New Trier gets back to winning ways with 56-point trouncing of Niles West

What’s the best way to respond to your first defeat? 

A 42-point opening half with 300-plus yards of offense is a good place to start. 

New Trier came out firing on all cylinders Friday night, putting their Week 4 loss to the Maine South Hawks in the rearview mirror in a hurry.  

The Trevs dominated early and often en route to their resounding 56-0 win over the Niles West Wolves in Skokie. New Trier scored 21 points in under seven minutes of game action, jumping out a lead it never even got close to surrendering. 

“The whole week has been about moving forward, and really about our second half of the season,” New Trier head coach Brian Doll said. “We scored quick tonight and we made a lot of plays on defense.” 

“The things that we wanted to get better at this week in practice we did on the field tonight,” he later added.

It was a familiar opening chapter to the story of New Trier’s fifth game as senior running back Throy Nightingale Jr. got the Trevs rolling from the get-go. 

Nightingale Jr. rushed in an 11-yard score on New Trier’s first drive. It took the Trevs only four plays to score. The series was powered by a 41-yard Nightingale Jr. run on his first carry of the game. 

The Trevs started their second drive just outside Niles West territory — and three plays later, they found the endzone yet again. It was Nightingale Jr. doing the damage once more. He shrugged off a series of Niles West defenders and broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run. 

New Trier’s defense joined the fun on the ensuing series when senior captain Rick Miller intercepted a Niles West pass and returned it all the way to the Wolves’ 3-yard line. On the very next play, quarterback Jackie Ryder found a wide-open John Baxter for the score. 

The Trevs’ 2025 defense struggled to consistently generate turnovers. But this year’s unit is taking the ball away from its opponents at a much higher rate. 

“Getting these turnovers and helping our team win means the world to the defense because that means we’re doing our job and that’s all it comes down to,” Miller said.  

Miller, one of the team’s leaders on defense, noted that New Trier’s senior captains stressed the importance of coming out fast after the Trevs’ slow start against the Hawks. 

“Our defense and our offense came out flat last week but I think we came out really strong this week,” Miller said. “I love the way we started out tonight and I loved our energy.”

New Trier’s attack showed no signs of slowing down in the second quarter. Nightingale Jr. exploded for this third score of the evening, a 72-yard touchdown run that put the Trevs up 28-0. 

It was the second time this season Nightingale Jr. has found the endzone three times in one game. And his stellar campaign only continues to grow more impressive each week. 

Nightingale Jr. has now accounted for 12 New Trier touchdowns through five games (eight rushing, three receiving and one passing). He finished Friday’s contest with five carries for 175 yards. 

New Trier added two more scores before the half, both of which came courtesy of senior running back Donsley Lyman. Lyman caught a 6-yard pass from Ryder and took a short toss from Elliot Baxter 48 yards for his second touchdown. 

Senior full back Mason Freiburger kicked off the second-half scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run. New Trier’s final score of the game came courtesy of Troyvell Nightingale. 

“All week we were preparing for this game and preparing to dominate and that’s what we ended up doing, which is nice — and it was fun after a week like last week to come back and dominate,” Freiburger said. 

The Trevs so far have scored an astounding 225 points this season, good for an average of 45 points per game. They have allowed just 48, giving them a +177 point differential just past the halfway point of the year. 

Homecoming on deck 

New Trier (4-1) will return to Northfield next Friday night for its homecoming game against Deerfield (3-2). 

After falling to the Warriors in 2024, New Trier bested Deerfield 44-7 last season. 

As many outside spectators look ahead to the Trevs final two games of the season (Week 8 against Glenbrook South and Week 9 against Evanston at Ryan Field), the team is laser focused on taking the season one game at a time. 

“People have asked, ‘are you thinking about Ryan Field, are you thinking about GBS’ and all that, but the reality is we’re thinking about homecoming and Deerfield right now,” Doll said. We’re coming in to watch film on Deerfield tomorrow, we’re not coming in to watch film on anybody else. We have to focus on them and get excited about the opportunity to play in front of our home crowd. … It’s just another great opportunity and we love playing at home.”

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Become a member of The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a member? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.