Scouting Vernon Hills in the Class 5A quarterfinals
Class 5A
No. 14 Woodstock Marian Central Catholic Hurricanes (7-4) at No. 7 Vernon Hills Cougars (8-3)When: 1 p.m., Saturday
Road to the quarterfinals: Marian def. Chicago Payton, 49-14, and Hillcrest, 30-14; Vernon Hills def. Chicago Urban Prep/Bronzeville, 56-6 and Nazareth, 10-2.
Playoff history: Marian has been to the playoffs 11 of the last 13 years and the last seven straight. Overall, the Hurricanes have made 25 playoff appearances and won state championships in 1983, 1986, 1987 and 1989. They placed second in 1985. Vernon Hills is making its 11th playoff appearance and its second straight. This is the Cougars' third trip to the quarterfinals.
Skinny: Vernon Hills is looking to make history. The Cougars have been to the quarterfinals in two previous seasons (2001, 2010) but have never advanced beyond, and this group, which includes a handful of seniors who are heavily invested as three-year starters, is hungry to leave a legacy. "The community is electric and it's electric in the halls. It's great, people are really excited," Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo said. "I think we've got the kind of group that can respond to this challenge."…The Cougars have been strong on defense all season, leading the Central Suburban League in fewest points allowed (12.4 ppg), and last week was no exception. Vernon Hills let up no points on defense and gave Nazareth, a two-time defending state champion, few scoring opportunities. The Cougars forced 6 Nazareth punts, created and recovered 5 fumbles and came up with an interception. "It was our best defensive game of the season," Bellecomo said. "It was 11 guys flying to the ball, we were stripping the ball and we were really physical. We tell the guys that when we watch film, we want to see 11 guys in the frame. We came out right from the whistle." Max Lyle and Andrew "Chick" Smith had big games defensively for Vernon Hills…Lyle also scored the Cougars' only touchdown, a 25-yard pass from quarterback Kyle Hull. Lyle caught a total of 4 passes for 57 yards. Hull completed 17-of-27 passes for 181 yards. He did, however, throw 4 interceptions. "Kyle was under pressure all day, but he had a couple of big runs," Bellecomo said. "He made enough plays to help us get 10 points." Drew Winegardner also made quite a few plays on offense for Vernon Hills. He ran the ball and caught it for a combined 83 yards…Marian Catholic's big guns in its run-oriented offense are quarterback Gavin Scott and running back Brian Niemaszek. Scott suffered a sprained right ankle last week but walked off the field under his own power. Niemaszeck rushed for 205 yards on 20 carries…Marian had a stretch this season in which it lost four of five games, which includes a loss to Carmel, 45-38 in double overtime. Carmel and Marian are two of seven teams in the 10-team East Suburban Catholic Conference that made the playoffs.
Next: Winner advances to the semifinals and will face the winner of No. 1 Sterling (11-0) at No. 13 Sycamore (7-4).
- Patricia Babcock McGraw