Vernon Hills is 1-7 against Maine West since September of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Cougars will be playing at home against the Warriors at 7:00 p.m. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.
On Friday, Vernon Hills made easy work of Niles West and carried off a 27-6 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cougars.
Colin McMurray went supernova, rushing for 148 yards and a pair of TDs on only 11 carries, while also throwing for 80 yards and two touchdowns. He got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run that went for an incredible 75 yards. Jack Gutowski was another key player, picking up 143 receiving yards and two scores.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Vernon Hills was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 200 rushing yards. They are a perfect 3-0 when they've run for more than 200 yards.
Vernon Hills didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Devin Ratajczyk. Another thorn in Niles West's side was Lex Sarantos, who made 22 total tackles (1.5 for loss) and defended one pass.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Maine West). They blew past Maine East, posting a 49-0 win. The high-scoring effort was just what the Warriors needed considering they were shut out in their previous matchup.
The victory was their first at home , bumping their record up to 3-4. As for Vernon Hills, their win bumped their record up to an identical 3-4.
Vernon Hills was taken down by Maine West 41-14 when the teams last played back in October of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Cougars were down 41-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
