Trevians put themselves in a good spot

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:20PM

New Trier gained its fifth win and a possible playoff berth with a solid defeat, 27-2, over Waukegan Saturday in Waukegan. Trevians' running back Jack Nykaza scored three touchdowns and ran for 116 yards on 20 carries and had two receptions for 84 yards. Kicker Scott Schoder added two field goals.

"We played really well," said Nykaza. "We knew we had to win to qualify for the playoffs. We had a great week of practice. Our whole team played well especially our defense."

The Trevians' defense completely shut down and frustrated the Bulldogs running game. The Bulldogs had a total of 66 yards on the ground for the game forcing quarterback Reginald Richter (17-for-32, 191 yards) to the passing game.

"This is frustrating," said Bulldogs coach Nick Browder. "You set out to do one thing. We scouted them, but we didn't make the plays."

Schoder opened the scoring with a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter. Connor DeLoach (7-for-10 and 131 yards and one touchdown) connected with Nykaza (two receptions for 84 yards) on a 53-yard pass play for a touchdown followed by Schoder's second field goal from 25 yards to give the Trevians (5-3, 2-2) a 13-0 lead at the half.

New Trier scored on its first possession in the second half. Ryan Kindra took the opening kickoff at the 10 yard line and ran 47 yards to the New Trier 43-yard line. Nykaza ran the ball three consecutive plays for 31, 7 and the final five yards for his second touchdown to put the Trevians in control 20-0 at the end of three quarters.

Nykaza scored his third touchdown on an eight-yard run with 9:12 left in the fourth quarter capping an 18-play, 76-yard drive that began at the end of the third quarter to close out the Trevians scoring.

"We wanted to keep our defense off the field and run the ball on offense," said Trevians coach Dan Starkey. "The team did a great job of controlling the ball and executing our game plan."

The Bulldogs' offense came alive late in the fourth quarter driving 85 yards on 11 plays only to be stopped at the one-yard line by the Trevians defense. However, the Bulldogs defense tackled Kindra in the end zone for a safety to break the shutout with 3:54 left in the game.

Mark Jones had four receptions for 36 yards for the Bulldogs (2-6, 1-3).

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