The Kits will be desperate to forget their first taste of the Battle of the Northshore in the Miles Osei era. The Kits were blown out 35-6 by the Trevians on their own turf in a game that was played on Saturday afternoon. The loss in what was also ETHS’s homecoming game marks the sixth straight game that they have dropped, something that they have not done since 2007.
“I don’t think that we have been playing to our capability for the most part this season. It is my job to get the most out of this group, and I have not yet,” said Osei
The Kits got off to a rough start, something that they never looked like recovering from. New Trier junior quarterback Jackie Ryder was able to locate holes in the ETHS zone, getting his team down to the Kits ‘ two-yard line on the game’s first drive. He then scrambled into paydirt to give the Trevians an early 7-0 lead. The 6’5”,205-pound Ryder would go on to be the game’s substantial player, throwing for 274 yards and four total touchdowns.
The Kits were unable to do anything on offense, punting the ball straight back to the Trevians. Even though Kits junior cornerback Ian Moriarty was able to intercept Ryder in the endzone, it did not matter much since the offense went three and out again, forcing the defense to take the field with the ball already well inside their own half.
“Our field positioning was a massive problem today. We are not going to win games unless our offense can give our defense a much better opportunity,” noted Osei.
The Trevians made the Kits pay for the starting field position, as Ryder found senior Baxter Keefer on a slant route, who then broke two Kits tackles and took it forty-seven yards to the house. Putting the Trevians up 14-0 two minutes into the second quarter. The Kits to this point had negative yardage on offense. While the Kits were able to get a few first downs on their next drive, they got pushed back by penalties and were ultimately forced to punt. With five minutes left in the first half, Ryder found Luke Mastros on a deep ball, and Mastros took the ball down to the three-yard line. Running back Declan O’Meara punched it in from one yard out to extend the New Trier lead to twenty-one. The Kits were able to go on a two-minute drill and get the ball down to the Trevians’ five through some impressive catches by junior Ray Owens-Fomond, but the drive stalled out, with Osei opting to get points on the board, with a senior Jasper Barney field goal, making it 21-3 at halftime.
The Kits came out of the break with another long drive, getting the ball to the fifteen-yard line of their rivals. Once again, they were not able to capitalize in the red zone and were forced to kick a field goal to make it 21-6.
“We need to fix our mentality once we get into the red zone. We can’t think what will go wrong, we have to think we will score,” remarked Osei.
The Kits’ defense was able to settle down, scoring back-to-back fourth-down stands on the Trevians, setting up the Kits offense at midfield with a chance to make it a one-score game entering the fourth quarter. However, a miscommunication in the exchange between Kits’ senior quarterback Jake Everd and senior running back Michael Pyror forced them into a third and long. Everds then failed to see Trevian senior Aaron Preston, who picked him off. The Trevians then run up the score on the Kits’ defense as Ryder connected with Baxter and sophomore Ben Sullivan.
The Kits have a good chance to end the season with two wins, as they face two teams ranked significantly lower than them. First, they take on Deerfield away next Friday, before taking on Glenbrook North at home on senior night.
