Another night, another shutout as Vernon Hills rolls

In its first two wins of the season, Vernon Hills' football team outscored its opponents 101-0.

That margin grew significantly Friday night.

A North Suburban Prairie Division opener between undefeated teams that was supposed to be competitive quickly turned into a one-sided affair, as Vernon Hills rolled to a 47-0 win in Lake Villa on Friday night.

Vernon Hills (3-0) received 3 touchdown runs from DaVaris Daniels (12 rushes, 155 yards), who also threw a 40-yard TD pass to Evan Spencer to open the scoring.

"I was surprised we ran so much," Daniels said. "I thought we were going to pass a lot."

The Cougars rolled up 326 rushing yards. They put Lakes (2-1) in a hole early, jumping out to a 12-0 lead after one quarter and extending the margin to 32-0 by halftime.

"We are having fun dominating," Daniels said. "We'll take a win anyway we can get it."

Vernon Hills scored on its first three drives, starting with Daniels' TD pass to his buddy Spencer (2 receptions for 52 yards, 3 rushes for 6 yards).

"We like to come out right away and show teams we are not messing around," Spencer said.

While the Cougars' big-play offense gets a lot of recognition, their defense has been stellar too.

"Everyone just swarms the ball," Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken said. "Everyone is excited on defense, and everyone wants the shutouts to keep coming."

The Cougars held Lakes to just 50 yards in the first half with 1 first down. They limited Eagles running back James Zell to just 37 yards rushing.

"The defense is working hard and having fun," Monken said. "They are a big reason we score so many points, because of turnovers. And we get the ball back fast."

Vernon Hills' Ryan Brown picked off Eagles quarterback Jeff Eder with 1:34 left in the game, preserving the Cougars' shutout.