According to Crown Point’s roster, AJ Summers is an “athlete.”
The tag is fitting for the 6-foot-2, 200-pound sophomore, who runs — and throws, by the way — as a quarterback and plays linebacker.
“There’s not a better football player in this area than him,” Crown Point coach Craig Buzea said. “You’re talking about stats and doing this, this guy’s playing (Class) 6A football, he’s playing defense the whole time, and he’s playing quarterback part time. You tell me another 6A guy that does that. It’s unheard of.”
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Summers wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love it,” he said. “I get a little beat up, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s my favorite thing.”
Passing wouldn’t appear to be Summers’ favorite thing, but he did it effectively, in addition to carrying the ball and holding down his usual spot on defense, during Crown Point’s 28-14 Duneland Athletic Conference victory at Valparaiso on Friday night.
Summers completed all three of his pass attempts for 45 yards and a touchdown, and he ran for 80 yards and two more TDs on 13 carries, complementing senior quarterback Tyce Custy, a Lindenwood recruit.
“I don’t want to say we have a problem, but we have two really good quarterbacks,” Buzea said. “I think most people thought AJ’s like a wildcat guy for us. But he’s a quarterback. He’s been a quarterback coming all the way up.
“He can do a lot of good things. He puts a lot of pressure on teams, but then we have Tyce, who can throw it, he can run it if he needs to. So we feel like we have two really good guys and two options, and we’re still working through the whole mix about how we’re going to get them in because AJ doesn’t come off the field on defense.”
Custy, who completed 10 of 14 pass attempts for 137 yards and a TD for the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0), appreciates the dynamic with Summers.
“We play together,” Custy said. “We try to play as one, just rotating in. It’s good to give a team something more to prepare for, that extra element. So it’s very beneficial for us.
“It’s very impressive. I remember when I was a sophomore, I was like 5-6, 115 pounds. So for him to be able to come out here and make plays like these, it’s huge for us. He’s a huge part of our team.”
Summers entered the game against the Vikings (4-2, 3-1) with a team-high 46 carries for 348 yards and a team-high six TDs, and he had completed 6 of 8 pass attempts for 72 yards and a TD. He also had 10 tackles and two interceptions, tied for the team lead, with a pick-six last week.
Summers opened the scoring with 5:43 left in the second quarter by connecting on a 28-yard pass to senior wide receiver Ethan Ziolkowski, who had five catches for 70 yards.
“On my touchdown pass, I slipped,” Summers said. “But it was still a touchdown.”
With 58.2 seconds left in the first half, Custy added a 44-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Kingston Connelly, who had six catches for 98 yards.
Valparaiso sophomore quarterback Cooper Gear ran for 91 yards and a TD on 21 carries and completed 9 of 12 pass attempts for 77 yards and a score. He got the Vikings on the board with a 9-yard TD run with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
“They’re a tough team to defend, and 23 is a dude,” Buzea said of Gear. “They do a good job of getting it to him.”
But Summers bulled his way for 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from Crown Point’s 39-yard line with less than three minutes left in the third. Later on the drive, one play after running for 21 yards on third-and-12, Summers scored from 11 yards with 10:56 left in the game.
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“I hope my teammates have confidence in me, but more than anything, I have confidence in them to block for me and just open holes,” Summers said.
Gear drew the Vikings to 21-14 with 4:24 left on a 19-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Sam Venard. But the Bulldogs proceeded to put away the game, aided by Summers.
“He makes some really good plays, and we were going to put the ball in his hands at the end of the game,” Buzea said.
With 2:12 left, Custy hit senior tight end Cooper Malaski for 9 yards on fourth-and-8 on Valparaiso’s 28. Summers then ran the ball three straight times, capped by a 13-yard TD with 1:43 left.
“We were just, like, ‘Get first downs, run the clock out, we get to go home,’ and I ended up getting in the end zone,” Summers said.
Buzea was pleased to see that, particularly under the circumstances.
“He knows how to do it,” Buzea said. “He’s a winner. He’s a winner, and he’s won all the way up. He’s going to have at least two more meetings with his counterpart over there, 23. It’s going to be fun to watch.
“But that last drive was something we really needed. We really haven’t needed something like that the whole year, and to get the ball like we did and punch it down and really convert … I think that will pay dividends for us down the road.”
The Bulldogs, who are ranked No. 6 in the 6A state coaches poll, have won 42 straight regular-season games and took another significant step toward their fifth straight undefeated DAC title. They’ve also won five straight games in the rivalry.
Summers was part of Crown Point’s victory last season, when he ran for 251 yards and three TDs on 33 carries, completed all three of his pass attempts for 50 yards and had 37 tackles as a freshman.
“Everybody was very welcoming,” Summers said. “I just flew around, had fun with my team.”
Summers has continued to have fun this season.
“I feel like I’m a lot more confident,” he said. “I trained really hard in the offseason. I know the playbook a whole lot better.”