After a fumble recovery by Joseph Lobue at the New Trier 38-yard line, Prospect (1-2) needed just three plays to reach the end zone.

Running behind linemen Erik Murray, Dylan Heber, Carson Range, Joseph Morales and J.J. Tsagalis, Easter carried for a pair of 5-yard runs before Skoog fired a 28-pass to Nicholas Carlucci with 5:35 left in the opening quarter. Carter Crenmascoli’s extra point made it 7-0.

Skoog threw his second TD pass early in the second quarter when he found Cichy down the east sideline for 15 yards to make it 14-0.

Prospect later took advantage of a fumble recovery by Jackson Parrish with 8:26 left in the first half. Skoog engineered a 55-yard scoring drive in seven plays, capped by Easter’s 5-yard TD run with 6:33 left. Skoog ran up the middle for the 2-point conversion and a 22-0 cushion.

Skoog finished the first half by directing a 77-yard drive that concluded with his 7-yard TD run with 28.4 seconds left to make it 29-0. Setting up the TD were a 17-yard pass to Carlucci and Cichy’s diving 31-yard catch at the 1-yard line.

Prospect outscored the Trevians 14-0 in the second half.

Caden Moran recovered a fumbled fair catch at the New Trier 14-yard line, which led to Easter’s 2-yard TD run with 6:40 remaining in the third period for a 36-0 lead.

“The defense has been stepping up the past two weeks,” Skoog said. “They gave up 14 points last week, and now 0. Last week we let down the defense, but we came back for them this week.”

“I think our guys up front — Parker Ray, Charles Letzig, Lucas Esocbar, Connor Curran and Peter Chapman — played really well,” DeBoeuf said. “And it showed. We play man-to-man, and we’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback (Declan Lawlor was in some key sacks and hurries), and they did at times, which was a good thing.”

Prospect’s final TD came on a 58-yard drive, capped by another 2-yard run by Easter (three touchdowns) to make it 43-0 and ignite the running clock with 3:41 left in the third quarter. The drive included Skoog passes of 15 yards to Gordon Kemp and 20 to Cichy.

“This was the best week of practice we’ve had this season for sure,” DeBoeuf added. “Hats off to our kids buying into the plan of when things don’t go your way, you have to find ways to improve them. And they did.

“Obviously, our first two weeks we had really good opponents. I think we learned a lot about ourselves. I’m really grateful for those opportunities. I think we have a shot to be a really, really good football team, and I think a lot of those things showed up tonight.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240913/prep-football/prospects-passing-attack-takes-off-in-1st-win-of-the-season/