Lincoln Way East 20, St. Charles East 7
Turnovers were the specialty of the house Friday night in St. Charles.
Unfortunately for St. Charles East football fans, the Saints were dishing them out on a regular basis.
Despite a valiant defensive effort, the Saints (1-1) were unable to overcome 7 turnovers -- 5 of them coming in the second half -- during their 20-7 nonconference loss at the hands of state-ranked Lincoln-Way East (2-0) at Norris Stadium.
"If you don't take care of the football, you're not going to win -- no matter who you play," said Saints coach Ted Monken, who was a bit surprised by his team's sloppy play which came 6 days after a near-flawless performance in a 30-7 season-opening victory over Batavia.
Four interceptions and a pair of costly special teams fumbles crippled the Saints' comeback bid.
"Those are the mistakes that you make in the first game -- not the second," added Monken.
Despite the miscues, the Saints still had a chance to pull off the upset down the stretch.
With 10:03 remaining in the game, junior tailback Wes Allen (16 carries, 96 yards) broke loose for a 78-yard touchdown run, and David Winn's PAT kick helped the Saints narrow the gap to 13-7.
After a defensive stop on the Griffins' next series inside their own 20-yard line, it looked like the Saints would secure excellent field position for a potential go-ahead score.
But the Saints' sixth turnover of the night may have been the costliest when the Griffins' Ezra Thompson pounced on a muffed punt return at the Lincoln-Way East 35 with 7:46 left.
Eight plays later, the Griffins added an insurance score on Tom Lilja's 1-yard TD plunge with 5:10 to seal the decision.
"We needed that score right there," said Lilja. "This entire game was a battle. We were glad that we came out on top."
On their next possession, the Saints again marched into Lincoln-Way East territory before Nick Pecho picked off quarterback Sam Gunther for the second time with 3:59 remaining.
"Offensively, we kept putting the ball on the ground -- interceptions, fumbles, fumbles on special teams," said Monken.
On the defensive side of the ball, Monken saw plenty of positives as Dave Mashal, Mike Hoscheit, Pat Friel & Co. limited the high-powered Griffins to 98 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.
"The defense played fantastic," said Monken. "They kept us in it, there's no doubt about that. They played their tails off. They played good enough to win."
Mashal, the heart and soul of the Saints' defensive line, wasn't about to lay any blame on the offense or special teams.
"We've just got to keep doing whatever we're doing," said Mashal. "We've got to keep our heads up. "We gained a lot of confidence after that (Allen) touchdown we had, and then after they fumbled it, we were ready to go back out there. We just wanted to hit somebody."
Take away Allen's long run and the Saints were held to zero yards rushing.
"If you can't run the ball, you're not going to win too many games," said Monken.