Evanston Edges Trevs, Stays Alive In Flag Title Chase

Conference champions in any high school sport usually have at least one game on the path to a title that could be described as winning ugly.

Evanston’s 12-7 flag football triumph over arch-rival New Trier Wednesday night in Northfield certainly fit that description.

Plagued by dropped passes and other missed connections between quarterback Maggie Conforti and the ETHS receiving corps, the Wildkit girls needed a fourth quarter rally to remain a part of a three-team battle for the Central Suburban League South division title.

Glenbrook South topped Maine South 19-0 in a battle of conference unbeatens Wednesday, leaving the Kits a game behind the Titans in league play and tied for second place. ETHS and GBS will meet on September 30th in a game that could decide the championship.

But Evanston’s offense sputtered in the first half for the second game in a row following a weekend in which the Kits conquered a pair of 2024 Elite Eight teams, Fremd and Whitney Young.

On Tuesday, Evanston led Regina Dominican just 7-6 at halftime before pulling away for a 26-6 triumph.

Evanston scored the game-winner on Wednesday on a 2-yard run by KyNia Hunt with 7 minutes, 43 seconds remaining on the clock after a brilliant 62-yard catch-and-run play by the combination of Conforti and Brielle Rosemond.

ETHS head coach Carlton Rosemond, usually an optimist, couldn’t see the glass as even half full despite the win over the Trevians that boosted his squad to 9-1 on the season overall.

“Maybe one-third full,” Rosemond said. “We didn’t deserve a win tonight, but we got it. We lucked out.

“We’ll take an ugly win when we can get it, but this is not the formula for winning against good teams. Our defense made one bad decision and New Trier made us pay (with a 76-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter. We have to make smarter decisions. And on offense, we had girls wide open but Maggie wasn’t comfortable throwing the ball tonight. We did get some results in the fourth quarter.”

Conforti completed 23-of-33 passing attempts for 286 yards and also contributed a 7-yard touchdown run just before halftime to pull the visitors within 7-6. But the senior struggled against a New Trier defense that rarely sent any rushers after her and almost had TOO MUCH time to throw Wednesday.

In those situations, Conforti opted to run most of the time, and didn’t give Evanston’s playmakers a chance to make plays to help her.

“New Trier is always tough, no matter what their record (now 5-6 overall) says,” Rosemond praised. “Their coach (Mark Colegrove) is a good coach and he had his girls ready to play. So far we’ve played against a lot of teams with really aggressive (pass) rushers, but New Trier just chooses their spots to rush every now and then. They like to keep you guessing and part of my frustration with Maggie is that she didn’t have to rush a lot of the throws she did rush.

“It’s not all on Maggie. KyNia had a couple of big drops and Harper (Wesenberg) dropped a pick six that changed the whole momentum of the game. Brielle had a drop on our first possession because she tried to run with the ball before she caught it. We can’t afford mistakes like that.”

With the Trevians backed up in their own territory, Wesenberg --- whose hands are usually as reliable as any player in the entire program --- couldn’t gather in what should have been an interception thrown by New Trier quarterback Lyla Andelin, with the end zone in her sights if she made the catch.

On the very next play, Andelin connected with Annabel Nitekman for a 76-yard bomb and a lead that New Trier didn’t surrender until the fourth quarter.

Conforti guided the visitors on a 93-yard scoring drive after the ETHS defense stopped New Trier at the 7 on a fourth down tackle by Hunt. At the two-minute warning, Conforti completed a 14-yard toss to Wesenberg on 4th and 6 to keep the drive alive, and four plays later she scrambled into the end zone with 32 seconds left. Her PAT pass intended for Wesenberg, however, came up short.

Evanston’s game-winning drive in the final period started at ETHS 14 following a New Trier punt. On the fifth play of the drive, the senior quarterback waited patiently in the pocket until Rosemond was open for about a 30-yard gain.

The junior standout then weaved her way through a pair of missed tackles before the Trevians finally chased her down at the 1-yard line. Two plays after that, Hunt raced into the end zone over right tackle.