Bears Defense Takes Down Prospect

All Lake Zurich linebacker Danny Minogue had to do was turn around.

Right there waiting for him was a poorly-thrown ball by Prospect quarterback Steve Dazzo.

With the Knights driving late in the game down seven, Minogue, who was sitting in in the flat, picked off the pass to help Lake Zurich to a 14-7 victory in the second round of the IHSA Class 7A playoffs.

"I don't even know. I just turned around and the ball was coming right to me," Minogue said. "I was just squating in my zone doing everything the coach was telling me. He threw the ball right to me."

Minogue jumped in front of a Knights slant pattern and got the interception with basically one hand, as he has a cast on his right arm

"I only got one hand," Minogue said. "I fractured my wrist in the Stevenson homecoming game a few weeks ago."

Prospect (9-2) was able to get the ball back one more time, but the Knights' last drive couldn't have turned out any worse. After back to back intentional grounding calls against Dazzo, his final pass of the game was intercepted by lake Zurich (10-1) safety Grant Soucy, and the Bears ran out the clock.

Lake Zurich played excellent defense all night against a Prospect team that had scored a total of 416 points coming into the game.

"We talked to our kids about just playing every down like it's your last play," said Lake Zurich coach Bryan Stortz. "Guys just pursued the football. You could see how they were springing plays but our guys just kept coming and coming."

While the Knights were able to put together some drives, the Bears' defense came to play when it counted. The only real hiccup for Lake Zurich on defense came in the third quarter, when Prospect running back Peter Bonahoom caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Dazzo. But that was all the Knights could do all evening.

"We watched a lot of film. We had a great scout team in practice, running their offense like they ran it," Minogue said. "Coaches getting us prepared every week, this week in particular we were watching film every day. We were just very well prepared."

Lake Zurich got their 14 points on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Zach Till to tight end Mike Schnur in the first quarter, and a Jacob Brinlee 14-yard touchdown run in the second. While the Knights slowed down the Bears' offense in the second half, that was all the scoring they would need thanks to Lake Zurich's defensive effort.

"(The defense) stepped up. They played great," Brinlee said. "Big thanks to them for helping us come out on top."