Keiser's late field goal wins homecoming contest 17-14, knocks Chesterton out of DAC top spot

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

10-9-2004

Friday, Oct. 8, 2004,  64 degrees at Crown Point

1st Q:  CROWN POINT (6-0) Mike Smith, 26-yard pass from Matt Jansen. 80-yard drive, 11 plays. Kick wide. 3:34 left.
2nd Q:  CHESTERTON (6-7) Logan Newkirk, 26-yard pass from Casey Martin. 97-yard drive, 16 plays. Kyle Yelton kick. 1:09 left.

3rd Q:  CROWN POINT (14-7) Matt Ernest, 95-yard pass from Matt Jansen. 95 yards, 1 play. Matt Jansen, 2-pt conversion run. 0:48 left.
4th Q:  CHESTERTON (14-14) Casey Martin, 3-yard run. Kyle Yelton kick. 80-yard drive, 7 plays. 6:41 left.

CROWN POINT (17-14) Donny Keiser, 20-yard field goal. 47-yard drive, 7 plays. 1:10 left.

Game Statistics

CROWN POINT (10-8-2004) - So, lets see if I've got this right. Chesterton and Merrillville will meet Oct. 15 and if Merrillville wins, the Pirates win the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) championship. If Chesterton wins, they share the DAC title with Merrillville.

And the only team to beat both Merrillville and Chesterton is, who? Crown Point? That 3-5 Crown Point? What's up with that?

“About the eight minute mark of the game,”  recalled Pettit. “We called our whole sideline together. We've been going through this week after week after week. We said, 'Okay, here it is, guys. Are we going to step up and make plays? How sick are you of losing this type of game week after week after week.'"

Finally, after losing four games in the fourth quarter this season, Crown Point won one in the final period. Donny Keiser's 20-yard field goal with 1:10 to play broke a 14-14 tie and gave the Bulldogs a 17-14 homecoming victory over first pace Chesterton Friday night.

Crown Point, effectively, decided the DAC race. Merrillville (7-1, 5-1), which turned back Lake Central 42-7 Friday, clinches a half share of the DAC title with help from their southern neighbors. Chesterton (5-3, 4-2) does host Merrillville in the season finale on Oct. 15 but there are no tiebreakers in high school football. The Pirates own a half-share of the DAC title regardless of what happens at Chesterton.

Though the game was won on Keiser's kick, the play of the night in front of a crowd of about 3,000 at the 2004 CP homecoming game came late in the third quarter with Chesterton leading 7-6. The Trojans had driven to the Crown Point 4-yard-line but Chesterton's big quarterback, Casey Martin (6-4, 215) fumbled on an option handoff to the fullback with junior tackle Nick Conway of Crown Point recovering the ball on the Bulldogs' 5-yard line.

CP then decided not to play it safe.

“I liked the call,” said QB Matt Jansen. “We didn't go down field too much today. They had single coverage on (Matt) Ernest and we just took advantage of that. The offensive line did a great job on that play. We had a play-action pass. They gave us a lot of time and it just came open late. It was just a long play. A post route. A deep post.”

“Coach said with about eight minutes to go that he doesn't care how it happens. Just get a win and get it done.”

Jansen dropped back into his own end zone, hesitated, and threw long down the visitors' sidelines. Ernest, CP's 6-foot-2 receiver, appeared to change speeds and run by the single covering Trojan defender, catching the long pass in stride at the CP 40-yard line and outrunning everybody to the other goal line as the surprised crowd roared its approval.

What was about to be a 14-6 Chesterton lead turned into a 14-7 Crown Point advantage when Jansen ran a 'bootleg' play around left end for a two-point conversion with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

While Chesterton did rally to tie the game on a 75-yard drive early in the fourth quarter, the long pass play between the junior QB and the sophomore receiver created the foundation for the upset win. And almost made up for some earlier losses.

