Vernon Hills handles Wauconda, hopes for playoffs
If Sam Maloof ever wondered what it was like to be a juror during the O.J. Simpson or Casey Anthony trials, he'll get a small taste today when he takes the ACT.
It will be like he is sequestered.
The Vernon Hills running back will be holed up in one place for hours at a time, five to be exact, and he'll be completely cut off from the outside world.
And on today of all days, Maloof doesn't want that.
He will be desperate to be connected, to be in the loop.
“I'm not going to know anything,” Maloof said. “It's going to be so hard. I'm going to want to know what's going on.”
While Maloof will be trying his best to stay focused on his college entrance exam, his coaches and teammates will be piecing together the IHSA football playoff picture. And before Maloof emerges from his exam, they may know whether or not they've made the cut.
On Friday night, Vernon Hills didn't know.
All the Cougars knew for sure is that they became playoff eligible by definitively defeating Wauconda 33-6 to get their fifth win of the season.
They left the friendly confines of Rust-Oleum Field praying that they'd have enough playoff points to make the cut, and that the dozens of teams that sat ahead of them on the list heading into the night somehow faltered in their season finales.
Vernon Hills won its last three games to finish the season at 5-4. Three of the Cougars' four losses are by a combined 5 points.
“We didn't want it to come down to this,” said Maloof, who rushed for 109 yards and 3 touchdowns on 20 carries against Wauconda (2-7). “We have a lot of regrets about the beginning of the season. We feel like we would have won a lot more games if we were playing with the energy that we are now.
“But at least we got ourselves an opportunity to make it to the playoffs. Now we just have to wait and see.”
It will be a grueling wait for the Cougars, who aren't used to getting an 11th-hour invitation to the playoffs.
Vernon Hills, which entered the season as the two-time defending North Suburban Prairie Division champions, has made the playoffs in nine of the 10 years the program has been competing with a full squad (including seniors).
“It's a reminder that every week in high school football in this state, you can't afford to make a mistake,” Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. “We had a couple weeks in which we had games that were very winnable for us and probably one (St. Francis) we should have won. We've put ourselves in this position, but I feel better now because a few weeks ago we were hurting. We were 2-4 and dying. I told the seniors, ‘Take over. We need to get back to having fun and playing the way we know how to play.' They talked to the team and we've been able to come back from it.”
Wauconda, meanwhile, could never come back from an early mistake.
The Bulldogs fumbled on the first play of the game, deep in their own territory, and Vernon Hills recovered.
On the very next play, Maloof rumbled his way for an 18-yard touchdown.
The Cougars scored 3 of their 5 touchdowns on short fields. The other two came after yet another Wauconda fumble and after a sack of Wauconda quarterback Branden Rowe.
“When you take a team like Vernon Hills and give them a very short field, they're going to do what they do and they were effective tonight,” said Wauconda coach Dave Mills, whose team was held to just 104 yards of total offense. “It was almost as if we were disinterested. And instead of playing as 11, we played like 11 ones, 11 (individuals) and you can't do that.”
By halftime, the Cougars were up 19-0 and were up 33-0 just a few seconds into the fourth quarter. Beside Maloof, Dylan McNamara (67 total rushing yards) and Jarrett Wood also rushed for touchdowns.
The Bulldogs finally cracked the scoreboard with 1:15 left to play when Kyle Shaw scored on a 5-yard run.
Quarterback Branden Rowe, who struggled for much of the night, finally got in a rhythm and directed a drive in which the Bulldogs marched 84 yards on 16 plays. He completed 4-of-9 passes for 38 yards during that stretch.
Overall, Rowe went 5-of-21 for 47 yards.
“Offensively, I don't know what happened today,” said Rowe, who directed a passing attack that was normally much more effective this season, so much so, in fact, that he's getting looks from multiple colleges. “We didn't have a lot of energy and as soon as we fumbled on the first series, that just put a huge dent in it.”