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Valparaiso hangs on to beat Crown Point
Updated: September 24, 2011 2:58PM
CROWN POINT — There had to be some gloomy thoughts creeping into the minds of the players and coaches dotting the Valparaiso sidelines.
For the second week in a row, the Vikings jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the road against a DAC opponent.
Last week, a few big plays from Chesterton helped turn that 21-point lead into a 10-point Trojans victory. This week, however, the Vikings held on for a 21-14 win over Crown Point.
“We had a lot of guys leave the game with injury, and that’s the same thing that happened last week,” said Valparaiso coach Mark Hoffman. “When that happens, it changes your gameplan. Our defense really played well. It shows the character of our team: they fought hard against a good team and got the win.”
With 1:08 left in the fourth quarter, Crown Point took over at its own 38-yard line with no timeouts left, needing a touchdown to force overtime. The Bulldogs got as far as the Vikings’ 27-yard line before a CJ Gear interception in the end zone ended Crown Point’s hopes of a comeback.
But it was the three drives before that final series that may have had an even bigger impact.
On three consecutive drives in the fourth quarter, Crown Point drove inside the Valparaiso 30-yard line, including two trips into the Vikings’ red zone. But all three times, the Bulldogs were turned away without points, thanks in large part to some brilliant pass breakups by the Vikings secondary.
“I thought we were our own worst enemy in many ways tonight,” said Crown Point coach Chip Pettit. “I think we had plenty of opportunities. Tonight was a little bit different because we were in a hole and were forced to go for touchdowns. If we make a couple of plays there at the end, it goes our way.”
“They’d been throwing the ball really well this year; they had three touchdown passes last week,” Hoffman said. “I think our guys did a good job of reading their routes and playing good, hard defense. There wasn’t anything special that we did. We just played hard.”
Andrew Kittridge finished with a pair of touchdowns in the first half to go with his 89 yards on 25 carries. Markee Allen also hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass, part of Valpo’s 21-0 run in the first half.
Jake Lindeman scored on a 5-yard run and Zach Plesac had a 20-yard reception to account for the two Crown Point touchdowns.
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