Up nine in the fourth, Giants can’t hang on in opener

Winning is wonderful. As Highland Park football coach Anthony Kopp pointed out Friday, every team hopes to start the season 1-0.

But only half of them get to.

Count the Giants in the unfortunate half following a wrenching 28-23 loss to host Leyden on Friday, Aug. 21, in Northlake.

The Eagles overcame a nine-point deficit in the final three minutes — securing an onside kick and scoring two touchdowns along the way— to shock the Giants.

“Our message (to the team after the game) was we have to finish a game,” Kopp said. “We have to be able to be up and, situational football, be able to finish it. There were a few key plays in the game where it didn’t go our way, but our focus needs to be what are we doing after that play so we need to be able to bounce back.”

Highland Park relied on the running of junior John Boman on its way to a 23-14 lead. Boman rushed for more than 175 yards and two scores on the night.

The Giants returning starting quarterback, Gustav Crane, sat out the opener because of injury.

On the defensive side of the ball, Kopp said his team could have played more physically and consistently, and that will be a focus moving forward.

The Giants will host their home opener next Friday, Aug. 28, when St. Charles East will visit Wolters Field in Highland Park

Kopp said his team has the opportunity to rebound.

“You always want to start 1-0. Every team in the state wants to start 1-0,” he said. “It’s tough, and we have a challenging schedule and have a lot more games that we could win and are going to be close. So it’s about learning from this game and getting better and seeing if we can bounce back.”

Stay tuned for more stats and game recap as this story is updated.

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