Chesterton ‘banged up’

Updated: September 28, 2011 9:05PM

Chesterton coach John Snyder has a difficult job this week.

He’s already had to convince his players to forget about last week’s stunning loss to Portage and find a way to soothe their bruised psyches.

On top of that, Snyder must prepare the Trojans (4-2, 3-1) for Friday night’s Duneland Athletic Conference showdown against Lake Central (6-0, 4-0) without quarterback Chris Katsafaros, who won’t play after suffering a leg injury late in the game with Portage.

Snyder said either sophomore Cole Teal or junior Michael Crowley will start behind center against the Indians.

Linebacker Julian Raudry, who was also hurt against Portage, is OK and will play against LC, while junior inside linebacker Dana Konchar returns this week after missing the Portage game.

“We’re really banged up, though,” Snyder said. “We’ve got a couple of other kids with hurt shoulders and a wide receiver (Jacob Andrews) who will miss three weeks.”

Cardinals on a roll: East Chicago Central coach Stacy Adams couldn’t be more pleased with the way the season has turned around for his Cardinals.

After two ugly losses to Hammond and Lake Central to open the season, the Cardinals have won four straight games and looked good in the process.

“One of the best things we tell our team is that the two teams we lost are 11-1,” Adams said. “I think the biggest thing is the level of play of our players has improved.”

“Losing to Lake Central the way that we did (64-8) was a big blow to us. We were embarrassed. Ever since then, our players have gotten better and our practices have gotten better.”

The Cardinals’ numbers have gotten better, too.

Adams said he had anywhere from 22 to 25 players at the beginning of the season, but now has 46 players showing up consistently now, which has provided the team with some depth.

“That makes a difference in our practices,” he said. “Winning cures a lot of things. We tell the kids: ‘You have to be here every day.’ The kids are real excited about where we’re at right now. We have a couple more games left and the team goal is win out. They’re working hard to try and do so.”

Besides the tough opponents they faced in their first two games, the Cardinals were at a disadvantage when practice began in August.

“We were really just starting two-a-days when everybody else was done with theirs,” Adams said. “Our numbers didn’t improve until after school started. There wasn’t too much participation in the summer. We kids working summer jobs and on vacation. We just don’t have that total level of commitment throughout that you have to have. We have that commitment by some, but not by a lot.”

Quarterback Everett Coleman had thrown for 12 touchdowns during the team’s four-game winning streak.

“He’s started to play like the athlete he is,” Adams said. “He’s always been one of our leaders and other players have started to step up as well. They’re starting to see that winning is contagious. Everyone has started to buy in, and I think that’s really the key. We’re very happy right now. The kids are working hard. We don’t want to take any steps backwards.”

The Cardinals host Lew Wallace (3-3) in their homecoming game Friday.

“The kids are excited already,” Adams said. “We want to continue to improve. We want to continue to win, win, win.”

Big-time turnaround: Since absorbing a 53-0 loss to Wheeler, Sept. 2, Whiting (4-2, 3-1) has won three straight Greater South Shore Conference games with an exceptionally young team.

Coach Jeff Cain has only four seniors on his 45-man roster, including 20 sophomores.

“It’s always a work in progress with a young group,” he said. “You’re always sitting on eggs. The kids have been playing real consistently the past few weeks and that’s what we’ve been striving for. We’re pleased. I don’t know about happy — you’re never happy. After the Wheeler loss, I think the kids responded positively. Nobody wants to lose and lose by large margins. Hopefully, it lit some fires under the players and the coaches.”

While a number of players are coming along well, sophomore quarterback AJ Veloz is making big strides.

“Our quarterback is getting better and better each week,’’ Cain said. “He’s thrown for (995) yards.”

Freshman running back Ethan Young has really stepped up to the challenge of filling the huge void left when junior Noe Torres was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Young has rushed for 656 yards and nine touchdowns.

“We knew he was very athletic and could run the ball a little bit,” Cain said. “He started out being a wide receiver for us, but kind of got thrown into (the backfield). He’s gotten so much better at pass blocking and catching balls out of the backfield. He’s really started to turn into a complete player. He has great field vision. Hopefully, Ethan continues to develop. He’s been pretty good for us. Ethan’s a quiet kid, who lets his play do the talking.”

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