Vikings visit arch-rival Chesterton without standouts Duncan, Runyan

Updated: September 15, 2011 9:14PM

You can spend the entire offseason in the weight room, the entire summer on the practice field and the entire season in the film room, but Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman knows all too well that health sometimes is the biggest factor when it comes to success in football.

Two years ago, the Vikings were decimated by injuries — to their quarterback, to their running back, to key linemen, to key defenders — and a very good squad stumbled to a 5-5 mark.

Last year, the Vikings were very fortunate and very healthy, and an unheralded team made a sensational run to the Class 5A semistate.

This year, the injury bug has returned.

Senior tailback Bryon Duncan suffered a serious knee injury early in last Friday’s win over Michigan City and is out for the season. Junior lineman Paul Runyan broke his leg, and likely is done for the year, too. Meanwhile, junior tailback Andrew Kittridge missed last week’s game (though he might be back tonight against Chesterton) and senior linebacker Jake Grossnickle’s status in uncertain, too.

“Injuries are injuries,” said Hoffman, who legally can’t discuss any of the specific injuries. “Everyone gets them, and there’s not a lot you can do about them.”

So the Vikings (2-2, 2-0) won’t be at full strength when they head north to Chesterton (3-1, 2-0) for tonight’s battle of Duneland Conference championship contenders.

But Trojans coach John Snyder knows better than to write off the Vikings. With nearly 100 kids roaming the sidelines in green, there’s plenty of untapped talent.

“Valpo right now has suffered some injuries, and I’m sure mentally they’re trying to figure out how to patch it together,” Snyder said. “But they’re still a really good team. I don’t care who they put in there, they’re still a really good team.”

Stephen Simms is proof of that. The sophomore third-string tailback was tossed into the fire just six plays into the Michigan City game when Duncan got hurt. All he did was post about 360 all-purpose yards — 193 on the ground (with two touchdowns), more than 100 on kickoff returns, more than 50 in punt returns and about 20 in receiving yards.

“For a third-string guy, that’s pretty good,” Hoffman deadpanned.

How’d he do so well?

“I think it was panic,” Hoffman said with a laugh.

But that’s how it works at any school, especially ones with rosters as massive as Valparaiso’s. Any injury is an opening for somebody else. After all, current senior standout Paul Andrie was forced into the quarterback role as a sophomore when Zach Livovich went down.

“We just look at an injury as an opportunity for the next person to step up,” Hoffman said. “It’s very sad for the person who gets injured, and we have a lot of empathy for those people. But it’s like any activity — there’s always a chance tht happens. Hopefully it doesn’t. But that’s pretty much the way life goes. You have to move on, and for some of these guys, they’ll have to step up earlier than they might have expected.”

The good news for the Vikings is they’ve already faced a team with Chesterton’s pistol option attack. The bad news is, it was Carmel, which won 49-0 in Week 2. The difference, of course, is Carmel’s fullback weighed 225 pounds, the linemen were all 300-pounders and there were Division I kids on offense (not to mention four on defense).

Chesterton has three dynamic ball-carriers in quarterback Chris Katsafaros (376 yards, four TDs) and running backs Zac Jenks (292 yards, four TDs) and Joe Troop (252 yards, three TDs). But Hoffman is wary of Katsafaros’ arm, too — he’s averaging more than 15 yards per completion.

“It’s predominantly run, so they lull you to sleep and the defensive backs start creeping up,” Hoffman said. “Then the defensive back forgets he’s got to play pass coverage first, and he gets toasted. It happens every time you play an option team.”

Winning on offense and defense will be critical for Valparaiso, as Hoffman already has ceded special teams to the Trojans, who boast kicker Kyle Schmidt (22 touchbacks in 24 kickoffs) and return man Troop (two punt returns for touchdowns).

“When you go against Chesterton, you’re not going to win the kicking game,” Hoffman said. “They’re magnificent, that’s the total package. So hopefully you do OK with offense and defense. Hopefully we’ll have guys step up the way we need them to.”

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