Bulldogs' 3-0 1st half lead dissolves as Penn Kingsmen win 20-3 for Regional Championship

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-12-2011

Friday, Nov. 11, 2011,  39 degrees, Class 5A Regional Championship at Freed Field in MISHAWAKA, IN
 

The Bulldogs run onto the field at Penn in the 2011 5A regional final game. (All Photos by Mark Smith)

Penn's Dyland Hayveart (93) can't get to the Bulldog's QB Jake Jatis (7) before he gets away a pass in the 5A regional championship.

Austin Stanley (41) celebrates after CP stopped Penn at the goal line in the first half.

CP fans had to dress for sub-40 degree temperatures almost 90 miles from home Friday night.

Penn hosted CP for the first time at Freed Field.

CP girls yelled to support the Bulldogs and to keep warm at Penn Friday night. (All photos by Mark Smith)

The Bulldogs and Penn were tied 3-3 going into the fourth quarter, but CP lost 20-3.

Junior Michael Young (79) blocks Penn tackle Joe Klein (99) so Jake Jatis can get the ball away in the regional championship. (All photos by Mark Smith)

1st Qtr: No Scoring.
2nd Qtr: CROWN POINT (3-0) Brett Bayer, 32-yard field goal. 9:46 left.
3rd Qtr: PENN (3-3) Nick Maldonado, 20-yard field goal. 4:58 left.
4th Qtr: PENN (6-3) PENN (3-6) Nick Maldonado, 17-yard field goal. 9:14 left
PENN (13-3) 30-yard punt return by Matt Wirick. 4:19 left.
PENN (20-3) Zack Oakley, 4-yard run. Nick Maldonado kick 2:17 left.
 

RUSHING:
CROWN POINT (32-88 yards 0 TDs, 1 fumble) Tristan Peterson (HB) 19-67, (FB) Pete Parks 7-20. Tyler Wells (WR)
PENN (25 carries, 112 yards, one TD, one fumble) Jamil Davis (HB) 12-53 yards, Zach Oakley (HB-QB) 7-28 yards, fumble, TD, Chad Gindelberger (QB) 6-20 yards, fumble.

PASSING:
CROWN POINT - Jake Jatis (QB) 3 of 16, 36 yards, 2 interceptions;
PENN: Chad Gindelberger 6 of 12, 88 yards; Zack Oakley 0 of 2, 0 yards.

RECEIVING:
CROWN POINT - Tyler Wells (WR) 3-36 yards;
PENN Tiger Barnett (WR) 2-45 yards, Joe Weller (WR) 1-21 yards, Zach Oakley (WR) 1-12.

TOTAL YARDS:
CROWN POINT - 116 yards, 5 first downs, 3 turnovers;
PENN - 210 yards, 11 first downs, 3 turnovers.
 

OSCEOLA (11-11-2011) The reality of football was a that Crown Point's season was on borrowed time from the time that they lost starting quarterback Joe Hopman in the first quarter of the sectional quarterfinal game. The Bulldogs just didn't accept it until three weeks later. It was last Friday's 20-3 loss at 5A No. 3 Penn.

The state tournament is like a wild bus ride through a lot of different neighborhoods. CP stayed beyond their 'stop' and rode quite a ways for free. The thrill ride ended 90 miles from home in Penn's bright, spacious Freed Field where the Kingsmen scored 17 points on CP turnovers in the final period to break a 3-3- tie.
 

The Bulldogs did not move the ball on the first possession of the second half and Penn drove 66 yards for a short game-tying field goal by Nick Maldonado. Maldonado's second field goal, with 9:14 left in the game boosted the Kingsmen to a 6-3 lead after CP's defense held on two plays inside the 5-yard line.
 

But the Bulldogs had just five first downs all night and were only 1-of-12 on third down conversions. But the story of the game was that the Bulldogs could not move the ball. That was not a surprise against Penn's top-rated scoring defense (10.5 points allowed per game through 13 games) which prevailed when CP's defenders repeatedly turned back the offense of the home team.

"This was, without a doubt the best defense we've faced all year," said CP coach Chip Pettit, coaching his second regional game in 11 years. "There's a reason they've only given up 12 touchdowns all season."

Trailing 6-3 after an exchange of turnovers deep in CP territory, Crown Point had a 4th-and-14 from their own 1-yard line with less than five minutes to play. What do you do? At first, coach Pettit wanted to take an intentional safety, lifting the score to 8-3, so CP could punt uncontested from the 20-yard line. But when CP was called for a false start penalty, the Bulldog coach changed his mind.
 

"We saw that they were not rushing hard," he explained. "We were worried that we couldn't get the punt off. We didn't really want to give them the two points because that would mean we'd need a touchdown and we hadn't been moving the ball."

On the biggest play of the night, Penn's Matt Wirick, a junior receiver, grabbed Brett Bayer's punt at the 30, broke two tackles and raced across field, stepping into the end zone along the home side to up the lead to 13-3 with just 4:19 left in the game.
 

