Vernon Hills' running game stymies Storm

The call was made early by Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken, and it was to run as the Cougars (2-0) defeated the South Elgin Storm 41-3 in nonconference football action at Millennium Field on Friday night.

On their first possession and only possession in the first quarter, the Cougars ran for 70 yards, most of which came from Ernie Choi up the middle for 47 yards, and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from Sebastian Evans.

In the second quarter, the Storm (0-2) defense limited the threat from Choi, but the Cougars found the holes again in their final 2 possessions of the half as quarterback PJ Marsek ran into the end zone twice on the first play from scrimmage with a 49-yard run and a 12-yard run.

"We're a running team," Monken said. "We rushed for almost 400 yards last week and we almost did that again this week. We're a triple threat offense, but our running game is key."

The final touchdown of the half was set up by a Killian Rayl interception while the Storm allowed 4 turnovers in total with the Cougars converting on two.

"You can't turn the ball over four times and expect to win," said Storm coach Dale Schabert.

DaVaris Daniels gave the Cougars a 28-0 lead in the third quarter on a 60-yard run while Marsek later threw a 22-yard TD pass to Evans in the quarter.

The Storm avoided the shutout one minute into the fourth quarter as David Reisner kicked a 23-yard field goal.

Reisner also had the distance twice before just missing left of the post with a 35-yard attempt in the final seconds of the first half and a 34-yard attempt in the third quarter.

"He's hit a healthy 48 in practice," Schabert said. "I thought he had the second attempt, but it just missed by inches."

Nate Moraton ran for a 25-yard TD to finish the scoring for the Cougars.

Choi rushed for 106 yards for the Cougars, who finished with 362 as a team, while Kelvin Ware ran for 90 yards of the Storm's 138 rushing yards.