You don't shootout your way to a football title
There have been plenty of teams with prolific offenses to win state football titles in Illinois. Teams with leaky defenses don't end up with the ultimate prize, however.
In the wake of Prospect giving up 76 points the last two weeks and 138 in five games this season, it was time to put the crack research staff to work (OK, that would be me) to see what the likelihood was of a champion giving up close to 28 points a game.
Answer - since 1996, not even close to likely at all. The most points allowed by a state champion in that span was Downers Grove South at 280 (20 per game) en route to the 8A title in 2001. In 2005, 1A champ Freeport Aquin allowed 275 points in 14 games.
And during Prospect's 7A title seasons it allowed 105 points (2001), 167 (2002) and 153 (2005).
One possible concern brought up was the number of two-way starters the Knights have. But in their title seasons, they also had a pretty fair amount of key guys playing significant parts on both sides of the ball.
Yes, they have faced some bigger teams with grind-it-out offenses which tried to play the proverbial stall compared to the Knights' fastbreak attack led by QB Miles Osei. But as coach Brent Pearlman said before last week's first loss to Buffalo Grove, eventually you have to start finding ways to stop someone.
If they don't, then the numbers would suggest their goal of success in Champaign is unlikely.
For better or worse, this is how Pearlman has coached since he took over the reigns. He plays as few players as he can and gets the most out of them. A few years ago, when he had some injuries in the defensive backfield, instead of playing one of the second string defensive back who had been practicing all season at the position, he put in the starting quarterback. Good decision? Bad decision?
It depends on what you want. If your sole goal is to win the playoffs, I suppose that's the best decision. If your goal is to have a successful program where a lot of these kids get the opportunity to actively contribute on the field, then I wonder at what cost those decisions are made.