Trevs Top Kits In Front of Record Crowd

Juan Gomez got to kick into that Allstate Insurance net just like the Division I kickers on television do.

Justin Johnson --- a future Division I star --- delivered a Big 10-type hit on a New Trier receiver at one point in the second quarter.

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But once the excitement of playing at Northwestern University's new 875 million dollar Ryan Field facility settled in, New Trier owned the fourth quarter.

The Trevians took another step toward evening up the all-time record in one of the state's longest football rivalries, scoring a 42-28 triumph in front of the largest crowd to witness a high school game in Illinois in at least 25 years.

An estimated crowd of 25,000 was on hand Friday night for the first high school contest ever played on the new NU field. It's the first time in the long history of the rivalry that the game was held on a college field and New Trier closed the gap on the Wildkits in the all-time series. ETHS now leads in the head-to-head competition by a mere 57-55 margin, and the two rivals have tied 6 times.

The crowd is believed to be the largest in Illinois since an estimated 35,000 attended the Prep Bowl back in 1999 at Soldier Field in Chicago. It's the biggest turnout for a New Trier-ETHS game in the history of a rivalry that began back in 1913.

New Trier, now 8-1, built its resume for the postseason with the victory and will earn a first-round bye for the Illinois High School Association state playoffs. Evanston fell to 5-4 overall. Both teams will learn where they'll fall in the Class 8A postseason bracket when the IHSA pairings are announced Saturday night.

The host Wildkits bounced back from a brutal defensive effort in a loss to Maine South last week, but couldn't get any stops after tying the score at 28-28 on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Aiden Payne to Johnson on the first play of the fourth quarter.

New Trier's response was prompt. The winners marched 80 yards in just 7 plays, with Throy Nightingale scoring on a 2-yard plunge, and after the Kits dodged a bullet by recovering a fumble in the end zone, Nightingale hit paydirt again on an 11-yard scamper to account for the final margin.

Nightingale chalked up five rushing touchdowns, one of the best performances in the rivalry's history, and finished with 181 yards rushing on 24 attempts. Purdue-bound quarterback Jackie Ryder added 172 yards through the air, including a 57-yard TD toss to Paul Liang in the second quarter.

Evanston's offensive leaders experienced games that could only be compared to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with Halloween still a couple of weeks away. Gomez booted field goals of 25 yards, 41 yards and 29 yards --- but also missed a pair of extra points.

Quarterback Payne threw for a career-high 242 yards, completing 10-of-17 attempts against New Trier's three-man rush, but also suffered three interceptions and all three led to Trevian touchdowns.

ETHS head coach Miles Osei is still seeking his first win in the rivalry but couldn't fault his team's effort.

"Our kids showed up ready to fight tonight, and that's what we've wanted to see from them from Day 1," Osei said. "This was a great experience for all of the kids. Both communities showed up for a great rivalry and the atmosphere was great.

"You saw today what football means to this (Evanston) community. We want to play here again, that's for sure. This would be a great venue for the state championship. What a great showcase that would be."

New Trier head coach Brian Doll also put in a plug in case the IHSA ever considers moving the state final site for the bigger (7A, 8A) schools.

"First of all I want to thank Northwestern University and Evanston, because this has been quite an experience," Doll said. "It was an amazing experience to play high school football in a college stadium. We had hundreds of alumni come back for this game. To be honest, I'd like to see the state finals here some day. That would be great.

"We focused on pounding the ball (running game) more in the second half. We weren't clicking on some of the things we've done well in other games --- that's a credit to Evanston --- and we made a commitment at halftime to run the ball and try to grind it out. Our guys up front really worked their butts off."

Both teams provided highlight-reel type offense in the first half, which ended with the Trevians on top 21-15. Nate Osayande's 7-yard burst in the second quarter accounted for Evanston's only TD in that stretch.

The two heavyweights continued to slug it out in the third period. Amari Watson's interception stopped a New Trier drive and set up a 7-play, 45-yard march that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Payne to Kamryn Farlow to knot the score at 21-all.

New Trier, however, answered right back as a 24-yard completion from Ryder to Harry Resis set up a short TD run by Nightingale.

Payne, who recorded five completions of 30 yards or more on the night, hit another deep shot --- for 35 yards to Farlow --- against a non-existent pass rush, and two plays later Johnson grabbed a pass in the end zone that New Trier defender Peter Cusick contested so physically that he drew a pass interference flag. Naturally, the Wildkits took the six points that tied the score again instead of that penalty.

"We did have some guys go out (injuries) as the game went on, and we didn't make adjustments well enough when that happened," Osei noted. "That will be a key for us moving forward, to make those adjustments."