For Warren, the best part of a 37-14 loss at New Trier Friday night was the worst-kept secret on the field.
Wide receiver Jalin Tolbert is really, really fast.
The 6-foot senior turned up field, pulled down a Luke Schmitt pass and blazed through the middle of the field for a 68-yard touchdown late in the third quarter that even earned some polite applause from the home fans.
The worst part of Warren’s second loss of the season, unfortunately, was pretty much everything else.
New Trier (2-0) scored on six of its first seven possessions as quarterback Clay Czyzynski accounted for 318 yards of offense. Czyzynski rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 218 and two more.
“Those guys just came out and thoroughly whipped our tails,” Warren coach Bryan McNulty said. “I’m not sure if the kids weren’t ready to play early. If so, that’s on me. We just have to collect ourselves and see what we can make of this. It doesn’t get any easier next week against Libertyville.”
The New Trier offense scored on all three of its first-half possessions and took advantage of several Warren miscues to build a 20-7 halftime edge. The Trevians moved 46 yards on their opening drive with Czyzynski bootlegging right for 4 yards and an early New Trier lead.
On their next possession, Czyzynski spotted a wide open Eric Nicholas behind the Warren defensive backs and drilled 45-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 Trevian lead late in the first quarter.
The Devils put together their best drive of the game next, moving 78-yards on 13 plays, including a key 5-yard hookup on fourth-and-4 between Luke Schmitt and Tolbert before Melvin Pettis scored three plays later from the 22 to trim the deficit to 14-7.
But New Trier (2-0) scored on their third-straight possession, moving 74-yards in 11 plays to extend the lead. On thrd-and-7, Czyzynski was forced to scramble and then lofted a 25-yard strike to Brian Kaiser for the score and a 20-7 lead that lasted until the half.
The Trevians added a 30-yard Sam Rutherford field goal on their opening drive of the second half and Czyzynski added a 25-yard touchdown burst up the middle on the next possession as New Trier extended the lead to 30-7 late in the third.
That was when Tolbert and Schmitt (8-for-17, 135 yards passing; 13 carries, 89 yards rushing) hooked up on the next play to close the gap to 30-14 and give Warren a brief moment of optimism.
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“Big-time players make big time plays. I just tried to do my part,” said Tolbert, who finished with four catches for 101 yards. “We have the weapons. When we execute, that’s what happens.”
The comeback was short-lived as Czyzynski capped an 11-play, 79-yard drive on the following possession with a 1-yard plunge on fourth-and goal for the game’s final points.
The Blue Devils find themselves in familiar territory. Last year Warren started 0-2 and went on to win five of its next six games and earn a spot in the playoffs. McNulty feels his team of making a similar run.
“We’ve got to get the ball to our play makers more. And defensively we’ve got to be tougher,” McNulty said. “We’ve got good, high-character kids on this team, But we need to get a little more grit to us.”
Phil English is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.