Late score helps New Trier past Warren

A soggy, defensive standstill came down to field position and a sudden change of scheme.

Thanks to a rushed 22-yard punt from visiting Warren, New Trier made hay on the offensive end when it mattered most.

Struggling to find any footing with its inside run game against the Blue Devil front seven for the bulk of the game, the Trevians mixed it up in the closing minutes of play with sophomore quarterback Clay Czyzynski's speed on the outside, Kevin Mulhern up the gut and a shifty Francis Fay misdirection to the two.

Bulldozing fullback Caleb Roth delivered a soaring plunge into the end-zone with 23 seconds remaining and New Trier capped a 14-7 thriller at Robert Naughton Field.

"We had so much trouble running inside and, credit to their defense, they were just horses inside," said New Trier coach Brian Doll. "We kept trying to pound it and it didn't work. The last six, seven plays were all outside, counter, misdirection stuff. … We kind of caught a groove. The line did a great job. We made some adjustments and got away with it."

Deadlocked through the midpoint of the second quarter, the contest caught steam seven minutes from the half when a Jay Nickel pass was jarred from Blue Devil receiver Zachary Schultz by New Trier corner Nick Krauskopf and into the hands of New Trier's Colin Casas, who raced 55 yards to pay dirt.

"I was in the right place for it," Casas said of the first of 2 interceptions on the night. "I was trying to make the tackle and picked up the ball. I tip toed down the sideline and Andrew Hauser made a block from the five yard line and that let me get in."

Warren's offense broke its early doldrums two series later when week one hero Darrius Crump broke a 49-yard run to set up the Blue Devils' lone score, an 18-yard strike from Nickell to University of Illinois commit Caleb Reams which knot the game with 2:28 remaining in the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, the closing stanza came down to field position and a series of breaks.

Warren halted a fiery Trevian drive in the fourth quarter with its lone forced turnover, a Cole Iwema interception. In the blink of an eye, however, Iwema was batted down from behind and New Trier's Michael Miller regained the costly possession.

The Blue Devil defense held serve the following three downs, but Crump was unable to move the sticks on a third and one from Warren's own 34. The rushed punt followed and New Trier's final drive gathered steam.

"When that punt went out we knew we had great position coming into that series," said Czyzynski. "Our defense played a (heck) of a game and made a great stop. When I was coming onto the field we kept thinking about running it down. We did a great job with that this whole week. That was the only thing we were thinking about."

For Warren, it was a tough end to a gritty effort on the defensive end.

"I thought we played well, but not well enough," said Warren coach Bryan McNulty. "We bent way too much. We gave up one score, but we bent too much. Offensively, we've got some things we need to fix, but we've got a lot of talent."

Offensively, New Trier, paced by 76 yards on 24 carries from Mulhern and a 70-yard rushing effort by its signal-caller, combined for 246 yards on the soggy surface.

Crump finished with 124 yards on 25 carries in his second outing for the Blue Devils.