Picture this: Vernon Hills is a champion
Vernon Hills' senior football players can consider themselves an elite eight.
Last winter, Cougars coach Tony Monken placed a sign in his team's weight room. It featured a picture of the 2007 sophomore team with helmets replacing the heads of the players who were no longer playing. Below the picture read, "Those who stay will be champions."
Monken was right.
Playing on Carmel's artificial turf because its own grass field was flooded due to the recent heavy rain, Vernon Hills looked right at home Friday night. The Cougars scored 17 unanswered points, including 10 after halftime, en route to a 17-7 win over visiting Grant.
The Cougars' sixth straight win moved them to 7-1 overall and more importantly completed a 6-0 run through the North Suburban Conference Prairie Division.
Vernon Hills, which entered the game having already clinched a share of the division championship, earned its first outright title since going 6-0 in 2005.
"I'm so proud of them right now," Monken said of seniors Chris Anders, Zach Kisley, Ryan Manso, Thomas Turner, Eric Oberwise, E.J. Lannan, Chris Morgan and Art Royzengurt. "It's a great night for our program and a great night for those kids."
The loss dropped Grant to 3-5 (3-2 NSC Prairie), meaning the Bulldogs will not make the state playoffs for the first time since 2004.
"We didn't deserve to go to the playoffs," Grant coach Kurt Rous said. "Our play has been sporadic all season."
Evan Spencer was among those who had a great night for Vernon Hills. The junior rushed 10 times for a career-best 183 yards and scored both of his team's touchdowns. He busted off an 85-yard TD run in the first quarter to pull Vernon Hills even and scored from 30 yards out in the third quarter, after Kisley's 37-yard field goal snapped a 7-7 tie.
"I was getting the ball and I had holes," Spencer said. "I had places to run when I was getting the ball. Everything was just set up for me."
While Spencer and fullback Brian Palmer (19 carries, 117 yards) led the Cougars' ground attack, Vernon Hills' defense was stout. The Cougars limited Grant to minus-2 passing yards.
"Our defense has been playing well all year," said Lannan, the three-varsity linebacker who had his fourth interception and was also a force on the offensive line. "Our offense finally stepped up. '
Grant quarterback Justin Cokefair (12 carries, 94 yards) scored from 67 yards out on a fourth-and-1 play on the Bulldogs' first possession of the night, but he injured his knee in the second quarter and watched the second half on crutches.
"We were a little disappointed that Cokefair had to go out of the game," Lannan said. "We wanted to play them at full-strength. We hope he gets better."
Vernon Hills lost 4 fumbles, but none resulted in points.
"They gave us chances," Rous said. "Our offense was inept. We couldn't block a soul. Their offensive and defensive lines just punished us. They did a good job. They outplayed us, out-coached us, outhit us, out-division-won us."