Vikings earn share of Duneland championship

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ST JOHN -- Kevin Piet, an all-state wideout, is no stranger to catching passes.

So when he was forced into starting on defense for the first time this year, he naturally did what comes best to him -- which is catch the ball.

Piet intercepted the first pass he saw as a cornerback -- from Lake Central quarterback Ryan Hennessey -- and took it in for a 25-yard touchdown to put his team up 7-0 with 8:25 left in the first qaurter.

Valparaiso (7-1, 6-1 Duneland) never looked back after that as Piet would add two more touchdowns -- on catches of 4 and 65 yards from Zach Livovich -- as the Vikings rained all over Lake Central's senior night festivities, 34-7.

The victory, combined with Merrillville's win over Chesterton, propelled Valparaiso into a share of the conference title.

The Duneland Athletic Conference championship is Valparaiso's first since 2002.

"That's excellent," Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman said after finding out. "It's a tribute to all the kids and the coaching staff that worked their tail off all season."

Since losing to Chesterton five weeks ago, the Vikings are playing arguably the best football of any region team with four consecutive victories over quality conference foes.

"We are playing to our level, we are playing hard and we are improving every week," Hoffman said.

Lake Central (3-6, 1-6 DAC) played hard, but untimely turnovers and a first-and-goal that was stopped at the half-yard mark took all the steam away from the Indians, and prevented them from making any real noise in the game.

Valparaiso led 20-0 at halftime.

With the running game stymied (71 total yards on the ground) by the Indians' front eight, who packed the box, the Vikings opted to air the ball out with Livovich under center.

He threw for 212 yards, two TDs and wasn't intercepted.

The 6-foot-6 quarterback called his own number as he punched one in from 5-yards out to make it 34-0 in the third with 7:40 to play.

The Indians' lone score came in the same quarter as Hennessey connected with his favorite receiver on the night, Jon Hurley, for a 33-yard strike.

Hennessey finished the game with 152 yards passing.

"We made great strides," Lake Central coach Bill Melby said."Our quarterback showed great poise today and made great decisions. I'm proud of the way they played and they stuck together."