Dazzo runs the show for Prospect

The opening act wasn't what Prospect expected, but once the Steve Dazzo Show was underway, Knights fans were able to sit back and enjoy the fun.

The senior quarterback ran for 155 yards and threw for 107 more, accounting for six first-half touchdowns (four rushing two passing), as fourth-seeded Prospect (9-1) rolled in the opening round of the 7A playoffs, defeating Rockford Guilford 54-14 on Saturday evening. Peter Bonahoom added 165 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and caught both scores through the air.

"We just had everything rolling and everything was open, I mean, we hit everything we tried to do," Dazzo said of the first half, where the Knights scored touchdowns on all six of their possessions.

Guilford (6-4) kick returner Dontrel Chance brought the opening kickoff back 85 yards untouched for a touchdown, silencing a raucous crowd, but that was as good as it would get for the Vikings. Dazzo had TD runs of 41, seven, 23 and eight yards on the ground, and completed passes of 48 and 59 yards to Bonahoom for the other first-half scores. Bonahoom added a 25-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

"Nothing really fazes us. It doesn't matter how much adversity there is, we fight back from it," Dazzo said. "We could have easily gotten down on ourselves, but we didn't, and we keep improving, keep getting better."

Prospect's test gets tougher next week, when they host Lake Zurich and their talented running back, Jacob Brinlee. Dazzo acknowledged that beating the Bears will be a stern test for his team.

"It will be a lot of fun. They have a great defense, they hit, they're tough kids and their offense is good, they have a lot of guys who can run the ball."

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.