Rolling Meadows started off on a steady trot that eventually became a gallop as it posted a 59-27 home triumph over Buffalo Grove on their homecoming game at Hoese Field.

The Mustangs tabulated 460 yards of total offense led by senior signal-caller Joe Brigham’s six total touchdowns (three rushing, three passing) plus a pair of fourth-quarter TD jaunts from Luke Harvey (69 and 27 yards) as part of a 232-yard rushing effort on 18 carries.

The win not only gave the Mustangs (5-1, 2-0) their fifth straight victory, it also likely secured a playoff spot and kept them atop the MSL East standings with three weeks left in regular season play.

“Everybody was brought together and everybody was going in the right direction and we were successful,” Brigham said. “It just feels great.”

Meadows got things going on its opening possession when it marched 75 yards in just seven plays that Brigham completed with a 1-yard keeper with just a little over four minutes having gone by.

Meadows next took advantage of a short field that set themselves up at the Bison 10 due to a 25-yard Jake Harvey punt return. Brigham (19-25 for 221 yards) and Sean Kerr turned the drive into an aerial scoring connection on their first snap of the drive plus a two-point Keeling Murray conversion run that made it 15-0 Meadows with 1:49 left in the first.

After a 31-yard Alexander Zara field goal made it an 18-0 Mustangs lead with 9:28 remaining until the break, Harvey found himself on the receiving end of Brigham’s second TD pass from 16 yards out for a 25-0 lead with 7:50 left in the second.

Buffalo Grove (2-4, 0-2) got on the board when Grady Boeche found Matthew Hong from 19 yards out to close the gap to 25-7 with 1:58 left in the half.

The Mustangs countered with Brigham’s second TD jaunt from 11 yards out with only 6 ticks before halftime, giving the host school a 31-7 edge at the break.

The Bison started their rally with back-to-back TD passes by Boeche (18-27 for 292 yards) of 52 yards to Andrew Lee and a 23-yard scoring toss to Jalil Marshall which were wrapped around a successfully recovered onside kick that pulled them within 31-19 with 5:52 remaining in the third.

Both squads traded scores in the closing moments of the quarter as Brigham ran his third TD in from 4 yards out followed by a 1-yard Matthew Kaput TD run that put Meadows up 38-27 entering the fourth.

The Mustangs were able to snuff out any hopes of a Bison comeback after Brigham’s third TD pass of the evening to Jack Anderson (18 yards) made it 45-27.

That’s when senior Arman Lepuzanovic picked off a Boeche pass in the end zone with just over a couple of minutes gone by in the final stanza that would set up the first of Harvey’s two scores.

“All year long we go by a quote on our helmets — win the moment,” Mustangs coach Devonte Amos said. “Good things are going to happen, bad things are going to happen. We showed that we have some flaws, so we have to look at those in the face and do everything we can to overcome those.”