Rough start for York at New Trier
After ending eventual Class 8A champion Maine South's Central Suburban League South Division winning streak at 77 games and going on to take the league title last season, New Trier has its sights set on succeeding the Huskies as the top team in Illinois this season.
York was the first opponent to get the message.
Traveling to the Trevians' Robert Naughton Field, the Dukes were decisively defeated 31-0.
"They're a better team than last year," said York Coach Mike Monken. "Last year it was (New Trier winning the season opener) 14-10. Then, they had three really good players. Now, they have a lot of good players.
"We made some crucial mistakes. We threw a couple interceptions early and we had some bad penalties. Our kids played extremely hard and I saw a lot of good things."
First-quarter Interceptions by Jacob Levy and Matt Mosher prefaced the Trevians' drives of 57 and 27 yards for the first two touchdowns.
Both touchdowns were scored by junior Brian Sitzer on the first two rushing attempts for the high school varsity. He broke through the right side of the line to open the scoring with a 45-yard run and went to the end zone on a 9-yard jaunt for the second touchdown.
"The O-line opened it up and all I had to do was run through the holes," said Sitzer, who finished with 134 yards on 10 rushing attempts.
The power-running of senior Peter Murray, who scored on runs of 34 and 2 yards in the third quarter, complemented the speed of Sitzer, while senior quarterback Reed Bianucci added effective passing to the mix. Senior Sam Rutherford, who also is the goalie for the Trevians' soccer team, took care of the kicking, connecting on a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter in addition to the four extra points.
York's senior quarterback, David Leonard, played in his first varsity game and was under constant pressure from the Trevians' defense.
"It was a lot faster than I was expecting," Leonard said. "I've got to get the ball off quicker and make my reads faster.
"Last year I switched from cornerback to quarterback played a little bit of quarterback for the JVs, but I broke the metacarpal on my right hand in the fourth game and I broke the same hand again this spring so this is my first real shot."
Last season's quarterback, senior Charlie Pakenas, now is being used as a cornerback.
In Monken's opinion, "Charlie did a nice job for us tonight. He almost had an interception. And I think David Leonard is going to be a good quarterback. He's a great leader."
The running game was Dukes' main weapon last season and three running backs, junior KeVon Robinson and seniors Grant Melion and Joey Jaeger, were the focal point of their offense in the opener. But they had a hard time making headway against the New Trier line.
"This is my fourth year here and this is the first shutout I've had," Noll said. "Our depth makes us strong and we've got speed everywhere."
The New Trier coach is making no secret of his state championship aspirations for the Trevians.
"That's the message the Loyolas, the Stevensons and the Maine Souths hear from Day 1 and that's what I'm telling our team," he said. "Winning conference was our big goal in the past; now it's winning state."