Highland Park's defensive stands deny Vernon Hills

One week after an offensive explosion, Vernon Hills' offense couldn't buy a ticket to the end zone.

And when it had a chance to break the monotony in the second half, Highland Park's defense played the role of spoiler.

With three second-half interceptions, including Noah Spitz's game-clincher with 27 seconds remaining, the Giants held back the Cougars 14-9 in their Central Suburban North regular season finale at Wolters Field.

"Defensively, we got a little bit of pressure on them and made sure we got to our traps and we were fortunate enough to come up with three turnovers against a potent offense like Vernon Hills," said Highland Park coach Joe Horeni. "I'm proud of our kids and looking forward to next week."

Aside from the game's opening drive and a big play in the second quarter, the Vernon Hills defense held its own as well with six forced punts and a late interception from Jake Morris to give its offense a chance at victory with 2:21 remaining.

It was not to be.

"We couldn't finish drives," said Vernon Hills coach Bill Bellecomo. "We needed to finish drives and couldn't tonight. That's the story. I'm proud of our defense. We gave up the one big play (to Highland Park tailback D.J. Penick), other than that we couldn't finish drives."

Giants senior tailback D.J. Penick did just enough on the ground to carry the home offense.

Penick capped the game's opening drive with a 30-yard touchdown run and later took a sweep play 87 yards for a second score in the second quarter. Of Highland Park's 284 total yards, the senior piled up 226 yards on 26 carries.

Vernon Hills moved the ball efficiently at times with a strong outing from senior Kyle Hull.

After stalling on the first four drives, Hull hit Christopher Mariella (9 catches, 128 yards) for a pair of first down grabs on the final possession of the opening half to set up Andre Szmyt for an easily cleared 35-yard field goal to put the visitors on the board.

The Cougars then took the second half kick and marched 74 yards to the tune of a series of runs and throws.

Just when it looked as if the visitors were going to slice into the Giants' lead, however, Highland Park's Ryan Brinks stepped in front of a Hull pass at the goal-line and rumbled up field before fumbling the ball to teammate David Barrette, who recovered the football in Cougar territory.

Highland Park was unable to convert, however, punting to the Cougars' 6.

From there, Hull picked up where he left off with runs of 19 and 12, then hit Jeff Rosenstock to move the chains on three consecutive plays.

The signal-caller would break a 6-yard run for a first down, but went down with an injury - dealing the visitors with a significant setback, and missing the remainder of play.

With Jack Himel under center the Cougars didn't give up. Although stalled twice with good field position, the visitors turned to special teams where a fourth quarter punt taken by Drew Winegardner delivered the momentum the visitors sorely needed.

Winegardner collected the ball from the 13 and found a gap, following his blocks up the right side for an 87-yard score. A failed run conversion would make it a 5-point game with 8:30 remaining.

"We were about one block away from breaking one earlier in the game," said Winegardner. "I made a good cut and it was wide open. Hell of a job by our punt return team blocking in front of me."

The Giants turned to Penick on the following drive and succeeded in milking the clock with four first down runs. A trick play to the tailback went awry however, as his throw landed in the hands of Jake Morris and gave Vernon Hills one final chance.

Himel hit Mariella three times for first downs to place the team at the Giants' 33. With time winding down, Noah Spitz saved the game for Highland Park by stepping in front of a tipped pass for his second interception of the game.

"I'm proud of my teammates for giving me an opportunity to make plays," said Spitz. "I saw a man come across my face and another man cross the field. When that ball was thrown, I made a break. It got tipped a little bit. I just went and made a play."

Highland Park caps its regular season at 7-2 with a 4-1 mark in league play, while Vernon Hills enters the postseason at 6-3 and a 3-2 conference mark - and eager to face a new test.

"I just told the kids, on a positive note we played a schedule bigger than us and now we're going to play a 5-A school finally," Bellecomo said. "We just played two 7-A schools and some 6-A and 8-A. We're looking forward to getting into 5-A and seeing what we can do."

Hull, who's expected to return next week, finished 15 of 22 for 153 yards and a pick with 65 yards rushing for the visitors. Himel completed 5 of 11 for 44 yards with a pair of interceptions, while Mariella hauled in 9 catches for 128 yards.