The moment almost didn’t happen for LaPorte senior RJ Anglin.
The 6-1, 165-pound quarterback was being mobbed for hugs, handshakes and photos by friends and family.
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His teammates were being swarmed by the student section that just stormed the field after LaPorte’s first win of the season.
Every person sporting LaPorte’s black and orange was beaming with the same smile.
“It’s just so much fun — especially with this team,” Anglin said.
Such fun is possible because Anglin is healthy enough to play for the Slicers, who pulled out a 24-21 Duneland Athletic Conference win at home against Chesterton on Friday.
The three-sport athlete’s past four years have been filled with injuries, beginning with a broken left collarbone he suffered during his eighth grade football season. It required multiple surgeries before it was fully healed.
During his sophomore basketball season, Anglin tore the ACL in his right knee — “for the first time,” as he pointed out. About six months later, in August 2021, he tore it again during the football team’s Week 2 win against Penn.
“They were both noncontact injuries — just freak accidents,” he said. “It’s been a long journey back. Coming into my senior year, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play football. I was worried about my other sports.”
Anglin was one of the top pitchers for the baseball team in the spring and should be the ace of the staff next season. He envisions his baseball career continuing beyond college, so he was unsure about returning to football this season.
Senior left tackle Braylyn Schultz, one of Anglin’s oldest friends, said he didn’t get an answer from Anglin until June.
“There was a little back-and-forth with him on that,” Schultz said. “When summer came around, I just asked him if he was going to play. He said, ‘Yeah,’ and then he started coming to practice. That’s when I knew he was in. He’s not a quitter.”
Anglin said his decision largely revolved around teammates like Schultz.
“It’s my team, and it’s my senior year,” he said. “I had to come back and play for them. All the friends I’ve made the last four years — those are my brothers. I couldn’t leave them hanging like that.”
Anglin didn’t leave the Slicers (1-3, 1-1) hanging Friday night. He completed 22 of 39 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns, and he led the winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
Getting the ball with 4:36 left in a tie game, Anglin guided the Slicers on an 81-yard march that ended with junior Jack Doty’s 18-yard field goal.
LaPorte coach Bob James handed Anglin the reins with the game on the line.
“When your best player is your QB, you want to throw the ball,” James said. “We were trying to mix it up more with the run and the pass, but in the second half, we just started throwing it.”
Junior wide receiver Ollie Kring, who had a 34-yard catch during the game-winning drive, said Anglin’s teammates are similarly confident in their signal caller.
“I know that whenever I’m open, he can hit me at the right time, and even when I’m not as open, I know he can fit the ball into those tight windows,” Kring said.
Big moments like that final possession against Chesterton are the ones that Anglin missed the most when he was out with an injury, and he took time to soak in the scene as time expired Friday night.
But he has also come to appreciate the moments that happen away from the spotlight.
“It’s the little things I enjoy now,” Anglin said. “Sitting on the sidelines last year, I’d interact with the guys, but it wasn’t the same as being out there and working with them every day. That’s when you make those memories, when you’re going against the No. 1 defense in practice, and you’re trash-talking a guy one second and giving him a hug in the next one.
“Winning games along the way is great. But if that doesn’t come, it’s still going to be a great senior year, no matter what. It’s fun every day playing with this team.”
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Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.