Crown Point’s Landen Delich thought he could’ve played better Friday night.
The 6-foot-3 junior wide receiver had four catches for 135 yards and a touchdown in a key Duneland Athletic Conference game against Valparaiso.
And yet.
“It’s one of those things where if your number gets called, you have to perform, and I didn’t have the best performance,” he said. “I made some big plays, but I dropped three balls, I made some mistakes and I had to get in the right mindset.”
Even so, Delich’s 59-yard score snapped a tie with 2:29 left in the first half, and the Bulldogs took control after halftime to win 34-13 on the road.
Quarterback JJ Johnson, who also ran for four TDs, hit a wide-open Delich in stride.
“It was a new play we put in this week,” Delich said. “We have the dig to take away the safety’s eyes, and I should be wide open in the post. We ran that play out of many formations, and that one worked.”
Crown Point coach Craig Buzea praised Delich, who also had a 50-yard catch.
“He brings a lot of size, and he made a nice catch or two there,” Buzea said. “We felt like him and Ray (Santiago) both had some advantages on the outside.”
Indeed, Buzea said the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0), who are ranked No. 9 in Class 6A in the poll by The Associated Press, could’ve had even more success in the passing game against the Vikings (4-2, 3-1), who are ranked No. 5 in 5A.
“We tried to exploit some of our mismatches,” Buzea said. “We thought we had some really serious mismatches on the outside. We had guys wide open, and we just didn’t come up with it.
“When they’re giving you something like that, you have to take advantage of it. We didn’t do it, except one at the end of the first half and maybe one more in the second half. We know what our game is — our game is running the ball. But we feel like we have some guys on the outside.”
Johnson completed 7 of 15 passes for 176 yards. He also ran for 95 yards and the four TDs on 18 carries.
With wins against Merrillville and Valparaiso, Crown Point is the last remaining undefeated team in the conference. The Bulldogs snapped a four-game losing streak to the Vikings, including a 56-14 defeat last season, having last won in 2017.
“Those guys are a good football team, and I’m just so proud right now. … We’re making some progress,” Buzea said. “There’s a lot of things to clean up. It certainly wasn’t our best game. But I give Valpo a lot of credit for that as well.
“We’re a work in progress, and we want to keep going. We know we can play better. Our guys aren’t starry-eyed because of the score. … This is all new for our guys as far as being the hunted. It’s good for us, and we’re making progress, but we’re not where we want to be.”
Delich appreciated the moment.
“We haven’t beaten them in five years,” he said. “It’s a big night — their homecoming game. We just had to do our best.”
Each team was without its starting running back.
Crown Point’s Elijah Tiawhan missed his third straight game with a right leg injury. Tommy Guadagno ran for 49 yards on 14 carries for the Bulldogs.
“It’s a week-to-week decision,” Buzea said about Tiawhan’s return. “He’s making great progress. As soon as the doctors tell us he’s ready to roll, we’ll get him in there. We’re very, very encouraged with his progress and very encouraged with what Tommy has done as well.”
Valparaiso’s Travis Davis was on crutches with a boot on his right foot after suffering an injury in a win against Chesterton last week. Thomas Burda had 55 yards on 15 carries for the Vikings.
Crown Point, which led 14-7 at halftime, scored first on Johnson’s 25-yard TD run. It was set up by Austin Emanuelson’s fumble recovery at Crown Point’s 44-yard line.
The Vikings tied it on quarterback Justin Clark’s 7-yard TD run. A 41-yard pass from Clark to Scotty Bradney, who had five catches for 96 yards, put them in position.
“It was good for us to have a little setback,” Buzea said. “Our guys responded in the second half.”