Bison take major step forward

There were Bison stampeding everywhere Friday night at Rolling Meadows.

Buffalo Grove football players raced around the field and deliriously celebrated. Retiring head coach Rich Roberts hugged his son Jimmy and players Josh Hampton and J.P. Kulick.

The Bison didn't just avoid playoff extinction. They pumped a lot of life into their postseason hopes by going to the home of the undefeated and top-ranked Class 7A team in the state and pulling off a 12-10 upset.

"We definitely had a feeling we could beat them," said BG senior cornerback Fred Cornely, who had the difficult assignment of defending Division I recruit Ty Kirk.

"We believed," said BG senior Sean McCourt. "We knew we could beat this team from the beginning. We believed we'd come out on top."

Thanks to McCourt's first interception since his sophomore year, the Bison can still believe about playoff dreams with a chance to break a three-year postseason drought next week when they host Prospect.

And this was no fluke as the Bison outgained Meadows 276-135. Gritty quarterback John Bakun showed they were here to play by firing a second-quarter touchdown pass to Paul Timko.

Hampton was back after missing last week and showed his electrifying ability on a 55-yard run that put the Bison ahead to stay on the third play of the second half.

Mike Staudt's line of Marc Damisch, Kelan Ern, Matt Rosenberg, Zach Wodka and Joey Busse helped the Bison keep the ball away with a 57-39 play advantage on the dangerous Mustangs.

"There isn't a better offensive lineman around than Damisch," Roberts beamed of the 6-foot-6, 280-pound Indiana-bound right tackle. "He's proven it game in and game out."

And Roberts exclaimed "it was the old Bison 'D'" coordinated by Kip North that contained the Mustangs.

Junior ends John Pischak and Alan Baxter set an early tone with sticks for losses. Cornely had a spectacular one-hand interception of a deep pass for Kirk.

Bakun's twin brother James and Steve Miller came up to make big plays. Cornely had another huge one by sniffing out a toss out to Kirk and stuffing him for a 5-yard loss on third-and-goal.

That forced Meadows to settle for a field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter. And it was moving into position for a game-winner when McCourt turned and made a leaping interception 5 yards from his end zone.

"They had run that route all night and I had a hunch," McCourt said.

And a whole bunch of fun after BG ran out the final 3:37.

"This is the best game I've ever played," said McCourt, who gave his dad Brian a nice 52nd birthday gift. "This is the highlight of my life right now."

McCourt and his teammates would like to give their old coach another one next week as BG celebrates Roberts' career.

"This one's for coach," Cornely said.

"This is coach Roberts' year," McCourt said. "We want to give it to him and go out with a bang and this was step one."

A really big step.