The game was tight at halftime, with the Trevians trailing 13-14. Senior kicker Charlie Durbin hit his second 42-yard field goal and cut the deficit to one with 2.1 seconds left in the half.
But the Trevians could not stop the run. Schaumburg quarterback Stacey Smith Jr. ran for 3 touchdowns and 158 rushing yards through 7 carries. Running back Justice Macneal-Young rushed for 88 yards on 12 carries along with a touchdown of his own. Young’s touchdown came at the 6:36 mark in the third quarter, when he ran 45 yards cutting through the middle and into the end zone to give the Saxons a 21-13 lead.
Schaumburg continued to run the ball, and it built up a sizeable 34-13 advantage after the third quarter. In fact, the Saxons didn’t gain any yards through the air. After a productive first half on the offensive end, the Trevians only managed to score 6 points in the second en route to a 34-20 loss.
Trevians quarterback Frank Nicholas had a solid game, completing 19 of his 26 passes for 159 passing yards along with a touchdown and an interception. Nicholas found Senior Matt McCaffrey (3 catches, 51 yards) for a 34 yard touchdown late in the first quarter.
New Trier coach Dan Starkey said “we really moved the ball well at times, keeping the ball away from our opponent and resulting in points. Our Special Teams were solid all day.”
After the first half, the Trevians had trouble finding the end zone. Their only other touchdown came with 3:03 left in the fourth quarter, where McCaffrey (as the backup quarterback) connected with Scott Hammes (5 catches, 30 yards) for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Fullback Steven Sanz said “we were in sync for 24 minutes of the game, and then we came out a different team in the second half, making too many mistakes.”
Starkey commented that the team “struggled defensively for most of the game to contain Schaumburg – the quarterback scrambled for two touchdowns and scored on a lopiong run on a broken play.”
The broken play Starkey referred to came early in the second quarter when Smith ran 86 yards for a touchdown to give the Saxons a 14-10 lead. Starkey said that “we had guys in position to make a tackle, we just got beat. We have to do a better job with technique in open field tackling.”
In the first half, New Trier had an active running game to match that of the Saxons. Running back Jordan Garrett (13 carries, 52 rushing yards) was especially effective. But Schaumburg picked apart New Trier’s defense in the second half, scoring 20 unanswered points.
Defensive tackle Rayo Adewumni (4 tackles) said Schaumburg “ran all over us… our defense put our offense in bad position.”
As for injuries, senior tackle Rijad Pekmez exited the game in the first half going down with a knee injury. Nicholas and receiver Spencer Cotton both left the game with cramps.
New Trier went on to face Warren on Sep. 6, losing 42-6. The Trevians face Niles North at 7pm Thursday, hoping to earn their first win of the season.