Vernon Hills surprises from the start
When Zion-Benton's return team lined up for Friday night's kickoff against Vernon Hills, it had no idea what it was in for.
Frankly, neither did anyone else.
On the first play of the game, Vernon Hills kicker Brian Smith pulled off a perfect onside kick that he recovered himself. But Vernon Hills coach Tony Monken wasn't done pulling plays out of his bag of tricks.
On the first play from scrimmage, the Cougars ran a halfback pass play as DaVaris Daniels connected with Keegan Harris for a 35-yard touchdown.
A PAT kick later, and Vernon Hills was up 7-0 eight seconds into the game en route to a 41-15 win in a North Suburban Conference crossover.
"The first two games, we had opened with a toss to (Daniels)," Monken said. "So we figured if they saw him back there, it would set up (the halfback pass) very well."
As surprising as the Cougars' opening onside kick was, what was even more surprising was their next kickoff. Once again, Smith pulled off yet another onside kick and recovered the ball at the Zion 49. While the first score took all of one play, this drive was less efficient, but the outcome was the same as quarterback P.J. Marsek hooked up with Eric Oberwise.
Finally, after two straight scoring drives, Zion-Benton finally got the ball. Zee-Bee running back Michael Braswell made the most of his chance as he ran for a 79-yard touchdown on his team's first play from scrimmage to cut Vernon Hills' lead in half.
Just 4:12 into the game, Vernon Hills and Zion-Benton had put up 3 touchdowns. While Vernon Hills' fireworks were just beginning, Zion-Benton's were fizzling out.
The Cougars went on to score 4 more touchdowns while Zion could only muster a parting shot in the third quarter on a pass from QB TJ Trepanier to Braswell.
"We got in the hole because of that onside kick and they got it right back," Zion coach Kelly Rice said. "All we had was that one play in the first Marsek was extremely efficient, going 9-for-16 for 103 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ernie Choi led the Cougars with 99 yards while Sebastian Evans scored 3 TDs - two on his feet and one through the air.