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Football: Crown Point's season comes to an end
Updated: November 11, 2011 10:09PM
MISHAWAKA — Disappointed? Yes, Billy Van Cleef was disappointed.
Disappointed that Crown Point lost 20-3 to Penn in Friday night’s Class 5A regional. Disappointed that he’ll never get to play alongside Cameron Tanner on the defensive line again. Disappointed that he’ll be in street clothes, as a fan, the next time Crown Point plays a football game.
But disappointed in the Bulldogs’ effort?
Not a chance.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our defense,” the senior defensive lineman said. “We were told we weren’t going to amount to anything this year. But we’re real resilient and we don’t give in to pressure.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs thrice kept Penn out of the end zone after the Kingsmen had first or second down inside the 3. They held Penn to just 208 total yards. They forced and recovered three fumbles. And they kept Crown Point in the game deep into the fourth quarter, until a punt return for a touchdown put Penn up 13-3 with 4:19 to go. Penn added a meaningless touchdown in garbage time to make the score look more lopsided than it really was.
“Our defense is really good,” said Tanner, another CP defensive lineman.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs (9-4), so was Penn’s. And with Crown Point starting a sophomore quarterback in Jake Jatis and a sophomore running back in Tristan Peterson — both injury replacements late in the season — the Bulldogs couldn’t do much of anything against the menacing group self-described as the “Wild Bunch.”
Crown Point had just 33 total yards of offense in the second half, and just one first down, with Jatis throwing two interceptions. For the game, Crown Point had just 122 total yards.
“We figured coming in that we would need to win a defensive struggle,” Crown Point coach Chip Pettit said. “These were the two stingiest defenses in 5A based on point totals. And we could see how good they were defensively.
“They’ve given up only 12 touchdowns all year — and it’s Week 13.”
The game set up just as the Bulldogs had hoped. A Brett Bayer field goal early in the second quarter gave them a 3-0 lead heading into halftime. Two drives earlier, Penn recovered a Peterson fumble and appeared to have scored on a Zach Oakley 9-yard run. But the play was called back for a penalty, and Van Cleef sacked Oakley on the next play, setting up a 41-yard field-goal attempt for Penn’s Nick Maldonado that came up short.
Penn (13-0) finally started to move the ball in the second half, but the CP defense wouldn’t break. Penn’s opening drive led to first-and-goal at the CP 3 — but three runs were turned back, and Penn had to settle for a game-tying 20-yard field goal. After a Jatis interception set up the Kingsmen at the CP 30 three plays later, Crown Point again stuffed Penn three times at the goal line, and the Kingsmen settled for an 18-yard field goal to take a 6-3 lead with 9:41 to go in the fourth quarter.
After the teams traded three-and-outs, Jatis was again intercepted, with Trevor Manspeaker returning it to the CP 3. But sure enough, on the first snap, Penn quarterback Chad Gindelberger fumbled, and Crown Point recovered.
Tanner had a succinct explanation for the Bulldogs’ three remarkable goal-line stands.
“I just don’t like people scoring on me,” Tanner said.
But Crown Point’s offensive ineptitude eventually caught up to the Bulldogs. After recovering the fumble and being pushed back to the 1-inch line, CP flirted with the idea of taking an intentional safety. But after seeing Penn wouldn’t pressure the kick, the Bulldogs punted — and Matt Wirick took the kick at the 30 and returned it for a back-breaking touchdown with 4:19 to go in the game. The way the Bulldogs offense was moving — at that point, they had 20 yards of offense and no first downs in the half — it was simply an insurmountable lead.
On the bright side for Crown Point, the Bulldogs bring back several key players — including Jatis and Peterson, who got invaluable experience in big-game situations — and sophomore linebackers Brendyn McKinnon and Connor Andras. They didn’t wilt on the big stage. Penn was just that good.
“They’re pretty good,” Pettit said with a wry smile. “I don’t know if the stage is any different than last week (a 42-21 win at Merrillville), other than the opponent.”
That’s small solace to seniors such as Tanner and Van Cleef, though. They carried the Bulldogs to this unlikely run to the regional, and now their careers are over. Van Cleef’s not sure if he’ll play again in college — the immediate hurt from the loss was too much to think about returning to the field at this point — but he knows two things: Crown Point will be just fine next year, and he’ll come back to see it.
He just wishes he could get another chance to wear that uniform.
“By no means am I disappointed, it just stings a little now,” Van Cleef said through tears. “We were so close and our ŒD’ did so well. I’d give anything to play another season with them. It was the best time of my life.”
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