Chesterton pulled out all the stops.
But all of the trick plays in the world wouldn’t have been enough in Chesterton’s 49-14 sectional championship loss Friday to state power Penn.
More Top Picks Best Heated Eye Masks For Dry Eyes
A fake field goal led to a turnover on downs. A pooch kick gave Penn favorable field position. A double-reverse pass was completed, but didn’t result in a first down. It was that kind of night for the Trojans.
“We went into the game with an aggressive mentality, and we wanted to maintain that,” Chesterton coach Mark Peterson said. “Obviously, it didn’t work, but we’re going to try to be the aggressor. We’re not coming to play in these games; we’re coming to win.”
A memorable season featured a forgettable ending, as Chesterton (8-3) lost to Penn (10-1) in the sectional final for the third consecutive year. The Trojans have never won a sectional title.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the 13-yard line and trailing 15-0 in the second quarter, Chesterton lined up for a 25-yard field goal attempt.
Instead, kicker Nate Needham caught a pass from holder Joe Stento, but was brought down on the 20 for a turnover on downs.
“I was trying to call a timeout before we snapped it, but the referees couldn’t hear me,” Peterson said. “We were expecting them to align differently. We were expecting a certain formation.”
On the next play, Penn quarterback Camden Bohn busted free for an 82-yard touchdown run. From that point forward, it was all Kingsmen.
Bohn flashed both his arm and his feet, rushing for 122 yards on five carries while passing for 99 on two completions. He connected with Rashid Fahim for a 44-yard TD pass and Brice Voorde for a 55-yard TD. Bohn did not play in the second half after the Kingsmen jumped to a 42-7 halftime lead.
“One play, I saw us miss six tackles,” Peterson said. “I don’t know if that was something they were doing, or if we just weren’t moving our feet. Physically, they were able to do some things up front against us on defense that nobody else had done all season long.”
The Trojans were plagued by four turnovers. Quarterback Garritt Slatcoff threw three interceptions and DaQwon Stewart lost a fumble.
Luke Zelenika made an interception in his final game, setting up Slatcoff’s 7-yard TD pass to Rhett Rondinelli.
“It’s hard that it had to end like this, that it had to be this bad,” Rondinelli said. “This season was a huge improvement. It shows what we’re capable of, but (Friday) we just didn’t show up.”
The Trojans had their best season under Peterson, earning a share of the Duneland Athletic Conference title by going 7-1.
“The seniors were freshmen the last time we won a conference championship,” Peterson said. “They’ve made that their own little goal, to be able to win the conference. They’ve really bought in.”
Penn improves to 6-0 all-time against Chesterton and 17-0 against Northwest Indiana teams in the last five years.
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.