Addison Trail leaves no doubt about it

Addison Trail quarterback Trevor Bermingham entered Friday night's game against District 88 rival Willowbrook with 4 touchdown passes on the season.

By the time the game was over, Bermingham had 4 more.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pound junior found his receivers early and often, throwing three touchdown passes in the first half to stake the Blazers to a 33-0 halftime advantage. Bermingham hooked up with junior Nick Wisniewski at the 8:30 mark of the third quarter, capping the game's scoring and finalizing a 40-0 home victory for Addison Trail.

The Blazers (4-3, 4-0 West Suburban Gold) aimed to make a statement with the win. Addison Trail travels next Friday to fellow conference unbeaten Downers Grove South, where another victory would put the Blazers in prime position to capture their first league title since 2006.

"All year against good competition we've been close, but we've shot ourselves in the foot," Blazers coach Paul Parpet Jr. said. "But hey, we're setting up a battle for the West Suburban Gold next week."

Addison Trail looked to send its message right from the outset, as the Blazers scored touchdowns on their first four possessions. A 45-yard bomb from Bermingham to junior Anthony Catanese got the scoring started, and Catanese followed up with an 11-yard dash on the Blazers' second possession for a 14-0 lead.

The 5-10 Catanese found the end zone one more time midway through the second quarter, reeling in a 24-yard pass from Bermingham for a 26-0 lead.

"Trevor has played composed since Day One," Parpet said. "He keeps getting better every week, and we have some weapons out there to throw the ball to."

"It's up-and-down every once and a while," Bermingham said of his performance under center, "but all the conference games have been pretty good."

After Catanese staked Addison Trail to a 26-0 advantage, Willowbrook junior Nick Rubio returned the ensuing kickoff to the Blazers' 19-yard line, by far the Warriors' best starting field position of the night. However, a pair of penalties and three incomplete passes ended the scoring threat.

"I'm happy with our kids because they continued to compete. In the end maybe we just got a little bit outmanned, but that's going to happen," Warriors (1-6, 0-4) coach Mark Olson said. "The effort was there the entire game, they didn't back down from anybody and they showed a lot of pride out there."