Maine West shows promise in loss to New Trier
Even though Maine West lost to New Trier 29-14 on Friday night in Des Plaines, the Warriors showed that they will be a team to contend with win the Central Suburban North.
"It's a whole new Maine West team," said quarterback Jake Riportella. "We were right there tonight. We didn't score in the second half and some of that was on me. Were not going to hang our heads after this one. We played our hearts out."
The Warriors, 2-1 after their Central Suburban crossover with the Trevians (3-0), led 14-8 going into halftime.
"We played a great first half," said Maine West coach Jason Kradman. "They just started wearing us down some in the second half. We still had some opportunities in the second half but we couldn't cash in."
The Warriors took a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard run from Marteen Robinson's (9 carries, 36 yards) on a direct snap from center. Karl Scott kicked the extra point. Maine West went 68 yards in 9 plays. Robinson caught a 37-yard pass from Riportella (6-for-17, 114 yds., 1 int.) for the big play on the drive.
New Trier scored on a Nick Endre 24 yd. field goal with :21 left in the first quarter.
Most of the second quarter was not kind to Maine West.
On the second play following the kickoff, Riportella was chased into the end zone, where New Trier's Christian Miller tackled him for a safety. That made the score 7-5.
Endre connected on a 31-yard field goal with 3:39 left in the first half and an 8-7 Trevian lead.
The Warriors were penalized three times for 30 yards on New Triers drive and seven times in the quarter for 63 yards. Maine West finished with 13 penalties for 100 yards.
"Some of those we're very untimely," said Kradman.
The Warriors bounced back as Riportella scampered 13 yards to score with 1:26 left in the half. Riportella connected with Robinson on a 41-yard completion to set the score at 14-8.
Max Rosenthal (8 carries, 58 yds.) put New Trier ahead for good on a 41-yard run on the third play after the second-half kickoff to put the Trevs up 15-14.
Maine West fought back, but on fourth down at the New Trier 32, Riportella was stopped short of a first down.
Jake Pascen scored from the 1 with 9:01 remaining in the game and quarterback Clayton Czyzynski rambled in from the 25 with 2:57 left in the game for the 29-14 lead.
"We played with more energy in the second half," said Czyzynski. "We had to turn the switch on and play our game. I credit our defense for coming up with some big stops. They put us in good field position."
New Trier finished with 238 rushing yards and Czyzynski completed 10 of 22 passes for 104 yards. Maine West totaled 187 yards.
"Maine West played us a good game," said New Trier coach Brian Doll. "We came up with some big plays in the second half."
"It's been awhile since Maine West has played in a game like this in a long long time," said Kradman. "I couldn't be prouder of the way they played."