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Chesterton: Seeing double
Updated: May 9, 2012 9:42AM
If Zac Jenks breaks loose during practice, sprints into the open field and comes face to face with his twin brother Brandon, expect some trash talking — no matter what happens.
“Any time I make a move on him or make him miss, I get in his face,” Zac said.
Said Brandon: “It doesn’t happen very often, but every once in a while he’ll get in a lucky juke.”
The competition between the senior fraternal twins is fierce at times. But when Chesterton takes the field on Friday nights, the rivalry is gone. All that matters then is winning.
Zac takes over as the team’s fullback this year, while Brandon returns to his role as a safety on the Trojans’ defense.
“We’re pretty close,” Zac said, “but there’s always a rivalry with him on defense and me on offense.”
And it’s pretty much been that way since they began playing football together in sixth grade.
“We’re always competitive, making fun of each other and harassing each other,” Brandon said. “But it’s all in good fun, bringing out the competitiveness in us.”
The Jenks’ older brother, Justin, played wingback for Chesterton last year before graduating. Justin had given up football for a while but came back to the game for his junior season and had success for the Trojans.
“It was fun watching him do well,” Zac said of Justin, who now is focusing on his education at Ball State.
Zac and Brandon, though, have been focused on football from the day their dad told them they were old enough to play competitively.
“We love football so much,” Zac said. “Our dad wouldn’t let us play until sixth grade, but we were ready to go. We played it in our back yard all the time growing up.”
And now their senior season is upon them.
“It’s got to be fun for those guys being brothers and being able to start and play at the same time,” Chesterton coach John Snyder said. “They’re a very, very good family, very supportive of the coaches and the program. It’s fun coaching them.”
The twins will play key roles, Zac offensively and Brandon defensively, on a young Chesterton team. They are two of only 13 seniors on the Trojans’ roster.
“They are really good kids,” Snyder said. “They’re the type of kids you want to have in the program, the type you want the younger guys being around and learning from.
“They’re not the best athletes we’ve ever had. But they’re outstanding young men. I hope good things happen for them this year.”
Coach
John Snyder
Record
At school: 60-48 (11th year)
Overall: 62-55 (12th year)
Last season
Lost 48-27 to Merrillville in the sectional opener
Key returnees
P/K Kyle Schmidt
OL Sean Metheny
OL Drew Holba
OL Ryley Harlow
OL Trent Schreiber
LB Julian Raudry
LB Dana Konchar
Key Losses
QB Jon Watson
WB Justin Jenks
RB Nate Majcher
FB Sam Lindquist
OL Nathan Brock
DB Peter Fouts
DL Dan Dellumo
College prospects
K/P Kyle Schmidt
OL Sean Metheny
Season outlook
John Snyder calls this the youngest team he’s ever put on the field. He has just 13 seniors on the roster, but a whopping 43 juniors. The Trojans must replace nearly all of their skill-position players from last year, including quarterback Jon Watson. It’s a junior class that has had a good deal of success coming up. But Snyder’s concern is depth, fearing that a junior he puts out on the field might need to be replaced by an even more inexperienced sophomore if that junior gets hurt. Most of the offensive line from last year returns, led by Sean Metheny. And on defense, a solid group of linebackers returns. Junior Chris Katsafaros takes over at QB to lead Chesterton’s option attack. The kicking game is certain to be good with Kyle Schmidt and the speedy Joe Troop returning kicks.
Postseason
Class 5A Sectional 1 (Chesterton, Crown Point, Lake Central, Merrillville, Michigan City, Munster, Portage, Valparaiso)
Schedule
Aug. 19 at South Bend St. Joe
Aug. 26 Munster
Sept. 2 at Michigan City
Sept. 9 LaPorte
Sept. 16 Valparaiso
Sept. 23 at Portage
Sept. 30 Lake Central
Oct. 7 Crown Point
Oct. 14 at Merrillville
HISTORY LESSON
Season Record
2001 6-6, 3-4
2002 6-4, 4-3
2003 7-4, 5-2
2004 5-5, 4-3
2005 3-8, 2-5
2006 5-6, 4-3
2007 6-4, 4-3
2008 9-3, 6-1
2009 7-4, 4-3
2010 6-4, 4-3
Sectional titles: None
Roster
No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos.
