Highland Park is preparing for their first conference matchup of the season on Friday. They are taking a road trip to challenge the Vernon Hills Cougars at 7:30 p.m. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this contest.
Last Friday, Highland Park was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap as they fell 28-24 to Conant. The Giants have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, Vernon Hills played a tough match on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They were dealt a 49-7 defeat at the hands of Schaumburg. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 369th, while the Saxons are ranked 155th).
Highland Park's loss dropped their record down to 2-2. As for Vernon Hills, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-3.
Highland Park was able to grind out a solid win over Vernon Hills in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, winning 43-36. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was the Cougars' Giuseppe Urso, who rushed for 235 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.1 yards per carry. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Giants still be able to contain Urso? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
