In his other sport — baseball — Clay Czyzynski is the one doing the picking. The New Trier junior is a slick-fielding shortstop who gobbles up ground balls.
In New Trier’s 29-16 football win at Warren on Sept. 4, the junior quarterback watched his fellow teammates — in the defensive backfield — do all the picking.
And, there was plenty of pickin’ and grinnin’ in this one. New Trier’s secondary intercepted three passes in the first half.
NT’s defense also forced two fumbles and finished the game with four quarterback sacks and three tackles for loss.
Offensively, Czyzynski and the Trevians made the most of Warren’s mistakes to take a 22-0 lead into halftime. The highlight of the second half was a 97-yard scoring drive, which put the Trevians ahead 29-0 with 11:37 left in regulation.
With the win, NT improved to 2-0 on the season. Warren fell to 0-2.
New Trier’s Game Balls: Clay Czyzynski (QB), Francis Fay (RB-DB), Christian Miller (DB-WR), Joe Lewis (MLB), Max Rosenthal (FB/MLB)
NT’s Stat Leaders: Czyzynski (18 rushes, 66 yards, TD); Fay (14-89, TD), Rosenthal (9-50, 2 TDs; QB sack), Miller (INT, fumble recovery), Lewis (QB sack, forced fumble), Devin Murphy (QB sack), Charlie Stimson (4 tackles, 1/2 sack, 7-yard TFL), Eric Nicholas (INT, TD-saving tackle), Lucas Bartzis (INT), Nick Endre (34-yard field goal)
Moments of Truth: Trailing 16-0, Warren threatened to score midway through the second quarter after a 45-yard pass play gave the Blue Devils first-and-goal at the NT five-yard line. But, the Trevians thwarted that opportunity with a pair of quarterback sacks by Rosenthal and Murphy and an interception in the end zone by Nicholas.
And, just before halftime, Warren’s Jalen Powe returned a kick 73 yards before being tackled at the NT 22-yard line by Nicholas. A few moments later, Miller intercepted a pass to end that threat.
Sound Bites: “We were able to put a lot of pressure on their quarterback(s) which allowed our defensive backs to jump a lot of routes,” — NT head coach Brian Doll.
“Offensively, we did a great job of taking care of the football,” — Doll.
“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).” — New Trier’s Christian Miller.