If you’re a student at either Niles North or West odds are you know what the annual Skokie Skirmish is. And odds are you were excited to watch the teams settle their rivalry last Saturday. It was a tough game and each team gave it their all, but when the buzzer sounded the end of the game, the scoreboard left West fans disappointed. A final score of 52-27, the wolves were met with a tough loss against the vikings.

The challenge was presented within the first moments of the first quarter. North was setting the tone for the rest of the game with a touchdown just two minutes in, and unfortunately for the wolves they managed to also get the PAT making the score 7-0 North. Luckily towards the end of the first quarter sophomore Davion Lewis scored the first touchdown for the wolves, and junior kicker Marc Renko was able to secure the PAT, evening the score against the vikings.

The second quarter proved to be even more challenging for the wolves. The vikings were able to overtake the wolves and score two more touchdowns. The wolves fought hard but were unable to close the gap made during the quarter. At the end of the first half north led 24-7. The score was tough to bear but the wolves were eager to make a comeback.

During halftime the Niles West Poms Team and the Niles North Dance Team joined together for one combined performance.

The start of the third quarter was a slow one for west. North was able to secure three more touchdowns, but the wolves managed to score one too. With only a few more minutes left in the third quarter senior Yaniv Shields was able to get a touchdown for the wolves. Making the score 45-13 at the end of the third you could tell the wolves were eager to score again and try to take the vikings down.

The fourth quarter proved to be the wolves best one yet, the boys managed to score two touchdowns and one PAT in the final minutes of the game. The team worked hard in efforts to make a comeback against their rivals. Once again Lewis was able to secure another touchdown for the team. Junior quarterback Johnny Pabst scored a rushing touchdown and was able to bring the wolves score up to 27. The effort brought by the wolves in the final quarter sadly wasn’t enough and the team was left with a 52-27 loss against north.

After the game, The NWN got a chance to talk to head coach Scott Baum and hear how he thought the boys did and get an idea of what the team will work on for their next game. “It’s both a mental and physical game. We did some good things but our problem is that offensively we moved the ball and when it came to a critical period we stopped. And defensively we stopped them a couple of times but we gave up the big plays. We need to play hard every play, we didn’t do enough of that today. We just have to watch our film on this, put this game behind us and try to get better.”

This Friday the wolves play Deerfield at home starting at 7. Come out and support the boys as they continue their season.