Johnson’s 3 TD passes helps Gould win 1st game at Rolling Meadows

The traditional postgame lineup was about to start Friday night at Conant’s Feutz Field. But first Rolling Meadows coach Robbie Gould gave senior quarterback Quincy Johnson an emphatic handshake with a big smile and some congratulatory words.

Johnson stepped in as the starter on a day’s notice and delivered 3 touchdown passes and the first victory for the former Bears star kicker Gould as a high school head coach. The Mustangs scored on their first three possessions and rolled to a 34-12 Mid-Suburban League crossover victory.

“Everybody on the team has got to be ready and fight for everybody every day,” Johnson said after completing 11 of 16 passes for 212 yards.

“It feels great and it gives us a bunch of confidence,” said senior offensive tackle David Prado after the Mustangs finished with 360 yards of total offense. “We know we can be a great team.”

Johnson found out before practice Thursday that junior starter Joe Brigham wouldn’t be able to play because of an injury. He missed on his first pass but hit his next seven, including touchdowns of 48 yards on a screen to sophomore Luke Harvey and 19 yards on a laser to freshman Shea Wells (4 catches, 95 yards) to put the Mustangs (1-1) up 21-6 at halftime.

“We have a nice luxury with two really good quarterbacks who could start on any varsity team in the Chicagoland area,” Gould said of Johnson and Brigham.

“We had all the confidence in Quincy,” Prado said. “He’s a leader. He’s going to step up and make plays when we need him to drive us down the field.”

Wells also showed his dynamic ability by scoring the first touchdown on a 4-yard jet sweep and the last one by turning a short sideline pass into a 64-yard sprint to end zone after a quick move on a defender.

And Prado and linemates Liam Riley, Luis Carillo, Lucas Brickman and Noah Brickman showed Meadows’ ability to grind down opponents when junior Keeling Murray’s 5-yard touchdown run capped a 15-play, 85-yard march that ate up the first 6:59 of the second half.

“Our O-line up front was great,” Johnson said.

“I thought the kids played physical,” Gould said. “Last week (28-14 loss at Pekin) we got in the red zone but this week it was nice to see us actually finish in the red zone.”

Conant (0-2) got within 14-6 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Jalen Davis (23 carries, 96 yards) but didn’t score again until quarterback Tyler Marchese’s 13-yard run with 2:42 left. Meadows also had big defensive plays that included a leaping end zone interception by Arman Lepuzanovic, a fumble recovery by Josh Rappa and strong play by Peyton Wiles, Sean Kerr, John Rappa, Tristan Visor and Gunnar Woetzel.

“I think this will bring us to another level throughout the season,” Johnson said, “and we can show everybody what we can do.”