The Chesterton defense has been trying to throw a shutout and Friday night they finally got it done.

The Trojans dominated every aspect of the game and opened Duneland Athletic Conference play with a 55-0 victory over Michigan City.

“I’m extremely pleased for the defense to get the shutout,” Chesterton coach John Snyder said. “It’s been a goal of their’s and I’m happy for them.”

Neither team would find a rhythm offensively in the first quarter, but that changed late as Chesterton put together a five-play, 28-yard drive that culminated in a Jon Horvath one-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

“Offensively, we came out a little sluggish again,” Snyder said. “That’s three games in a row and I’m a little worried about that. I felt pretty comfortable coming in. I’m going to have to find what’s wrong and get things calmed down.”

That seemed to get the Chesterton offense rolling as Chris Katsafaros and Joe Troop hooked up on the first play of the next drive for a 68-yard touchdown pass.

“Once we got in a rhythm, we’re pretty good,” Snyder said. “We just need to find that rhythm right from the kickoff.”

The Trojans would score two more second quarter touchdowns with a 22-yard run by Horvath and one-yard plunge by Katsafaros with just 8.6 seconds left.

“I was probably most happy with the last drive of the half,” Snyder said. “In a lot of years, I’d have been happy to take a knee with 55 seconds left and go in up by three scores. This team can do it and that was a really good drive with just one timeout left.”

Chesterton picked up right where it left off in the third quarter with a seven-play, 85-yard drive that finished with Horvath’s third touchdown of the night. Horvath finished with 98 yards rushing on 10 carries.

“He’s getting better and better,” Snyder said. “Jon has some speed and continues to run hard. He made a great effort a couple of times to get into the end zone.”

Matt Holba caught an 11-yard strike from Katsafaros late in the third quarter and Mike Crowley scored twice (5 yards, 45 yards) in the fourth quarter to set the final score.

Offensively, the Trojans racked up 569 yards of offense, including 362 on the ground and 207 through the air. Defensively, Chesterton allowed Michigan City just 120 yards of total offense (39 rushing, 81 passing).

“Any team will tell you that they need to win the line of scrimmage,” Snyder said. “Our front three guys on defense are really strong, athletic and active. They pursue to the ball well and give our linebackers free runs from sideline to sideline.”

The Trojans starting defense has yet to allow a point through three games as they prepare to travel to LaPorte next Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“Our defense made a lot of big plays when they (Michigan City) were threatening to score,” Snyder said. “That’s huge for us. We’ve known all year that they were good, but they continue to come up with big plays for us.”

First Downs 7 27

Rushes-yards 34-39 42-362

Passing yards 81 207

Comp-Att-Int 10-16-0 12-14-1

Total Yards 120 569

Penalties-yards 6-55 4-35

Punts-avg. 6-27.8 2-22.5

Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-0

Michigan City 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Chesterton 0 27 14 14 -- 55

C -- Jon Horvath 1 run (Nate Needham kick)

C -- Joe Troop 68 pass from Chris Katsafaros (Needham kick)

C -- Horvath 22 run (Needham kick)

C -- Katsafaros 1 run (kick failed)

C -- Horvath 26 run (Needham kick)

C -- Matt Holba 11 pass from Katsafaros (Needham kick)

C -- Mike Crowley 5 run (Chris Pabon kick)

C -- Crowley 45 run (Pabon kick)

The Chesterton junior varsity football team got off to a slow start, but improved to 2-0 on the year with a 27-0 victory over Michigan City on Saturday.

The Trojans scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter for a 13-0 halftime lead and added two more in the second half to set the final score.

Dax Jones scored three touchdowns for the Trojans, including a punt return, and Jason Boatright also scored.

The defense was led by interceptions from Niko Korneau and Jack Davison.

Posted 9/4/2012