On the final play of the first half in New Trier’s 29-16 win over host Warren, NT cornerback Christian Miller intercepted a pass deep in NT’s territory.
Moments later, the speedy senior was off to the races. Miller was zipping down the right sideline, when — all of a sudden — he got this wild idea to zig and then zag on his way to the opposite end zone on Sept. 4.
Unfortunately, for him, the cutback threw him … off course.
Miller’s 65-yard return ended a few hash marks short of the goal line, when he got tackled at the Warren 25-yard line as the second-quarter clock expired.
With this being his first interception at the varsity level, Miller found himself in uncharted territory. He could’ve used one of those air traffic controllers.
Just ask him.
“I got a little too ambitious,” Miller admitted. “I had a convoy (ahead of me). Instead of cutting back, I should’ve kept going straight down the sideline. I’ll never cut back again.
“Man, I should’ve taken that one all the way back,” he added. “There’s no reason why I didn’t. It’s going to haunt me.”
Because of the near miss, Miller said that he wasn’t looking forward to the team’s next film session.
But he should. There’s plenty to like about Miller’s performance.
“I love Christian’s attitude,” said NT head coach Brian Doll. “He’s an excitable kid, and he’s tough as nails. He’s a two-way player (cornerback and wide receiver) who never wants to come off the field.”
In addition to his interception, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Miller was Mr. Opportunity early in the fourth quarter when he recovered a fumble following a hard hit by Joe Lewis on Warren wide-out Micah Jones near midfield.
It was that kind of evening for New Trier’s defensive unit. There was plenty of pickin’ and grinnin’ in this one. Eric Nicholas and Lucas Bartzis also picked off passes.
“We were able to put a lot of pressure on their quarterback(s), which allowed our defensive backs to jump a lot of routes,” said Doll.
And, in addition to recovering two fumbles — the first one by Colin Casas on a bad snap to the quarterback on Warren’s first series of the game — the Trevians recorded four quarterback sacks and three tackles for loss. The sack men were Lewis, Max Rosenthal, Charlie Stimson and Devin Murphy.
“Our defensive line and linebackers did a great job of flowing to the ball. All week, we talked a lot about swarming to the ball and gang tackling, especially against No. 3 (running back Darrius Crump),” said Miller.
Offensively, Czyzynski and the Trevians made the most of Warren’s mistakes to take a 22-0 lead into halftime. Rosenthal (9 rushes, 50 yards) scored twice (a 5-yarder and a 3-yarder), while Francis Fay (14-89) went in from seven yards out.
The highlight of the second half was a 97-yard scoring drive, which put the Trevians ahead 29-0 with 11:37 left in the final frame. Czyzynski (18-66) capped the drive with a 1-yard run.
NT’s other points came on a 34-yard field goal by Nick Endre.
The Trevians (2-0) will travel to Maine West (2-0) on Sept. 11 (7 p.m.).