LAPORTE | Crown Point took advantage of its quick offense on Friday night against LaPorte. The Bulldogs had two scoring drives of one play in the first half, and outgained the Slicers 397-217 in total yards in a 35-21 win.
With the game tied at 7, the Bulldogs blocked a punt at the Slicers' 31 yard line. The next play, Jake Jatis hit Zach Plesac, and then Plesac tossed the ball behind him to Braxton Rice near the 10 yard line. Rice then ran it in for the go-ahead score with 2:23 left in the first quarter.
Near the end of the first quarter, Jatis connected with Plesac again for a 55-yard touchdown to put Crown Point up 21-7. Jatis threw for 210 yards and was 10-of-13 passing for two touchdowns.
LaPorte missed a 42-yard field goal with 5:18 left in the half. Taking over on downs at the Slicer 25 yard line, Jatis lateraled to Plesac, and Plesac found Tyler Smith for a 75-yard touchdown pass.
“It’s just a play we have off of a screen pass,” Crown Point coach Kevin Enright said. “We’ve had it all year, and it was the perfect time to play it. To give the kids credit, they executed it. “
The Bulldogs (5-2, 3-2) went into halftime with a 28-7 lead. On their first possession of the second half, Smith scored his third touchdown of the game on a 20-yard run to extend Crown Point’s lead to 35-7.
Smith had 86 yards rushing and 124 yards receiving on the night. Enright gives credit to his offensive line for the Bulldogs' offensive output.
“I think it came down to the big boys up front. The offensive line did a good job at the line of scrimmage, allowing us to run and pass the ball. They were solid all game,” Enright said.
LaPorte (0-7, 0-5) had two quick scores late in the fourth quarter to cut into Crown Point’s lead. Jonah Mason hit Corbin Starks for a 60-yard touchdown reception with 2:16 to play, and with :28 seconds remaining Mason ran in for a 2-yard touchdown.
“We had a good second half. Those scores made it a relatively close ball game at the end, but it’s still a loss,” LaPorte coach Bob Schellinger said. “We had some drives, but we were killing our selves. We jumped off sides, and then had third and longs. Those are the mistakes we have to stop making in order to be competitive. It’s just focusing and doing a better job at it.”
Mason was 9-of-17 passing for 131 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Charles Salary led the Slicers with 70 rushing yards and one touchdown that occurred on the Slicers' first play from scrimmage.
Please Wait…