Third Straight Loss Means Kits Must Hit Reset Button

There’s still plenty of time for Evanston’s football team to hit the reset button on the 2024 season.

And Friday’s 49-29 Homecoming loss to Prospect at Lazier Field made it crystal clear that if there’s a turnaround on the horizon, it will have to come on defense.

The Wildkits completed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 1-3 won-loss record despite piling up 413 yards on offense, as quarterback Colin Livatino passed for 195 yards and three touchdowns to go with 218 yards on the ground for the hosts.

But Prospect (2-2) was never once forced to punt and the only stop the Wildkits recorded on defense was when Ian Sims recovered a fumble on the Knights’ second possession of the game.

The visitors, after allowing ETHS to creep within 35-29 early in the fourth quarter, closed out the contest with scoring drives of 66 and 13 yards. Prospect’s Noah Easter rushed 21 times for 121 yards and three scores and quarterback Jack Skoog added 3 TD passes for the Mid-Suburban League squad.

Evanston opens Central Suburban League South division play next Friday at Glenbrook South and, while just about every team in the conference looks beatable this year --- even defending champion Maine South has already lost twice --- the Wildkits need to gain some traction on defense.

And sooner rather than later, after surrendering a total of 116 points in a three-game losing skid.

Head coach Mike Burzawa pointed out in the post-game huddle that there’s still plenty of football to be played with the season just at the halfway point.

“It’s all still right in front of us,” Burzawa said. “We just have to make one play at a time and play one game at a time. We’re not where we want to be as a team --- our non-conference schedule has been a beast --- but we have to keep moving forward.

“Tonight was a back and forth game that I thought would turn out to be a shootout, It felt like the team that had the ball last would win it, but we let it get away from us at the end. We needed a stop --- and we didn’t get it. Prospect is big and strong physically and they were able to own the line of scrimmage. The No. 1 and No. 2 things at every level of football are that you have to be able to stop the run, and you have to be able to run the ball. We only did one of those things tonight.”

Livatino’s return, after missing a week in concussion protocol, began with a bang when the senior launched a 69-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wambo on the fourth play from scrimmage with the packed crowd still settling into their seats.

And the Wildkits had a 13-7 advantage when Mike Pryor scored on a 6-yard run on the second play of the second quarter, at the end of a 49-yard march that featured three third down passing conversions from Livatino. He finished with 14 completions in 29 attempts through the air, with TD passes covering 69 yards to Wambo, 8 yards to Pryor and 21 yards to Dallas Amos.

A 23-yard field goal by varsity newcomer Juan Gomez, a sophomore who moved up from the JV team with starting kicker Jasper Barney sidelined by an injury, kept the Kits within striking distance of the Knights down 21-16 at halftime.

Prospect opened the second half with an 11-play, 62-yard drive to the end zone that ended with an 11-yard TD pass from Skoog to Nate Cichy in the left corner. The two teams traded TDs --- an 8-yard reception by Pryor matched by Skoog’s 13-yard dime to Lucas Deines --- before Livatino guided the home team to another score, twice converting fourth down situations to keep the drive alive.

Livatino’s 21-yard hookup with Amos cut the deficit to 35-29 with 9 minutes, 49 seconds left in the game. One more stop might have made the difference then. Instead, the Knights moved 66 yards without much in their way and Easter burst 14 yards to paydirt to make it a two-score game again with less than 7 minutes remaining.

A rare offensive pass interference call against the Wildkits stopped them cold at their own 13, allowing Prospect to tack on a clinching score with 4:25 left on the clock on a 1-yard plunge by Easter.

“I thought Colin (Livatino) played with a lot of fire and really led the offense well,” Burzawa praised. “We executed well and we were able to run and pass the ball. We were really clicking on offense. We just didn’t get enough stops. Our effort was good and so was our energy. We just have to find a way to fight out of this corner.”