CP (9-4) lost the ball on downs at their own 25-yard-line after that and Penn scored an extra TD with 2:17 left in the game, but that just made the score different. It didn't clinch the outcome. That had already been done. Crown Point would have had to play a long time Friday night before they scored a TD on Penn. The Bulldogs were nowhere near scoring a TD in the second half and the Kingsmen, who consistently split the gaps between CP linemen like no one else had this year, became more dominant defensively as the game went on.
 

The better team clearly won.

There will come a night when CP's sophomore quarterback Jake Jatis (3 of 16, 36 yards) is the top offensive player on the field for Crown Point. But, as hard as it was to say out loud, there was no way a 15-year-old quarterback was going to successfully attack one of the state's top defenses.

"I thought we played pretty well at times," said coach Chip Pettit. "They made a couple of turnovers in the first half and we were not able to capitalize. Then we made a coupe of turnovers in the second half and they capitalized on them."

CP scored in the first half when Penn's Blake Schneider fumbled at the Penn 49 yards line. Jatis completed a fourth down pass for 20 yards to Tyler Wells to the Penn 13 but the Bulldogs lost two yards on the next three plays and Brett Bayer was called on to kick a 32-yard field goal 9:46 before halftime. Penn fumbled a punt at the Crown Point 48-yard line with 4:38 left in the half, but CP could not gain a first down and also had to punt.
 

That was about it. CP did not cross the 50-yard line in the second half against Penn's light-but-quick defensive unit led by defensive linemen Sam Daggy (6-2, 220) and Dylan Heyvaert (6-3, 220).

"We'd done a pretty good job of taking care of the football," said Penn coach Cory Yeoman, who watched his team win its 13th regional championship. "But sometimes things happen and it's the defenses' job to take a stand. Special teams was huge. That punt return was great."
 

Penn got into the CP backfield easily and Jatis took a lot of hard hits, some of which shook him.
 

"That's just how we play," Yeoman said. "I don't think we blitzed. We're fast up front. Pretty good front four. We thought they had great skill at wide receiver with (Zach) Plesac) and the tall kid (Braxton Rice). We just wanted it make sure the sophomore (QB Jake Jatis) wasn't able to set his feet much because he had good targets to throw to.

CP's 3-0 halftime lead marked just the third time Penn had trailed this season and the first time they'd trailed at halftime. Yeoman hardly noticed.

"Just keep your composure," remembered Yeoman of what he said to his team at the half. "We had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty. Our defense had played great. These guys had been in a lot of tough games. I knew they wouldn't quit."

CP senior Tyler Kral, one of several starters playing his last game, seemed to understand that was a tall order to stop an undefeated team this late in the tournament.

"They're a tough team," said Kral. "They certainly came to play. I thought we played a good football game. It was back and forth. We can't blame anybody. It was a team effort. They just made a couple more plays than we did."
 

"I looked up and it was in the second quarter. The game seemed like it was over fast."

Senior Billy Van Cleef said, "The first half went by very fast but in the second half it closed out."
 

"A loss is a loss. We know how close the game was. I hope they go on and win state so we can say we lost to the state champion. It stinks for the score to be 20-3, but a loss is a loss either way."

Pettit, as always, was calm and analytical. He seemed to understand that the accomplishment that will last was getting this far.

"We thought it would be a low-scoring game with both teams playing to their strength. I don't know that the stage this week was any different than last week except for the opponent."
 

"At times they were just smothering us. They are very good. But I thought our kids did a tremendous job of battling through adversity. Losing our QB in the first game of the playoffs. We're all pretty disappointed tonight, but I think we're going to look back fondly on this season."

Van Cleef said that his teammates believed that anything was possible even after senior QB Joe Hopman who had started 32 games in a row, was lost for the season on Oct.14.

"The way we looked at it was, 'Hey that's football.' People get injured and you have to respond to it. Jake came in and assumed his role. He didn't expect to be playing and he got us this far."
 

"Obviously I wanted Joe to play because he's a senior captain and this was his last year, but you have to respond and Jatis did that really well."

REGIONAL NOTES: The crowd at 7,800-seat Freed Field seemed small, maybe a total of 3,000 equally split on both sides. The 6:30 start (Lake County time) and the 85-mile distance between the two schools, plus 40-degree temperatures at game time certainly limited the attendance.
 

Senior Billy Van Cleef was said to have played his last game, but he wasn't too broken up not to leave a scouting report/shout out for the 2012 team.
 

"I'll definitely be back to watch the games," he said standing in the end zone long after the clock ran out. "And don't forget (Connor) Anders, (Brendyn) McKinnon, and (Anthony) Geisen. And T. Smith (corner back Tyler Smith). We'll be a good defense again next year. Don't let anybody fool you."
 

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Revised: November 13, 2011 .