Daniels,Vernon Hills grow up

Upon first glance at Vernon Hills football standout DaVaris Daniels, the sheepish grin and braces are a near dead giveaway that the multi-talented Cougar is just a sophomore in his second season of varsity football.

Put the shoulder pads, helmet and No. 3 jersey on Daniels and he looks like anything but an underclassman.

In what has turned out to be a historic first month for Vernon Hills, Daniels was simply sensational on Friday night. His 234 all-purpose yards included a touchdown running and one throwing in helping the Cougars to a 28-7 win over visiting North Chicago in North Suburban Prairie Division play.

"Daniels is a stud," said North Chicago coach Darryl King. "He has NFL lineage and we tried to defend him, but we didn't do a very good job of it."

Daniels and the Cougars are 4-0 (1-0 in divisional play) for the first time in school history and defeated the Warhawks at Rust-O-Leum Field also for the first time. North Chicago fell to 0-2 in divisional play, 1-3 overall.

"There is no way, with the way (Daniels) plays, that he looks like a sophomore," Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. "The instincts he has are just incredible."

Daniels can't do it alone, but along with sophomore running mate Evan Spencer and senior quarterback P.J. Marsek, he has plenty of help.

"There is a lot that Evan and I can do," Daniels said. "So I know the coaches try and utilize what we have to offer."

Spencer offered up his talents first as he made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone from Marsek to tie the game 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. Then the Cougars reached into their bag of tricks and pulled out a pair of aces.

After junior Chris Morgan recovered a fumble following a lengthy North Chicago drive, Monken, who loves to run the gadget and trick play, pulled off another surprise.

It started with a reverse to Daniels who ran all the way to the far sideline. The Warhawk defense was so worried about Daniels that they forgot all about Spencer - but Daniels didn't as he hit Spencer in stride for an 88-yard scoring play and a 21-7 advantage.

Daniels closed out his amazing night with an interception on defense and subsequent return of 39 yards, then followed that up on the very next play with a 32-yard touchdown run to put the game away.

"We are excited about being 4-0," Monken said. "We have a lot of weapons to give us a shot and the kids have played well to this point."