Thanos' defense sparks Chesterton victory

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CHESTERTON -- Two huge defensive plays by John Thanos resulted in scores and Chesterton held on to oust Michigan City 28-19 Friday in a Class 5A sectional opener.

The Trojans (8-2) forced a punt on Friday's first series then drove 56 yards in six plays. Senior QB Andy Miller found Ryan Knarian for a 25-yard TD and a 7-0 lead. Three plays later Thanos picked off a pass as MC QB Nate Scully's arm was hit and returned it 21 yards for a quick 14-0 edge with 7:38 left in the first quarter.

The senior linebacker made the most of his first interception.

"It was nice and easy. I dropped into zone coverage on a curl and was running when I caught the ball," he said.

MC (4-6) then drove 67 yards to the Trojans' 11. Scully ran right and the ball popped out sideways at about the 6-yard line.

Thanos again was "in the right place at the right time" for his fourth recovery. "I was on the backside of the pile. Others made plays, too."

That was a costly, potential 14-point swing as Chesterton marched 91 yards to paydirt. A 30-yard Miller pass to Phil Frech over the middle set up Miller's 7-yard TD run. The backup QB to injured starter Aaron Knight (broken hand) ran 11 times for 57 yards and hit 3-of-5 passes for 93.

"Miller did a good job coming out of the option and making pitchouts," coach John Snyder said. He'd thought about using Knight but a 28-0 first-half lead meant he didn't have to.

The senior did snap on one extra point and may play more at Valparaiso next week.

Trojans FB Sloane Malay scored on a 1-yard run with 4:50 left in the half. It was set up by a trick play. Snyder called a double reverse option pass for the first time this year.

Taylor Brown hit a wide open Knarian over the middle for 64 yards to the 11.

"It works every time in practice," Snyder smiled. "Michigan City made a decision to try to stop the option by bringing defenders up. We hit some big plays to take advantage."

The Wolves, who'd won three of their last four, roared back.

Scully threw for 16 yards on first down after the kickoff went out of bounds. The big play was Adam Harmon's 36-yard sprint on the old Statue of Liberty play. Scully (16-33, 160 yards) hit Harmon for the last 8 yards.

"We were very, very flat the first half," Wolves coach Craig Buzea said. "We didn't execute early and played poor defense. We moved the ball but the fumble hurt. We were going in to score, down 14. Our QB said someone hit his arm and the ball popped up."

Up three scores and with rain falling the second half, Chesterton seemed to play more conservatively and failed to score.

"It's always hard when you're up big," Thanos said. "We've lost focus a couple of times this year, and they played better defensively."

Desperate MC recovered an onside kick to start the half but had to punt.

After a Trojan punt, the Wolves drove. But on fourth down at the CHS 25, Scully's pass was intercepted by Frech who may have stepped into the end zone. An inadvertent whistle stopped play. Buzea thought it was pass interference on Chesterton. "We've been getting breaks the last few weeks, but not tonight."

MC scored 3.5 minutes into the last period on Harmon's 1-yard run. After a high snap, Trojan Tony Smith blocked the PAT to make it 28-13.

Chesterton held MC on 4th down but the Wolves scored again on a 25-yard pass from Scully to DaQuvay Sherrod. Jeremy Harris ran left on the 2-point conversion but was ruled out of bounds before hitting the pylon to keep it 28-19.

Chesterton beat MC 33-21 in Week 3. The Trojans return to Valpo next Friday, site of CHS' 12-10 victory after it trailed 10-0. They shared the DAC title.

Buzea said his team made progress. "We played six pretty good games. We need to get tougher mentally but we're building a foundation.