‘Mistakes in key moments’ cost New Trier in season finale against Deerfield

A New Trier season that started with high hopes for a return to the playoffs ended Friday night with the Trevians witnessing their opponent fulfill the destiny they had once hoped to achieve. 

The Trevians dropped their final game of the 2024 campaign, falling to the Deerfield Warriors 21-10 on Friday, Oct. 25, at Adams Field. With the victory over New Trier, the Warriors clinched their return to the state playoffs. 

New Trier fell behind early in the second quarter when Deerfield connected on a long 61-yard passing play that resulted in the game’s opening touchdown. The Trevians took a 10-7 lead in the third quarter, but the Warriors responded with a pair of second-half touchdowns that sank New Trier. 

“We just made mistakes in key moments tonight,” New Trier head coach Brian Doll said. “We can’t do that. Our offense didn’t get going and we shouldn’t have scored 10 points tonight — we should have scored a lot more.” 

The Week 9 matchup was a defensive showdown in the opening two quarters with both offenses struggling to move the ball. The teams combined for just one first down in the first quarter, which New Trier gained through a fourth-down penalty. 

“I thought our defense played exceptionally well in the first half,” Doll said. “I thought they were lights out.” 

In addition to strong defensive play, the wonders of New Trier’s star senior kicker Niki Dugandzic helped keep the Warriors at bay.  

Dugandzic pinned Deerfield inside its own 15-yard line on all five of his first-half punts. On his second punt of the night, the Northwestern University commit delivered a near-perfect strike that landed only inches away from the Warriors’ goal line and spun back to their 2-yard line. Not to be undone by his own special-teams superlatives, Dugandzic later legged another terrific punt that pinned Deerfield at its 1-yard line. 

“Niki was just having one of those games where you just have to step back and say ‘holy cow,’” Doll said. “That just shows why he’s going to be a force when he goes to college next year. He just did a great job.” 

New Trier got on the board late in the second courtesy of a 29-yard field goal from Dugandzic. A pair of big runs from quarterback Patrick Heneghan put the Trevs within striking distance. 

Senior Dylan Benjamin then intercepted a Deerfield pass and returned it all the way to the Warriors’ red zone on the ensuing drive, but the Trevians could not capitalize as they were intercepted on the first play of their series. 

New Trier opened the second half with a bang as Heneghan broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter. Sophomore Alex Fairchild gave the Trevs excellent starting field position for the drive with a 45-yard kickoff return. 

The Trevs defense came up big again on the next drive, ending a promising Deerfield drive with a fourth-down stop that forced a Warriors’ turnover on downs. 

But Deerfield’s defense then turned in a huge play of its own as senior linebacker Nate Margulis scooped up a botched New Trier snap and returned it just over 20 yards for a touchdown. The Warriors’ defensive score gave them a 14-10 lead that they never surrendered the rest of the way. 

Deerfield added on midway through the fourth quarter when senior Harrison Erdman rushed in a 21-yard touchdown that was the game’s final score. 

It was another slow night for New Trier’s offense, which failed to eclipse 20 points for the sixth time this season

“I do not think we did much offensively production-wise tonight outside of a couple big plays and we had a big run to start the second half, which was an outstanding run by Patrick,” Doll said. 

The Trevs were particularly troubled on third down as they went just one-for-eight in the crucial situations. They were also unsuccessful on two fourth-down attempts and mustered only three points in the red zone. 

“Just not good production in those situations,” Doll added. “We’ve been trying to find answers all year and we didn’t have them tonight.”

The loss dropped New Trier’s overall record to 2-7 and its conference mark to 1-4. New Trier will miss out of the state playoffs for the third-straight season and fourth time in five seasons. The Trevians qualified for the playoffs 23 of 24 seasons between 1995 and 2018, including a run of 16 straight years through 2018.

A farewell to seniors while looking ahead 

The Trevias will head into the offseason looking for replacements for the seniors they’ll lose to graduation, many of whom were key contributors on both sides of the ball. 

“(Our senior class had) a lot of great kids and great personalities,” Doll said. “Our captains were exceptionally good role models and people to be around. … (The captains) really have done a great job as leaders in our program and being good kids.” 

Some of the key departures for New Trier include three-year starter Patrick Heneghan (quarterback), Colton Berg (linebacker/running back), Dylan Benjamin (wide receiver/defensive back), Ben Zieziula (wide receiver), CJ Donnelly (defensive back), Jayden Salazar (full back, defensive line) and Niki Dugandzic (kicker/punter). 

For the departing seniors, their time at New Trier will remain dear to them. 

“Playing for this school and such a historic program means so much to me,” Dugandzic said. “It also means so much to have these great coaches. I made some great relationships over the last four years and it’s something I’ll never forget about.” 

Benjamin, who was one of the few Trevians to play on both sides of the ball this season, cherishes “the brotherhood” the group formed over the past seasons. He, along with many of the senior players, will pass down their experience to the program’s new leaders. 

“Stick together, play as one, be a family and do everything you can to win,” Benjamin said of his advice to New Trier’s younger players. 

The team’s next era will include several players who made their mark in 2024. Sophomore wide receivers Alex Fairchild and Will Miller and running back Declan O’Meara are slated to return as focal points of New Trier’s offense. The Trevs also expect to return four of five starting offensive linemen. 

Defensively, Anthony Aguilar, Stephen Vellon and John Fitzgerald will look to build on strong junior seasons. 

The program’s coaching staff will hope to address a number of concerns during the offseason, according to Doll. But the No. 1 priority will be in the weight room. 

“We are not a strong football team right now up front physically,” he said. “We have to spend a lot of time lifting and getting stronger. That is where you can start the building blocks of your program.” 

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