Libertyville 30, Vernon Hills 8

Week after week, Libertyville's football team finds obstacles to get around.

The Wildcats got big efforts from both their defense and special teams on Friday night as they walked away with a 30-8 victory over district rival Vernon Hills in a North Suburban Conference crossover on homecoming at Libertyville.

The Wildcats (2-2) capitalized on a couple of Vernon Hill fumbles, an interception and a safety.

"Our defense came out huge," Libertyville coach Randy Kuceyeski said. "We've been playing tough every week. They came up with key turnovers at critical times. They keep fighting with our backs against the wall."

Those Vernon Hills turnovers led to 23 unanswered points for Libertyville.

"I expect a thank-you card for all the turnovers we gave (Libertyville)," Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. "We gave them the game and had our chances early. Our turnovers were the big difference. We were in their red zone a couple of times and didn't get much out of it."

The Wildcats opened up a 2-0 advantage collecting a safety late in the opening quarter, when the ball rolled out of the Vernon Hills end zone on a bad snap during an attempted punt.

Vernon Hills (2-2) had a great opportunity to take the lead midway through the second quarter, when the Cougars marched down to the Libertyville 1. But they fumbled the snap and lost the ball.

"It made a big difference in the game," Monken said. "We had our chances and there's nothing we can do."

A few minutes later, Libertyville's Dan Dickson picked off a pass and scored on an 80-yard return with 3:42 remaining in the second quarter, giving the Wildcats a 9-0 lead.

"I just dropped back, looked and saw the quarterback looking my way, Dickson said. "I saw the opportunity and took it. I also had a great block by linebacker Andrew Jones and had the whole lane the rest of the way."

The Wildcats' Justin Dietz recovered a muffed Vernon Hills kickoff return at the 13-yard line on the ensuing kickoff and Tim Matheson (7 carries, 93 yards) scored three plays later on an 8-yard run as Libertyville took a 16-0 lead with 2:40 left.

Libertyville added two more scores. Matheson had a 66-yard rushing touchdown on the opening play of the second half and Carl Ganz caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tom Piazzi.

Vernon Hills added a late touchdown as reserve senior quarterback James Hallendorff tossed 16-yard touchdown pass to Zach Wheeler.

The Cougars used three quarterbacks. Senior Ryan Flis started and junior P.J. Marsek, who was injured last week, played in the second and part of the fourth quarter.