There’s rarely been a year with this many elite quarterbacks in the area.
There are multiple Power Four commits and quite a few more Division I prospects. Somehow, Prospect’ senior Jack Skoog is not on either list — yet.
A few more performances like Friday may change that.
Skoog passed for 194 yards, ran for 50 more and accounted for three touchdowns as No. 23 Prospect blitzed rival Hersey 56-14 in a Class 7A opening-round game in Mount Prospect.
There were plenty of heroes for the Knights (8-2), who will take an eight-game winning streak to Normal (9-1) next week.
Noah Easter ran 18 times for 104 yards and three touchdowns and Lucas Deines had five catches for 113 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown.
Prospect’s defense had six takeaways, including five interceptions of UCLA-bound quarterback Colton Gumino. Declan Lawlor and Jacob Bednarski each had a 45-yard pick-six.
But once again, Skoog was the driver of another Prospect win. Knights coach Dan DeBoeuf can’t believe the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder doesn’t have a Division I offer yet.
“I think he’s the best quarterback in the area, I think he’s the best quarterback in the conference,” DeBoeuf said. “I’ve said that all year. His work ethic is second to none. He’s improved so much from Week 1 until now, and that says a lot about his character.”
The difference, according to Skoog, is “just confidence.”
“Last year I’d get down on myself during bad throws, bad drives,” Skoog said. “But this year the whole team’s got my back. It just feels good.’
Ditto for having Easter around to help balance out the offense.
“Every third down when you hand the ball off to Noah, it’s a first down,” Skoog said. “It takes all the pressure off me. When we’re in rhe red zone, I don’t even need to throw the ball once.”
Easter, meanwhile, appreciates how much Skoog’s passing keeps opposing defenses honest.
“I’ve been playing with him for a long time and he just keeps getting better and better each year,” Easter said.
The Knights led 28-0 early in the second quarter and the defense made sure the Huskies (6-4) were never able to make it a game. Gumino finished 10 of 25 for 196 yards with five interceptions Brandon Jenkins had 13 carries for 62 yards and ran for both Hersey touchdowns.
Besides Lawlor and Bednarski, Jackson Parrish, Joseph Lobue and Matthew Collins had interceptions.
A new coverage scheme was key, according to Bednarski.
“The whole season we’ve been playing man, but we switched it up this game,” he said. “The quarterback was confused and made some mistakes. And we capitalized.”
The Knights won the teams’ regular-season matchup 30-27 en route to finishing first in the MSL East.
“It’s always been back and forth,” Bednarski said. “They got us the last two years so it feels good to win these last two.”