Vernon Hills' small squad looking for big things
Soon after Vernon Hills' football team completed its scrimmage last Friday night at Rust-Oleum Field, the stadium lights shut off. Players scattered quickly, as did other coaches and school officials, leaving head coach Tony Monken seeking for light as he locked the gate.
The Cougars figure to be a tidy group on the field, too. And with some speed to burn, they could have some ballcarriers running with plenty of daylight in front of them.
Always one of the best-coached teams in Lake County, Vernon Hills counts only 33 players on its roster.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"When we won (the North Suburban Prairie Division) in 2005, we had only 31," Monken said.
Key for the Cougars will be staying healthy, considering their small roster.
In senior quarterback PJ Marsek, they have a talent in a small package.
The 5-foot-9, 160-pound Marsek will operate the Cougars' option attack for the second straight year.
"You can see with him having that year under his belt, his reads are much sharper," Monken said. "I made the comment the other day that I think any time that you have a full season where you're the starter, the next year the game's slower for you. It's easier. You can definitely see it with him running the option right now."
When Marsek isn't keeping the ball, he'll look to get it to highly athletic wide receiver DaVaris Daniels. The 6-2 sophomore made an instant splash when called up after Week 3 last year. While he'll start at both receiver and free safety, Daniels will also return kicks and punts again, and also figures to line up at the wingback position at times.
"We're going to try to get him the ball 10-15 times a game," Monken said. "But with him playing both ways, we have to watch how much we use him. We don't want to wear people out and lose him."
Like Daniels, whose father Phillip plays for the Washington Redskins, fellow sophomore Evan Spencer has NFL bloodlines. He's the son of Bears running backs coach and former San Diego Charger Tim Spencer.
Spencer will start at the other wide receiver spot and also return kicks.
"He's going to be something special," Monken said.
Ernie Choi replaces the graduate Larry Guerrero at tailback. The offensive line features veteran center Jeremy Peterson (5-10, 250), plus Brian Lockwood (6-3, 240), Art Royzengurt (6-4, 210), Chris Morgan (6-3, 200) and Dennis Kozel (6-2, 190).
"They were all 300 (pounds) at the start of camp and they're all under 230 now," Monken said, laughing. "It's the tallest O-line we've ever had. But we're not big guys as far as weight goes. They're tall guys that move well. For our offense, that's what we have to have."
The defense features returning starters Ian Sonnenberg (nose), EJ Lannan (inside linebacker), Keegan Harris (cornerback) and Daniels.