On Saturday, Sept. 7th, New Trier varsity football fell 34-3 in a much-hyped nonconference game against the Loyola Academy Ramblers.

The Trevians had a decent start to the game, moving the ball down the field and kicking a field goal to make the score 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. Unfortunately, from the second quarter on, the game went downhill for them as costly penalties and miscues allowed the Ramblers to dominate.

“We were competitive for a while until we really got to the midpoint of the second quarter,” said head coach Brian Doll. “After that point in time, the game kind of slipped away from us a little bit.”

Doll attributed the Trevians’ struggles after the first quarter to their relative inexperience and lack of depth.

In terms of inexperience, this year’s team features a lot of Sophomore and Junior starters playing their first year on varsity. While Trevian football players are always bound to be somewhat nervous before a big rivalry game versus Loyola, this year those nerves had to be heightened because of the team’s youth.

“For me being a junior, it was the most intense game I have ever played. I was a little nervous, but after the first hit it all went away,” said Junior Luca Wojewski, a first time starter at Offensive Tackle.

Though Wojeweski settled into the game well, other players’ nerves played a large role in the penalties and miscues that allowed Loyola win. Over the course of the game, the Trevians had two special team turnovers and were twice unable to punch it in within the 5 yard line due to penalties and other mistakes.

After winning the IHSA Class 8A state championship last year, the Ramblers are also in somewhat of a rebuilding season. On the whole, however, their inexperience did not hurt them as it did the Trevians in the much-hyped rivalry game.

Doll explained, “They’ve played on that stage quite a few times, which is a big stage, big crowds, and they didn’t let any of the moments really phase them.”

Besides from inexperience in games and on big stages, the Trevians were also hurt by their relative lack of depth. While most Loyola players have the luxury of playing on one side of the ball, many Trevian starters have to play an offensive and a defensive position.

As a result, the Trevians were far more fatigued than their Rambler counterparts throughout the game, which contributed to the mistakes that cost them the game. Sophomore Quarterback Nevan Cremascoli, the Trevians’ starter, noted how the Ramblers’ ability to play offensive and defense-specific players helped them dominate the trenches.

“We had to fall back on the pass a little more with the big Loyola defensive line,” said Cremascoli.

The Trevians’ lack of depth also hurt them when they lost players to injury. Losing key players such as Junior linebacker Jax Bridge demoralized the team and forced even less experienced players to step up.

“You talk about a kid that just loves football and breathes it everyday,” said Doll. “[Jax] is the heart and soul for a lot of kids the way he just focuses on his effort everyday on being the best that he can be as a football player and as an individual out there.”

Looking ahead, Doll and his team agree that their key to success will lie in cleaning up the penalties and miscues that hurt them against Loyola.

“[We need] to clean up the small mistakes so that we can execute more to win games,” said Wojewski.

With the Trevians’ overall inexperience, a tough nonconference slate against Lyons Township, Loyola, and Barrington was always going to be a difficult start to the season

If they can clean up their play by practicing concentration and focus, they will hopefully gain more and more confidence in their abilities and play better football by the time the conference season and playoffs roll around.

“We’re gonna see a lot of growth with this team, we’re very talented, but we are very young,” said Doll. “As get more and more games in, I think we’ll see successes at the end of the year.”