Chesterton holds off Portage in frantic finish

PORTAGE | Portage's magic hat ran out of rabbits, just in time for Times No. 8 Chesterton to escape with a wild 31-28 Duneland Athletic Conference win Friday night.

The Indians were marching for a potential winning score in the final seconds when quarterback Zach Huston was tackled at the Trojans' 4-yard line as time expired.

"Big bold letters: Whew!" Chesterton coach John Snyder said. "Luckily, we made a play at the end to secure a victory. Huston just makes plays. He's not going to get caught by a defensive lineman. He waits to see where the openings are. The key are those two guys (Huston and Jake Dixon)."

Chesterton (4-2, 2-2) held Dixon to a comparatively modest 70 yards but the scrambling Huston made improbable plays on the move all game. He threw for 162 yards and ran for 117. He converted several fourth-downs, including a 20-yard hookup with Vince Fisher to keep the final march moving. The Indians had first and goal at the Chesterton 7 after an offsides penalty, but were left with one last-ditch play from 13 after a 6-yard loss on a fumbled pitch and a spike to stop the clock.

"We were going for the touchdown," Portage coach Mark Peterson said of his decision to not try a possible game-tying 30-yard field goal. "We were at home. We were driving. I felt we executed well down the stretch. It was just an unfortunate ending. We've got to get our focus back on executing at a higher level of intensity throughout."

The Trojans appeared on their way to icing the game with a clock-eating drive, but tried to sneak a pass, which Drew Keil intercepted with 3:34 left.

"It'll never happen again," Snyder said.

Chesterton found itself down 14-0 just into the second quarter as a result of two huge plays -- a 35-yard loss on a bad punt snap and a 37-yard Huston to Keil pass on fourth and 10, set up by a fumble recovery.

But the Trojans rattled off 17 points in a span of 6:05 in the second quarter, claiming the lead on Jon Watson's second scoring run of 4 yards with 71 seconds left in the half.

"I thought we responded really well to adversity early," Snyder said. "We just weren't focused coming in."

Watson ran for 144 yards and four touchdowns to carry the offense.

"Jon ran as well as he's run," Snyder said. "We need that out of him. Like Huston, he makes things happen."

No. 8 Chesterton 31, Portage 28

Jon Watson had 144 yards rushing and four touchdowns for the Trojans.