Lake Central coach Brett St. Germain took a risk.
In fact, he took two.
With the way the Indians have performed this season, there was no reason to play it safe in Friday’s 21-7 Duneland Athletic Conference win over Crown Point.
Lake Central (3-1, 2-0) faced third-and-23 from its own 1-yard line late in the second quarter, at the time holding a 7-0 lead. Instead of keeping the ball on the ground to avoid the safety, the Indians took a gamble by going to the air.
It paid off. Quarterback Ethan Darter heaved a 40-yard pass to Josh Benson for a first down.
Later in the drive, the Indians gambled again. On fourth-and-8 from the Crown Point 40 with 2:35 left until halftime, Lake Central converted as Darter once again hooked up with Benson, this time for a 40-yard touchdown.
“If we’re going to win any championships around here, we have to be able to make plays at those times,” St. Germain said. “I’m sure a lot of people thought going for it on fourth down was a questionable call, but if we’re going to win championships, we’ve got to make that play.”
The plays provided a snapshot of both teams’ seasons. For one team, seemingly nothing can go wrong. For the other, quite the opposite is true.
Crown Point (0-4, 0-2) has scored 14 total points in four games and is winless after Week 4 for the first time in six years.
Crown Point’s Artie Equihua returned from a leg injury after missing last week’s game against Merrillville. He started at quarterback for the Bulldogs. Equihua passed for 87 yards and ran for 144.
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“He’s a great player,” St. Germain said. “He’s a game changer. We (had) to make sure we did a good job slowing him down.”
Equihua was brought down behind the line on third-and-goal from the 5-yard-line with 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter. With Crown Point out of timeouts, the play prevented the Bulldogs from getting on the scoreboard, as time expired to end the half.
Equihua completed a 19-yard TD pass to Shane McCormack with 6:13 left in the fourth, Crown Point’s first score since Week 1.
Darter finished with 228 passing yards, while teammate Anthony Garcia racked up 102 yards on the ground.
Austin Atkins has been Lake Central’s top receiver, but it was Benson’s turn to shine. He made eight catches for 192 yards.
“They had Austin double-teamed and they put a corner on me,” Benson said. “I had to step up and make plays. We had to adjust to what they were trying to do to us. We just keep making plays. If they stop us, we’ve got other receivers. We’ve got depth.”
Lake Central, a program known historically for its defense, put together its best defensive performance of the season.
“We feel really good about our defense,” St. Germain said before the game. “There were a couple hiccups in each of the first three games. It’s all about practice and the intensity that you have in practice. We’ve been simulating as many game situations as we can.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.