Senior kicker Jack Doty hit a 22 yard field goal with 6.4 seconds remaining in the game Friday night giving the Slicers a shocking 20-18 win over county rival New Prairie. The kick culminated a 65 yard, seven play, 43 second drive countering Cougar kicker Owen Chalik’s 31 yard boot that gave NP an 18-17 lead with 49.7 seconds left. The win was La Porte’s first over the Cougars since a 41-12 win in 2017.
LP stopped New Prairie on the game’s first possession. The Cougars were looking at a 3rd and 1 after the second play of the game. After the play, the Cougars were called for a dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The penalty turned the 3rd and 1 into a 3rd and 16. NP couldn’t pick up the first down and were forced to punt.
The Slicers moved the ball to the Cougar 10 yard line behind hard running by Jon Laine and sophomore quarterback’s Aiden Penzoil’s quick passing game. The Slicers drive stalled after a holding penalty and Doty kicked 39 yard field goal giving La Porte a 3-0 lead with 4:13 left in the 1st quarter. The scoring drive covered 63 yards in ten plays.
On the next possession New Prairie took the lead with their own 10 play drive covering 74 yards. Reed Robinson capped it off with a 21 yard run to make it 6-3 at the 10:35 of the second period. Chalik came out to kick the extra point with Robinson holding. The snap was high. Robinson was able to snag it then ran around the right side for the 2 point conversion making it 8-3 New Prairie.
La Porte moved the ball to the New Prairie 35 yard line on the next possession. The drive stalled and Doty came into punt. He got the punt away but was hit by a Cougar defender. The 15 yard roughing the kicker penalty gave LP a first down at the NP 20. On the very next play Penzoil hit Drew Flores on a quick slant route for a touchdown. Doty’s kick made it 10-8 Slicers with 8:21 remaining in the half. The drive covered 70 yards in six plays. The score was 10-8 at the half.
The third quarter started out with a bang. On the fourth play of the period the Slicers were looking at 2nd and 9 from their own 33 yard line. Penzoil dropped a perfect pass into the hands of Ollie Kring. Kring made a remarkable fingertip catch and ran it in for a 67 yard touchdown. Doty’s kick made it 17-8. The four play drive covered 78 yards and took just under two minutes.
The Cougars answered quickly. Beau Kmiecik caught the kickoff on the run at the 7 yard line and powered down the sideline all the way to the Slicer 35. On the first play from scrimmage, Brock Sinka ran 35 yards for the TD. Chalik’s kick was good, cutting the Slicer lead to 17-15 with 9:41 remaining in the third quarter.
Neither team scored again until the final minute of the game.
The Slicers wasted a golden opportunity when New Prairie tried a pass on fourth down while in punt formation from their own 15. The pass was incomplete. LP took over with a chance to extend their lead but a holding penalty and negative yardage plays force them to settle for a 40 yard field goal attempt that missed short and left.
The Slicer defense held and La Porte had the ball with just over 10 minutes left in the game leading 17-15. They drove into NP territory stalling at the NP 35. Doty came into punt. He dropped the snap, picked it up, avoided the Cougar rush, and got a kick away that pinned NP at their own 2 yard line with just over six minutes left.
The Cougars went to work picking up big chunks of yardage on runs by star QB Marshall Kmiecik and Robinson. They used 265 pound Johnathan Klosinski in short yardage situations. They drove the ball to Slicer 8 yard line where they faced a 2nd and 7. The third down play was a near disaster for the Cougars. The center snap sailed over Kmiecik’s head, all the way back to the 30 making it 3rd and 29. Kmiecik was able to complete a 15 yard fourth down pass to the 14 setting up Chalik’s go ahead kick with 49.7 seconds left. New Prairie’s impressive drive covered 83 yards in 11 plays.
Down 18-17 with under a minute left the gutsy Slicers worked their way down the field keyed by two huge pass plays. Penzoil flipped to ball back to former quarterback and current wide receiver Keegan Henckel who found Flores on sideline for a 30 yard gain putting the Slicers on the NP 34, just out of Doty’s range. Penzoil then hit Kring at the NP 5 for 29 yards with 8 seconds left. The clock stopped to move the chains. The Slicers hustled to the line of scrimmage and Penzoil clocked the ball with 6.4 seconds left. New Prairie called their final timeout before Doty drilled the game winning 22 yard field goal giving LP a 20-18 lead.
The Cougars fielded Doty’s squib kick, tried two laterals before the ball was knocked free and LP’s Darius Hurt covered it setting off a raucous Slicer celebration.
Penzoil’s debut at quarterback was a smashing success. He went 16-23 passing for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Laine ran 16 times for 72 yards. Flores caught six passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. Henckel caught five balls for 55 yards and completed his only pass for 30 yards. Kring caught six passes for 119 yards, ran once for 6 yards and scored a touchdown.
New Prairie’s Marshall Kmiecik ran 13 times for 115 yards. He completed 4-13 passes for 63 yards. Robinson ran 10 times for 42 yards with a touchdown while Sinka carried the ball 8 times for 56 yards and scored. Beau Kmiecik caught two passes for 39 yards.
La Porte will travel to Lowell next Friday with kickoff scheduled at 7:00. The game can be heard on 96.7 the Eagle, Pregame at 6:45. New Prairie will host Goshen.
