Nykaza does it all for New Trier

Updated: October 6, 2011 11:01PM

New Trier broke a close game open in the second half, defeating Niles West 35-7 Thursday night in Skokie.

The Trevians (4-3, 1-2) outgained the Wolves 385-113 and did not allow an offensive touchdown as they bounced back from two straight Central Suburban South losses.

New Trier quarterback Jack Nykaza got the job done in the air and on the ground. The senior completed 12 of 18 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns and had 13 carries for 101 yards and an additional score.

Nykaza’s top target was senior receiver Christian Carr, who caught eight passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite piling up first-half yardage, the Trevians led just 14-7 at halftime.

But New Trier junior running back Michael Thomas scored on an eight-yard run on his team’s first possession of the second half.

The Trevains then put the game away early in the fourth quarter when senior linebacker Sam Coffey sacked Niles West quarterback Mike McGivern, who fumbled the ball.

New Trier senior Brian Ball scooped up the loose ball and ran it in from 10 yards for a 28-7 lead.

“It wasn’t pretty, we made a lot of mistakes that we have to clean up, but we did a lot of positive things too,” New Trier head coach Dan Starkey said. “Our defense was outstanding. Our special teams were pretty good. Receiver Christian Carr made lot of great plays. We ran the ball well. We just have to clean up the number of holding calls.”

Nykaza’s 20-yard touchdowns pass to Carr with 24 seconds left in the first half put New Trier up 14-0 before the Wolves (2-5, 0-3) rallied.

Niles West junior Jeremiah Jordan took a handoff from a teammate on a kickoff and ran 90 yards untouched for a score to cut the lead to 14-7. It was Jordan’s fourth kick return of the season.

McGivern did complete a 43-yard pass to Jordan and a 40-yard pass to junior receiver Mike Wright.

“We were in the game (into the second half), having a kid like Jeremiah keeps you in the game,” Niles West head coach Scott Baum said. “The frustrating part is that we do things that are undisciplined — jumping offsides or lining up in the wrong formation. We are not gifted enough to do that and we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.

‘‘I thought we played well on defense (without linebacker James Williams, who was out injured). I was proud of how those kids played.”

New Trier opened the scoring with 1:06 left in the first quarter when Nykaza hit Carr for a 24-yard touchdown.

Nykaza completed the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run with two minutes left in the game.

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