Giants hope tough two losses have them ready for conference play

The age-old saying “game of inches” isn’t just a metaphor.

Highland Park football saw the literal meaning come into play at a critical juncture of its loss to St. Charles East on Friday night, when on third down the Saints apparently made the goal line from a yard away and 14 seconds to play until halftime.

“We almost stopped them short for a touchdown,” coach Anthony Kopp lamented. “That kind of felt like a big moment.”

The host Giants could not again get within a score in their 35-14 loss on Aug. 28 at Wolters Field in Highland Park.

Kopp praised his team’s performance against the 2-0 Saints, saying the lopsided score, aided by the pre-halftime touchdown, did not show the full story.

“I think we played well. That’s a good team and we were right with them,” Kopp said. “I don’t think score reflected how it was going on the field. That’s a team we can feel good that we played with. And I think that’s going to help us prepare for conference.”

The teams circled the ring in the scoreless first quarter; though each team missed an opportunity in the their opponent’s side of the field.

The Saints struck first, taking advantage of a short field with a four-play, 53-yard drive to make it 7-0 in the second quarter.

Highland Park could not get its run game going, a stark contrast from Week 1 when junior John Bowman ran for 180 yards. This time around, the Giants tallied under 50 yards of team rushing with just 4 yards coming from their running backs.

“We had to start throwing, had to get the ball outside,” Kopp said. “I thought (QB Sam Gaddini) did a good job of that. Part of trying to be a balanced offense is accepting that if we can’t do one thing something else has to pick up.”

To set up St. Charles East’s late-half score, the Giants turned the ball over on downs following a missed pass attempt on fourth-and-5 at the Saints’ 34-yard line.

East took a 21-0 lead in the third quarter, but the Giants fired back early in the fourth on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gaddini to Peter Dimitriou.

Highland Park’s Grant Shindler intercepted a Saints’ pass to keep his team’s hopes alive.

But the Giants could not move the football, and the Saints scored quickly to essentially put the game away at 28-6 with about 7 minutes to play.

Highland Park got on the scoreboard once more, though, when Boman scored on a 1-yard plunge that was immediately preceded by a 42-yard strike from Zach Baum to Max Stevens.

Gaddini finished with 225 yards passing. Tailback Zion Wood caught six passes for 90 yards, while Dimitriou had 7 for 41. Giants pass catchers Johnny Moore, Owen Loftus and Stevens each also had more than 40 yards receiving.

The Saints played a particularly punishing style of play. The visitors racked up eight personal fouls, which included late hit, roughing the passer and hit to the helmet penalties.

The loss puts the Giants in an 0-2 hole heading into conference play. Senior defensive end Dugan Hever said his team needs to have a “goldfish memory” and be more physical and consistent on the field.

“We know we’re better than this,” he said. “We know can do better.”

Kopp said his team’s goals remain ahead, with the conference slate beginning on Friday, Sept. 4, with a home date against Glenbrook North, a fresh league opponent in the newly created Central Suburban League Central Division.

“The big thing is learning from these two games, finding out what we need to work on, how we’re going to do that, getting better on that and getting geared up for conference play,” he said.

The Giants have played their first two games without returning starting quarterback Gustav Crane, who is working his way back from injury. Kopp said Crane is close and hopes to have him under center on Friday.

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