Wheeling comes back to beat Vernon Hills

Wheeling came up with an improbable come-from-behind victory Friday night on its home field.

With the winning touchdown coming, incredibly, on a botched play.

The Wildcats scored 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with the final TD coming in the waning seconds, to defeat Vernon Hills 45-42.

"This is awesome," said Wheeling quarterback Michael Best. "At halftime and during the second half we talked about never giving up and fighting as one."

Both Best and Cougars' quarterback Derek Jarrell were brilliant in the first half, as each one tossed 3 touchdown passes.

Jarrell also ran one in from 1 yard out as Vernon Hills took a 28-23 advantage after two quarters.

Then the Cougars' defense came up big in the third quarter.

Joshua Ludolph and Kamrin Martin each recovered a Wildcats fumble in the third and the Cougars' defense stopped Wheeling twice inside the 20.

Meanwhile, Jarrell threw two more touchdown pass as Vernon Hills increased the lead to 42-23 early in the fourth quarter.

Then the Wheeling comeback started.

First Wildcats running back Jonathon Panganiban rushed in from 44 yards away, and minutes later Best fired a 41-yard scoring pass to Kyle Kong.

Then Wheeling got the ball back again and drove to the Vernon Hills 9 where it faced third down with 25 seconds left.

The ensuing snap was errant and flew on the ground past Best, but he was able to race back, retrieve it, and float a winning TD pass to Daniel Provost.

Best tacked on a 2-point conversion, then Wheeling held off a last-gasp effort from Vernon Hills, which drove to midfield.

But with just seconds left, first Heaven Thawng of Wheeling had a big pass breakup from his defensive back position.

A final Hail Mary from Jarrell fell incomplete at the Wheeling 5-yard line as time expired.

"It all came down to who wanted it more," said Wheeling's JP Smith. "We dug deep and got it."

John Quintero caught 2 touchdown passes for Wheeling while Provost also finished with 2.

For hard-luck loser Vernon Hills, Quinn Geren and Giovanni Zullo each had two scoring receptions.

Martin also caught a TD pass for the Cougars.

"We left some points on the field," said Cougars coach Bill Bellecomo. "

"When you've got a team on the ropes, you've got to close them out. Their number 1 (Best) is a competitor and we knew he wasn't going to give up."