Last Friday night, your Chesterton Trojans opened their regular season in a non-conference game against Hobart. As always, the student section for Chesterton was loud and supportive from the kickoff, with most of the section filled up well before the game started.
Senior quarterback Sebastian Boswell proved that he’s making leaps and bounds in his game with a pass to senior running back/receiver Garrett Lewis to move the Trojans to the 40 yard line right away. That possession would end with a punt, a couple of possessions, and about 6 minutes later, Boswell would lead a drive ending with a QB sneak across the goal line for a 1 yard TD.
This lead was short-lived, however, after an interception by Hobart junior Aidan Leonard gave the Brickies momentum. The Hobart interception would lead to a 19 yard receiving TD by senior TJ Caldwell. Both teams went back and forth throughout the rest of the first half, but both defenses were too tough to crack leaving the score 7-7 going into halftime.
After a defensive stop for the Trojans, Boswell rifled a 20 yard pass to Lewis to put the ball at midfield. The Brickies forced a punt and after little resistance from the Trojan’s pass defense, they found themselves on the 47 yard line. Soon after, senior quarterback Jonny Sorenson ran 31 yards to the end zone and put the Brickies on top for the first time in the game, 13-7. Just before the third quarter buzzer sounded, the Brickies added to their lead with a 41 yard field goal to upping their lead to 16-7.
Late in the third, disaster struck for Chesterton after Lewis aggravated a continuing injury in his ankle and had to leave the game. Fear and doubt seeped into the Trojans fans, due to the uncertainty of Lewis’s injury, and a comeback seemed improbable. However, junior running back Brady McCormack would prove that switching from QB to RB may have been the perfect decision. He weaved his way through the Brickie defense in the final minutes of the third quarter, and less than a minute into the 4th, he scored a monstrous 25 yard rushing touchdown which tightened the score at 16-13, but Hobart still led.
After McCormack’s run, faith was restored in the Chesterton fans, and they were roaring once again. The Trojans made a noticeable shift toward a run-heavy offense with McCormack as the key cog throughout the rest of the game. McCormack danced his way to first down after first down fueling what seemed to be a Chesterton comeback. In the end, however, Hobart caught onto the offensive plan and eventually, the Trojan run game became predictable and stopped working effectively. Despite this, the Trojans kept the ball on the ground with an option play on 4th and 6; it was unsuccessful and resulted in a turnover on downs giving Hobart the ball with just 2 minutes left. Chesterton fans were noticeably confused about the play call and why a pass wasn’t attempted, especially with Boswell’s spectacular throwing performance through the previous three quarters. The Brickies would wind up running the clock down to zero handing the Trojans a loss in their first game of the season.
Despite the loss, the Trojans are looking to set their record even this Friday against Warsaw for the Chesterton home opener. Come out and support our football team at 6:30 pm at the CHS football field. It is also Senior Night and Chesterton Athletics Hall of Fame honor night so both of those parties will be honored. If you see any of the players around, wish them luck, and Go Trojans!
