Hull, Vernon Hills roll past Maine East
After scoring 37 unanswered points to open play, Vernon Hills coasted to a second Central Suburban North win on Friday.
Kyle Hull combined for five scores passing and receiving and the Cougars defense pitched a shutout as Vernon Hills romped Maine East 44-0 at Rust-Oleum Field.
"It was nice to come out and get an early lead," said Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo. "We were playing well in all three phases of the game. It was a nice win for homecoming."
Hull was 6 of 9 for 216 yards passing with 4 touchdown tosses, adding a touchdown grab from Jack Himel with 33 yards receiving and 32 on the ground to pace the Cougars.
Nick Marras caught two passes for 114 yards with a touchdown, while Christopher Mariella caught two passes for 94 yards with a pair of scores on the night.
"It was really fun," said Hull. "We had a great time and scoring all of those touchdowns felt good. We definitely have to have great weeks of practice moving forward. We need to bring incredible focus and energy like we did tonight."
The Blue Demons (1-6, 0-3) faced a long night from the get-go.
Their opening possession was doomed when a fourth down snap sailed over punter Michael Bobowik's head into the end zone, where the junior was met by Cougars Kyle Vasbinder and Andrew Smith for a safety.
Vernon Hills (5-2, 2-1) needed just two plays after the kick to reach paydirt. Trey Hommer reeled off a 20-yard run, then Hull connected with Mariella for a 22-yard score to make it 9-0 just five minutes into play.
After a quick forced punt, roles were reversed for Hull, who took a trip to the end-zone himself after a 35-yard grab from Jack Himel.
The next Cougar series saw Hull return under center, needing three plays to find Mariella for a second time. The receiver burst open and dashed 72 yards for a score.
Vernon Hills maintained its defensive presence on the following possession, blocking a punt to set itself up with good field position.
A holding penalty and a 9-yard loss sent the home team backwards, but Hull connected through the air with a 33-yard strike to Nick Marras before touching Drew Winegardner from 4 yards out for six.
The Cougars capped the half with another scoring possession as Jeff Rosenstock bulldogged his way to pay dirt from 25 yards away to make it 37-0 at the mid point.
It was more of the same in the second half.
Hull enforced the running clock on the first offensive play of the third quarter with an 81-yard touchdown toss to Marras to produce the game's final tally.
With two road games remaining in regular season play, the attention turns towards finding that sixth win and becoming playoff eligible.
"We've got to focus on the job at hand," Bellecomo said. "We're really in playoff mode. These seniors, they want to get to the playoffs. We've got to get that sixth win somehow. We're right back to work (Saturday) morning."