Vernon Hills duo getting it done
The Connor McNamara magic continued … with a little help from Kiwanne Durant.
Four scoring connections between Vernon Hills' junior tandem keyed a 50-0 homecoming romp over Round Lake in North Suburban Prairie action at Rust-Oleum Field on Friday.
"Some of them weren't great throws, but (Durant) was making great plays out there," McNamara said. "It was a lot of fun. We've got to find the holes and keep doing what we're doing, keep getting better on offense."
McNamara completed 22 of 41 passes for 305 yards and the four scores with 1 interception for the Cougars, who improved to 3-2 overall and a 2-1 mark in league play.
Overall, Durant reeled in 13 catches for 204 yards, while fellow classmate Andres Salazar landed a 5-catch, 84-yard outing on top of rushing touchdowns to open each half.
More importantly, for Vernon Hills, was its success on the defensive side of the ball. One week after falling to Antioch in a 42-40 nail biter, the Cougars created 3 turnovers and held the Panthers to under 100 yards on the ground.
"We needed that," said Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo. "We've got some younger kids on the defensive side of the ball. After last week, we needed to come out and play well defensively. We've still got some things we need to sure up, but I was pleased with the effort."
Following the initial kick, McNamara completed his first five passes on the opening drive to set up Salazar's trip to paydirt.
On the flip side, a combined sack from Cougars Andrew Smith and Steven Didier led to a short Panther punt. Three incompletions later, McNamara landed a soft, fourth-down spiral into the hands of Durant for an 18-yard score.
From there, Round Lake (1-4, 0-2) found a semblance of success behind quarterback Ron Steadman and tailback Chris Perry driving into the red zone on consecutive series only to be held on downs.
What could have been a first-half thriller became a runaway.
McNamara overcame an interception with a 16-yard strike to Salazar, then threaded the needle through two defenders on a rope with a centerfield pass to Durant, who raced 57 yards to the house with 1:08 on the clock.
Just as quickly, a forced fumble on the following Panther possession gave Vernon Hills another crack at scoring with 39 seconds remaining.
McNamara reeled off a 36-yard vaunt, touched Salazar for a 22-yard pickup and hit a stiff-arming Durant from 17 out to make it a 29-0 game with 12.9 seconds remaining in the half.
"Round Lake came out in the first half and had a real good game plan," said Bellecomo, whose squad visits Lakes next week. "They were milking the clock and really slowing us down. That was kind of messing us up early on. We got into a rhythm toward the end of the half. That's how we are. We like to go fast and get in a rhythm and finally we did that."
Senior Kyle Thomas opened the second half with an interception for the Cougars two plays into the frame. The Vernon Hills offense needed seven plays to reach the end zone with Salazar.
"Our line is doing good and Connor has been finding everybody consistently," Salazar said. "I couldn't have done it without Connor and the line blocking."
The following Cougar drive ended the same way three did in the first half, this time via a 25-yard connection between McNamara and Durant.
After its defense delivered another strong stand to open the fourth quarter, Vernon Hills capped the game with a 32-yard scoring run from Josh Williams to cap the game.
"It's a great way to respond from last week," added Cougars defensive end Steven Didier, following an 11-stop and half-sack outing. "We didn't play well defensively. I don't know how you drop 40 points and still lose a game. To come back with a shutout just feels great."
Round Lake, which visits North Chicago next Friday, was paced by 53 yards on the ground from Perry. Steadman completed 10 of 16 for 92 yards with an interception.