Scouting Round Lake at Vernon Hills

Round Lake (1-2, 0-1) at Vernon Hills (3-0, 1-0)

When: 7 p.m., today

Last week: Round Lake lost to Grant, 43-6; Vernon Hills def. Lakes, 47-0.

Outlook: Sooner or later, the Vernon Hills defense will give up a point. Or will it? "Well, we have gotten on a great roll," Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said of his ultra-stingy Cougars, who have three shutouts to their name so far. "Actually, going back to last season, we have four shutouts in our last five games. We brought back seven starters on defense. The seniors we lost were pretty intense and I think they set a tone that has kind of carried over to this year. Between the experience we have and the intensity, we've been pretty tough. We're not doing anything different defensively. I just think other teams are having a hard time matching our intensity." - Teams have had a hard time matching Vernon Hills period. The defense has not only protected the end zone, it has protected its entire territory. Offenses struggle to move the ball against the Cougars and then the Vernon Hills offense gets the ball back with great field position. Vernon Hills, which has been starting at about its own 40 or 45-yard line on most possessions, is averaging 49.3 points per game, and superstars such as DaVaris Daniels and Evan Spencer are rolling up the points. Daniels had 4 touchdowns last week against Lakes while Spencer had 2, one of which was a 40-yard pass from Daniels. "It goes hand-in-hand," Monken said. "Because our defense is playing so well, they're just setting us up so nicely. They're really making us look good." - Round Lake had just the opposite experience last week against Grant. The Panthers were held to just 69 total yards of offense and had 3 turnovers. Jacoby Griffin and Danny Vega will get the most action out of the backfield for Round Lake.