(ST. JOHN, INDIANA) - La Porte, hoping to build on their upset win over Chesterton last week, traveled to Lake Central Friday to defeat the Indians for the second straight time. Instead, they came home with a 21-7 loss and lost quarterback RJ Anglin to what looked preliminarily like a broken clavicle.
The game started well for the Slicers. La Porte received the opening kickoff. However, Ollie Kring's nice return was erased by a blocking-in-the-back penalty backing LP up to their 9-yard line. The Slicers proceeded to go 91 yards and run just under 5 minutes off the clock scoring on a 24-yard Anglin to Dylan Salisbury pass. The key play in the drive was a 51-yard pass from Anglin to Tommy Samuelson. Jack Doty kicked the extra point, and the Slicers led 7-0.
The ensuing drive saw Lake Central drive into Slicer territory. Their drive was stopped by a Robbie Rompa interception at the La Porte 5-yard line. During the next possession Anglin, under pressure, was able to throw the ball away but fell on his shoulder and was done for the night. Sophomore quarterback Keigan Henckel replaced him.
Lake Central got on the board at the 9:01 mark of the 2" quarter on a 1-yard run by Xavier Williams. Owen Denny kicked the extra point, and the score was tied 7-7. However, the Slicer defense made a great stand later in the quarter when they stopped Lake Central on a 4th-and-3 at the Slicer 15.
Lake Central received the second-half kickoff and drove down the field, scoring at the 10:52 mark of the 3rd quarter on a 1-yard run by Williams. A bad snap cost the Indians the extra point, leading 13-7. After a short Slicer punt, Lake Central quarterback Chase Kwiatkowski scored from 39 yards out with 8:47 left in the third quarter. Williams ran the 2-point conversion in, and the score was 21-7 for Lake Central.
La Porte had trouble moving the ball after the Anglin injury. So the Slicers went to a more run-heavy offense mixing their full house backfield formation and standard spread offense. The Slicer defense had no answer for Xavier Williams. The 6-foot, 220-pound tailback ran for 205 yards, two touchdowns, and a 2-point conversion.
Anglin was 3-6 passing for 88 yards and a touchdown before his injury. Henckel was 3-12 for 44 yards with an interception. Tommy Samuelson caught two balls for 59 yards, Salisbury had two catches for 33 yards, Drew Flores caught one for 26 yards, and Gavin Garrett had one for 13 yards. Tre' Beghtel rushed seven times for 20 yards. Javelle Brome had an interception.
La Porte falls to 1-4 on the year and 1-1 in the DAC. Lake Central is 3-2 and 2-1.
The Slicers host Merrillville next Friday at Kiwanis Field.