1 Hunter Royer 5-10 150 11 DB
2 Colin McEuen 5-9 140 10 WB/DB
3 Andrew Ralph 5-9 165 10 FB/DB
4 Kevin Fekete 6-1 185 11 LB
5 Mike Thanos 5-10 175 11 LB
6 Ryan Knightly 6-0 160 11 WR
7 Chris Katsafaros 5-10 160 11 QB
8 Cole Teal 6-3 170 10 QB
9 Julian Raudry 5-9 205 11 LB
10 Jerry Nagra 5-6 170 12 WR
11 Jaycee Jensen 6-3 160 10 FB/LB
12 Kyle Schmidt 6-2 195 12 K/P
13 Austin Krieter 5-7 145 11 K/P
14 Jacob Andrews 6-0 155 11 WR
15 Michael Crowley 6-2 185 11 QB
16 Tristen Taylor 5-8 165 12 DB
17 Kyle Kogler 5-9 165 11 LB
18 Caleb Hoffman 5-10 150 10 WB/DB
19 Andrew Ransom 6-2 175 11 DB
20 Jon Horvath 5-10 175 10 WB/DB
21 Adam Lara 5-10 150 12 WB
22 Adam Polkinghorn 6-0 145 11 DB
24 A.J. Snyder 6-0 155 11 WB/DB
25 Nick Raffin 5-11 160 11 DB
27 Tyler Colvin 5-6 135 10 WB/DB
28 Alex Katsafaros 5-11 150 10 WB/DB
30 Jordan Tall 5-9 145 10 WR/DB
33 Matt Reed 5-9 225 10 OL/DL
34 Ken Cupp 5-11 150 10 WR/DB
35 Zach Westergren 6-0 215 11 FB
36 Brandon Jenks 6-1 170 12 DB
38 Nathan Sipe 6-0 163 11 WR/DB
39 Niko Kornau 5-6 145 10 WR/DB
40 Kevin Webb 5-7 160 11 DB
41 Mark Dehenes 5-7 150 12 DB
42 Chase Claussen 6-0 250 11 DL
45 Dana Konchar 6-1 185 11 LB
46 Zac Jenks 5-10 170 12 FB
47 Joe Troop 6-2 175 11 WB
48 Jonathon Kindmark 5-11 155 10 FB/LB
50 Alex Bobos 5-11 195 11 LB
51 Ryley Harlow 6-0 230 11 OL/DE
52 Trent Schreiber 6-0 210 12 OL
53 Sean Matheny 6-5 275 12 OL
54 Eric Madry 5-8 235 11 DL
56 Trever Walker 6-0 215 11 DE
58 D.J. Schwandt 5-10 195 12 OL
59 Brent Downey 5-10 215 10 OL/DL
60 Jose Reyes 5-9 230 11 OL
61 Connor Smith 6-0 215 10 OL/DL
62 Kyle Knarian 5-11 250 11 OL
63 Matt Keaton 5-10 220 10 OL/DL
64 Ronnie Kovach 5-9 300 11 OL
65 Drew Holba 6-5 235 12 OL/DE
66 Grant Zakhar 5-10 180 11 OL
67 Evan Gill 5-8 165 10 OL/DL
69 Nate Michael 5-8 175 10 OL/DL
70 Jake Williams 6-1 248 11 DL
71 Josh McCall 5-6 235 11 OL
72 Ryne Buza 6-1 290 12 DL
73 Patrick Freeze 6-3 275 10 OL/DL
74 Gabe Kleckner 6-0 280 11 DL
75 Ben Morris 6-0 240 11 OL
76 Hunter Jones 6-2 200 11 OL
78 Emaun Ishmon 6-1 265 12 DL
79 Jacob Chorba 5-10 190 10 OL/DL
80 Steffan Dines 6-2 160 10 WR/DB
81 Dallas Milligan 5-9 140 10 WR/DB
82 Kyle Vargo 6-0 165 10 OL/DE
83 Luke Gipson 6-0 175 11 DB
84 Tevin Dilosa 6-2 198 11 DB
85 Matt Tall 6-0 155 11 WR
86 Brad Adkins 6-0 142 10 WR/DB
87 David Jordan 5-10 155 10 FB/LB
88 Charles Smolios 5-8 144 10 WR/DB
90 Silas Rettew 6-0 185 10 TE/DE
91 Joe Bishop 6-2 195 11 DE
95 A.J. Azcona 6-1 195 11 TE
96 Chase Cota 6-0 210 11 DE
97 Cody Watson 5-6 180 10 OL/DL
99 Mitch Kobitz 6-1 195 11 TE
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