New Trier holds off late Waukegan rally for wild win

New Trier 41, Waukegan 39 THE SKINNY The Trevians (3-2 overall, 1-0 CSL South) stopped what would have been a game-tying two-point conversion in the game’s final minute and then secured an onside kick to hold off the Bulldogs (2-3, 0-1) in Friday’s wild CSL South opener in Northfield. Waukegan trailed 41-27 with 1:50 remaining before staging a comeback that included senior receiver Jaleel Darr-Duffie’s fourth touchdown catch of the game, a recovered onside kick and a rushing touchdown by junior quarterback Melvin Bobo IV. TURNING POINT Waukegan’s missed extra point after Darr-Duffie’s fourth-quarter touchdown forced the Bulldogs to have to attempt the ultimately unsuccessful two-point conversion on their next possession. THE STARS Darr-Duffie put on a clinic, catching touchdown passes of 74, 58, 54 and 26 yards. New Trier junior running back Kevin Mulhern had a breakout game, but left the contest for good early in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. BY THE NUMBERS New Trier won the turnover battle 3-0 as senior Jeremiah Hsu recovered a fumble and juniors Charlie Schoder and Scott Hammes each had second-half interceptions. QUOTABLE “We just have to keep getting better all over the field. I think we did a lot of good things tonight and we’re going to look at that and see how we can improve. If you take away some of (Waukegan’s) big plays, it’s a (totally) different ballgame. We just have to make the play. They made the play and we didn’t. We can’t give up easy scores defensively – New Trier coach Dan Starkey