Wheeling's Dennis is a menace to Vernon Hills
Wheeling needed a win badly.
The Wildcats were 0-2 Going into Friday's game against Vernon Hills, and had their hearts broken in a 35-34 loss to Schaumburg the previous week on a missed extra point.
But on this night, the Wildcats dominated possession and the line of scrimmage in a 21-14 win over Vernon Hills. The win was their first of the season, while the Cougars suffered their first loss of the fall.
"It was a bloodbath in practice this week," Wheeling quarterback Jalen Dennis said. "It came down to a couple of plays at the end of the game (last week), and we just made sure that we were giving it 100 percent effort in practice. We watched the film, got better and it showed out there tonight."
The versatility of Wheeling's quarterback was on full display as he threw for 158 passing yards and ran for 194 of his team's 264. Dennis also scored all three of the Wildcat touchdowns.
The decisive touchdown came from a 30-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter as Dennis simply outran the Cougars defenders.
"The first gap I saw, I made a move," Dennis said. "I made a one step cut and I tried getting vertical as fast as I could. The receivers did a great job blocking and I couldn't thank them more."
The Wildcats ran the ball 43 times and averaged 6.1 runs per carry. Their starting quarterback ran the ball 25 out of those 43 rushes.
"I have to give all the credit to my offensive line," Dennis said. "They fought their (tails) off with blocking and running their feet. Fighting is what matters and that is what they did."
Vernon Hills made it a ballgame after two unanswered Jack Himel touchdown passes. However, the steady running attack of Dennis and senior Jason Shannon kept the Cougars offense off the field.
Vernon Hills was without starting quarterback Kyle Hull on Friday, which put their backup quarterback in the spotlight. He completed 16 passes for 143 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
His biggest play came early in the fourth quarter as he got the cornerback to bite on a pump fake and bombed a 38-yard strike to Christopher Mariella down the right sideline.
"(Himel) didn't hear some plays that came in from the sidelines in crucial spots," coach Bill Bellecomo quote. "Otherwise, he did a pretty good job of leading our comeback. I thought he was pretty gutsy out there."
One of those crucial spots came with 5:35 to play in the fourth quarter. Vernon Hills forced a three-and-out and was only down 7 points. However, the Cougars' drive came to a screeching halt after a third-down run play went for no gain and the Cougars were forced to punt.
"I was kind of upset with the focus from our guys," Bellecomo said. "We have to work on that and come ready to play (next Friday)."