Lake Central’s Szczecina has a nose for the end zone

Updated: September 21, 2011 8:12PM

He’s visited the end zone more than most offensive players.

And while Lake Central linebacker Tyler Szczecina is one of the best defensive players in the area — with a team-best 53 tackles, eight for loss — he’s more than made a name for himself as a scorer, too.

Offensive coordinators must have nightmares attempting to game plan around the Lake Central senior.

Szczecina has picked off four passes in the last three games and returned them all for touchdowns.

One more trip to the end zone will land Szczecina in the National Federation of State High School Associations record book, as he’ll tie the mark for the most interceptions returned for scores in a season (five).

Twenty-four points for a linebacker in three games?

Heck, those numbers are unheard of for most defensive players in a career.

“It’s pretty awesome, I love it,’’ Szczecina said. “A lot of the passes left me in a wide-open area. When I caught the ball, I was able to just run into the end zone. I was just reading my keys and doing what I was told. The running back, or quarterback, never saw me coming and I just took it to The House. 

“It felt pretty good. Having four picks for touchdowns is making me really happy. I just want to keep working hard and keep it going and see what we can do the rest of the season.’’

Szczecina’s play is one of the reasons the Indians (5-0, 3-0) have been so successful and dominant this season.

“How do you explain it?” Indians coach Brett St. Germain asked. “I don’t know. It’s really hard to explain. It’s not something you see very often. You have to give credit to the kid. He’s been in the right place at the right time. We’re always talking to our defense about making big plays. We want to create turnovers. We want to be out there making plays and not just reacting to what the offense is doing. They’re expected to create turnovers and when they do, find the ball and get it into the end zone. It just looks like that message is sinking in, because they’re not only creating turnovers, but creating their own opportunities to score out there.’’

While Szczecina’s nose for the end zone is incredible, it’s hardly a solo act.

Senior linebacker Ike Spearman and sophomore linebacker Gelen Robinson each have two scoop-and-score TDs.

With their turnovers for touchdowns mentality, the Indians’ defense could appropriately be nicknamed the T & T Crew.

“Coach expects a lot our of me,” Szczecina said. “I’m just going to keep on doing what I’m doing and keep giving the offense opportunities to score. The coaches have definitely helped me out on this, it’s not just myself.”

The Indians look to continue their winning ways Friday night when they host Michigan City (1-4, 0-3) in a Duneland Athletic Conference game.

Beginning to bloom: Rensselaer coach Chris Meeks was really encouraged by his team’s overall performance in a 28-27 double-overtime win over Hoosier Conference rival Twin Lakes last week.

“That was a big win over a good opponent,” he said.

The Bombers (3-2, 1-1) undoubtedly gained some much needed confidence heading into this week’s major road challenge with Class 3A No. 2 West Lafayette (5-0, 3-0).

Meeks’ team appears to be growing, maturing and meshing together as a unit pretty well, particularly when you consider the team has 18 new starters.

“Each week we’re seeing progress,” Meeks said. “The kids are growing into their roles. You can see the chemistry growing. The kids are trusting each other and really gaining confidence as a team. It’s a situation now where every one of them has a good idea what each other is going to do.”

Another reason the Bombers are coming on is because they’re starting to make significant plays.

“We weren’t making big plays earlier this season, but now we’re starting to get big plays,” he said. “When we played North Judson and Tipton, it seemed we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Trailing 21-14 in the first overtime, wide receiver Jacob West caught a 15-yard pass on fourth down from quarterback Hunter Hickman, tying the game and forcing a second overtime.

“That wasn’t a play we would have made two or three weeks ago,” Meeks said. “I think these kids have a real good feel for each other across the board right now. Our linebackers trust the defensive line and our wide receivers trust the quarterback.”

Meeks is hoping the big win over Twin Lakes serves as a springboard for a group of players who are predominantly underclassmen.

“We hope there’s a carry-over,” he said. “I think our confidence level is building. The kids were frustrated earlier because they were working really hard in practice and it wasn’t carrying over to the games. Our kids are really looking forward to the challenge of playing West Lafayette and the opportunity to, hopefully, knock them off.

“We have nothing to lose right now. We’re the chasers. It’s an opportunity to see what kind of progress we’ve made. I like the fact our kids are looking forward to the challenge, because that tells me we have some very competitive kids.”

“We’re seeing some rewards for our hard work, but it’s still a work in progress. We understand we’re going to have some ups and downs, but we’re definitely on the upswing and we’re excited about it.”

History at Whiting: Whiting’s 41-3 win over Bishop Noll on Friday was Oilers coach Jeff Cain’s 119th victory. That made him the winningest football coach in school history, passing Ray Gallivan — for whom Whiting’s stadium is named — who had 118.

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