“We're ready to go up 10 on Hobart on August 27th with seven minutes to go,” said Pettit. “We fumble and they go 97 yards to take the lead. We're leading LaPorte (last week) with 2 ½ minutes to play and we lose that one. We were tied with Portage in the fourth quarter.”

Crown Point (3-5, 3-3) has had an odd season and they know it. When you lose fourth quarter leads (as CP has three times this fall), you can choose how you feel about it. And after you feel sorry for yourself about the record you should have (which is probably 6-2, 4-2) you can move on to the stage where you're drawing strength from the fact that your side is playing everybody close for three quarters. Crown Point's schedule is rated among the 25 toughest in the state (there are 375 Indiana teams) by the IHSAA sanctioned Sagarin computer rankings.

“Nobody felt sorry for us when we lost those games,” said Pettit. “So we'll take this one. We're not giving it back.”

“We're just trying to get on a hot streak,” said linemen Will McInerney. “We like our playoff draw (a home game with Lake Central on Oct. 22). With about eight minutes left (after the Chesterton tying TD), Coach asked us, 'Are we tired or not? We just went nuts. We've lost these games all year. We just said, 'It's ours. We're not giving this one up.'

“We knew Crown Point was a good team.' said Trojan coach John Snyder. “I don't know if there was one difference. They (CP) played a helluva game and we knew they would. They've played everybody competitively. They got the breaks. We fumbled down there inside the 5-yard-line and they got a 95-yard-line play when we had a miscommunication in coverage.”

“You can't look at their record and say they're not very good. They're the only team to beat Merrillville so you can't say they're not very good. I was disappointed in our ability to contain (Jansen). But he's a helluva quarterback. ”

The game was a 21st century battle of multiple wide receiver sets, motion and spread formations. Martin led the Trojans to 20 first downs and 318 yards. The Trojans had themselves come from behind to beat Portage (6-2, 4-2) and LaPorte (5-3, 4-2) and they played with confidence. But CP's quick defense, led by junior linebacker Vince Lewis and senior defensive back Mike Smith made just enough plays to hold the Trojans, who average 27 points a game, to a season-low 14 points.

Crown Point did not move the ball as well as Chesterton did, but the Bulldogs received the game's only two turnovers, Conway's fumble recovery and a blocked punt by sophomore linebacker Tommy Parks that did not figure in the scoring.

CP's first score was a very athletic play at the end of an 80-yard first quarter drive. On the Bulldogs' second possession, the left-handed Jansen ran away from the Trojan pass rush and fired a 24-yard TD pass down the middle of the field to Smith, who made a diving catch in the end zone for a 6-0 lead.

Chesterton's lines anchored by big Heath Cartwright (6-6, 250), limited what CP could do in the middle portion of the game. But there was no physical mismatch, as CP has experienced in league play at times in recent years.

“I think we're the equal of nearly everybody we play now,” McInerney said.

The Trojans, who got injured playmaker Zach Werner (24 carries, 332 yards, 5 TDs) back into the lineup at wingback, set up both touchdowns with spectacular catches by senior end Logan Newkirk (6-1, 180). Newkirk's leaping catch in the end zone with 1:09 to play in the second quarter gave the Trojans a 7-6 halftime lead. His high-jumping grab of a 35-yard pass at the Bulldog 3-yard-line set up the tying score with 7:30 left in the game. Martin (83-of-154, 1,084 yards), who hit six different receivers, and Newkirk (18 catches, 257 yards) made big plays. They just didn't make enough of them.

“That's why we're where we are,” said Snyder. “We've got guys who can make plays like that. We just have to regroup, come back and get ready for Merrillville.”

The Bulldogs allowed Keiser, who had missed five weeks with a cracked knee cap, to boot the potential game-winner in the final 90 seconds even though Keiser had missed an earlier field goal badly and slipped and fallen on a kickoff attempt. CP's backup kicker, Brad Mallers, who kicked field goals against Portage and LaPorte in the last four weeks, was ready to go but Pettit went with the more experienced player.

