Crown Point’s Jaden Saddler delivered on a sweltering Friday night when it mattered most.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior cornerback recovered a muffed punt early in the third quarter and made an interception in the waning seconds of the fourth in the Bulldogs’ Duneland Athletic Conference showdown at Merrillville, a game pitting the Region’s top two teams and two of the state’s best.
“It felt great, but I know I couldn’t do it alone because my teammates were there,” Saddler said. “When I was messing up, when I was giving up the deep balls and a touchdown, they were there for me. They picked me back up when I was down. They picked me up.”
Indeed, it was a collective effort as Crown Point contained Merrillville’s high-powered offense, led by senior quarterback Michael Hill Jr., to win 23-14.
“A lot of hard work,” Crown Point coach Craig Buzea said when asked about his defense. “It took a little bit of time, and we can’t simulate what they do — no huddle, unbalanced. They’re very, very, very tough to defend, but I think we have the best defensive coordinator in the state in John Snyder, and that defensive staff along with him, they’re really, really good, and our kids execute really well.
“They spread you out. I don’t want to single anybody out. They didn’t really get a lot of deep balls over the top. That was important to us. We didn’t contain Hill as good as we needed to, but it’s hard. You hold this team to 14 points, you have a chance to win.”
Saddler was part of that effort for the Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0), especially after Buzea challenged him.
“Saddler got a little talking to at halftime, and he responded,” Buzea said.
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Saddler acknowledged the circumstances.
“He did get on me about how I played and how I started,” Saddler said. “But it’s old. You have to look past it. You have to play. You have to play through it because the game wasn’t over. It was 0-0 for us. So we have to play through it.”
Saddler didn’t play much last season, getting time on special teams and making 11 tackles. But he had an interception against Indianapolis Pike last week and three tackles in the season opener against Lowell.
“I’ve been doing this since May,” Saddler said. “Football started when we ended our season last year. Football started in December.
“I trained all summer. I worked my butt off. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen. It’s the stuff that you don’t see, that people just don’t see. So I’ve been working all summer, all spring, so I can get out here.”
Saddler’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by sophomore linebacker AJ Summers.
“He’s a great guy, great leader, super vocal, and he works really hard,” Summers said. “So he deserves this. J-Sad’s just a super hard worker, and you can just tell he wants it really bad, so he made it happen.”
The score was tied 14-14 with 11:44 left when Hill was banged up on a scramble as he angled toward the sideline. When the Pirates (2-1, 0-1) took possession again with 7:55 left, their backup quarterback was in the game. On the second play, a safety was whistled for intentional grounding in the end zone to give the Bulldogs a 16-14 edge.
After the free kick, Crown Point made it 23-14 on senior wide receiver Ethan Ziolkowski’s 46-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown on a pass from senior quarterback Tyce Custy with 5:51 left. Crown Point sophomore linebacker Brody Hood then forced a fumble that was recovered by senior linebacker Ben Clark with 4:34 to go.
Hill returned to the game with 2:26 left, completing 3 of 4 passes despite moving gingerly, but exited for good with a little more than a minute remaining. He finished with 217 passing yards and two TDs, both to junior wide receiver Curtis Walker, who had nine catches for 164 yards.
Custy also threw a 21-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Kingston Connelly, and senior running back Brayden Schutt rushed for 103 yards, including a 70-yard TD.
“Pregame, we told each other that we were going to play for each other, and we were going to fight for each other, so that’s exactly what we did,” Saddler said. “Not everybody showed up in the first half, and not everybody showed up in the second half, but we showed up together.
“So that’s all football’s about, showing up together, playing for each other.”
Crown Point extended its regular-season winning streak to 39 games with their fifth straight victory against Merrillville, which is back in 6A this season. The two teams could meet again in the sectional.
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“This is not the best version of Crown Point football right now,” Buzea said. “But we’re going to get better, and we’re going to continue to strive to because the odds are we’re going to see them again.
“If there’s many teams that are better than this team (Merrillville), it might be time to retire. These guys are a juggernaut, that’s for sure.”