Another big win for Vernon Hills

Vernon Hills' defense held visiting Round Lake to only 56 yards of offense as the Cougars shut out the visiting Panthers 60-0 in a North Suburban Conference Prairie Division football game Thursday.

Outside linebacker Austin Miller was happy to see his team play with the same intensity all game.

"We came out fired up and ready to go," said Miller, who had 8 tackles and 2 interceptions to lead the Cougar defense. "We got a great group of guys that are always ready to make tackles and take the ball away."

The Cougars scored 27 points in the first quarter and 20 in the second.

DaVaris Daniels and Evan Spencer led the offense with 2 touchdowns each in the first half

Daniels started the barrage with 2 touchdowns in the first quarter.

His first one was a 62-yard punt return. Later he caught a 45-yard pass from quarterback Steve Nelson.

Spencer rushed for 20 yards for his first touchdown in the first quarter, and then he caught a 7-yard pass in the second quarter.

With the score 33-0, Nelson pitched the ball to running back Brian Palmer, who threw a 37-yard pass to M.J. Crowley to execute the hook-and-ladder play.

"I saw the hook-and-ladder play in a youth football game a couple of weeks ago," Cougars coach Tony Monken said. "I thought we would use it tonight, and it worked."

Palmer also scored on a 3-yard run up the middle late in the second quarter and junior Grady Skeoch ended the scoring by intercepting a pass and returning it for 47 yards late in the fourth quarter.

Vernon Hills' defense snared 4 interceptions and recovered 3 fumbles

"I thought we had a good week in practice," said Round Lake coach John Coursey said. "We had way too many turnovers and we have to take care of our own buisness and work out the mistakes."