“Our offensive coordinator in the booth says, “I don't know if I can watch this,” Pettit recalled of the game wining boot. “He's a two-year player. He's got to do it. The one good thing about Donny is, he's got a short memory. The 43-yard field goal he tried (with 9:13 left in the game). He had a lot of leg on that one. I really thought he'd make it.”

That gives you an indication that CP is building a team for the future. And the future isn't so far away.

DOG NOTES:  The Homecoming crowd of about 3,500 was in a festive mood after day long rains stopped at 5 p.m. for a dry game night. Cheerleader captain Kristin Blimm was picked as homecoming queen. CP's homecoming king was not to be selected until Saturday night. A large group of the Crown Point 'Class of 1954' returned for the Homecoming game and watched the close game from the home stands.

A week after a small accidental fire damaged the visitors stands at the new CPHS field, the damaged area was hardly noticeable.

The Bulldogs' win evened the all-time series between Crown Point and Chesterton at a 10-10 tie after 20 games. The two teams could not meet again this season before the Sectional one championship game.

Merrillville QB Evan Parker was 10-for-10 passing for 252 yards in leading the 5A No. 10 Pirates to a 42-7 smoking of Lake Central. The Pirates, who have only lost 7-3 to Crown Point on Sept. 3, gained 395 yards and led 42-0 after three quarters. LC comes to Crown Point to start the state playoffs on Oct. 22. IF CP wins, they would likely play Merrillville on Oct. 29.

In a match up of two 4A teams that beat CP in August, Hobart (7-1) beat Lowell 9-6 in a strange game in Lowell. Neither side committed a turnover and Lowell outgained the Brickies 252-147 with big tailback Toby Goetz gaining 184 yards on 30 carries against the Lake Athletic Conference's top-rated defense. There were only nine punts combined in the entire game and Lowell only punted three times. Lowell may have given the game away with eight penalties for 68 yards.

Matt Ernest of Crown Point has caught 32 passes for 731 yards, an average of 22.8 per catch. Justin Sprehe (6-2, 210), a senior CP defensive end and co-captain, reinjured his foot late in the game and his availability is not certain for the regular season finale at Michigan City (3-5) next week.

Michigan City got buried 42-14 Friday by LaPorte in that annual LaPorte County rivalry game in Michigan City.

CROWN POINT (3-5, 3-3 DAC)

CHESTERTON (5-3, 4-2 DAC)

‡DUNELAND CONFERENCE GAME

Crown Point 17, Chesteron 14

Game Statistics

TOTAL YARDS: 

Chesterton - 318, CROWN POINT - 307

FIRST DOWNS: 

Chesterton - 20, CROWN POINT 12

TURNOVERS: 

Chesterton – 2 (fumble, blocked kick), CROWN POINT 0

PASSING: 

Casey Martin (C) 12-25, 156 yards, TD
Matt Maple (C) 0-1, 0 yards

Matt Jansen (CP) 10-15, 206, 2 TDs
Josh Oresko (CP) 0-1, 0 yards

RECEIVING:

Adam Hutnick (C) 2-42 yards; Logan Newkirk (C) 5/94, TD; Wade Breitzke (C) 2-8 yards; Jon Schwoegler (C) 1-8 yards; Matt Maple (C) 1-10 yards; Zach Werner (C) 1- (minus-5 yards).

Mike Smith (CP) 2-30 yards; Matt Ernest (CP) 4-154 yards, TD; Tom Isailovich (CP) 1 (minus-11 yards); Chris Wilson (CP) 3-35 yards.

RUSHING:

CHESTERTON (35-162, TD, fumble) Casey Martin (C) 18-43 yards, TD; Patrick Small (C) 3-15 yards; Zach Werner (C) 3-42 yards; Matt Maple (C) 3-39 yards; AJ Thompson (C) 4-23 yards.

CROWN POINT (30-99) Jon Sertich (CP) 17-55; Donny Keiser 5-24; Chris Wilson 1-4; Mike Smith 1-12; Matt Jansen (CP) 7 (minus-3)

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Revised: October 14, 2004 .