Vernon Hills Cougars hitting fast forward

Fast might not be fast enough for Vernon Hills this season.

The Cougars, in their up-tempo, no-huddle, pass-happy offense, averaged 60 plays and more than 32 points per game last season. They're committed to pushing the pace even more.

"We'd like to go even faster than last year," Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo said. "We want to step it up from the speed we were last year to Oregon-type speed.

"Our kids love it. Our kids want to play in an offense like this. We see it right away in the lower levels. They're excited to be involved in this. Our parents love it and can't wait to watch us. Our student body wants to see it. Kids nowadays are all about speed. They don't want to sit around and wait for something to happen. They live in a society where everything is go-go-go."

Senior quarterback Connor McNamara will get the Vernon Hills offense go-go-going.

Now in his third year as a starter, McNamara was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in the suburbs last year. He threw for 2,199 yards and 22 touchdowns.

"Last year, you could see his confidence grow," Bellecomo said of McNamara. "This year, he's like another coach on the field. He's been even more confident. When we had our scrimmage, he looked phenomenal. I don't think he missed a read in 40 plays.

"His release is much quicker, he thinks much quicker, he's throwing his long ball with so much touch. He can run. He can do it all."

Well, not everything, of course. McNamara can't also catch his own passes. But not to worry, Vernon Hills fans. He's got plenty of capable targets who can.

The Cougars return three of their top four receivers from last year in Kiwanne Durant, Andres Salazar and Kyle Hull. They'll add a couple of tall 6-foot-2 basketball players in Chris Mariella and Noah Agnew to round out their 5-wide offense.

"We're having a lot of fun with this offense and these receivers," Bellecomo said. "There were a lot of oohs and ahhs during our scrimmage. I don't think Durant dropped a ball all summer and Salazar has made some unbelievable catches.

"All of our receivers will get plenty (of targets). It's basically going to be what the defense gives us. We think this offense is going to give us the biggest edge. What stresses a defense the most is a no-huddle, hurry-up offense with the field spread and a lot of receivers. Defenses get gassed and most high school teams don't defend the pass very well."

Speaking of defense, Vernon Hills returns seven starters there, starting with linebacker Andrew Smith. He was the Cougars' leading tackler last year.

"He's vocal, always talking," Bellecomo said of Smith. "And he's an emotional leader. We've been stressing to our defense that we want turnovers. We want to get the ball back to our offense as soon as we can. So we work a lot on stripping the ball, and poking it out as we tackle.

"We want our offense to have to ball as much as possible. We want to light it up."