LOGAN’S RUN
Valparaiso QB Lockhart’s rushing TD proves to be the difference against Chesterton in showdown between ranked unbeatens
Valparaiso quarterback Logan Lockhart completed a 10-yard pass to Thomas Vo on fourthand-9 from Chesterton’s 26-yard line to run out the clock on Friday night.
It was a fitting way for the visiting Vikings to end their 10-7 Duneland Athletic Conference win.
Lockhart, a senior, deftly directed Valparaiso’s offense that controlled the clock and kept Chesterton’s offense off the field for extended stretches. He finished with 88 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and completed 10 of 15 passes for 109 yards.
“That’s the offensive line,” Lockhart said. “They gave us the yards to keep us on the field. When you run like that, the clock winds.
“I have to give it to our linemen. They played a hell of a game. We go to practice on Monday.”
Valparaiso (5-0, 3-0), ranked No. 2 in both the Class 5A state coaches poll and Associated Press poll, carried a shutout into the fourth quarter against standout senior quarterback Chris Mullen and Chesterton (4-1, 2-1), which is ranked No. 9 in the 6A coaches poll and tied for No. 10 in the AP poll.
The Trojans finally scored on Mullen’s 6-yard TD pass to Jackson Westmoreland with 7:39 left in the game.
But the Vikings kept possession the rest of the way to secure the hard-fought victory. The drive included Lockhart hitting Anthony Schafer for 18 yards on third-and-10 with 2:28 left.
“In some situations, I overthink things,” Lockhart said. “This year, I’m just trying to play. The line gave me time and made it easier. I didn’t really have any pressure on me, so I just made the plays.”
Valparaiso was averaging 52.8 points entering the game. Chesterton was averaging 32.8.
“You can’t get rushed past,” Valparaiso coach Bill Marshall said. “You see four straight weeks of Mullen exploiting people with his feet. We know he has a great arm. We know he’s going to make those plays. But to keep him in the pocket as much as we possibly could was really the key.
“And the back seven did a terrific job keeping everybody in front of them and limiting, with his arm, any big plays that truly got behind us to zero.”
Mullen completed 16 of 28 passes for 183 yards. Chesterton’s Ethan Troy had seven catches for 112 yards.
“We go into an empty formation, they’re going to bring some pressure,” Chesterton coach Mark Peterson said. “We knew that was going to happen. They didn’t do anything we didn’t expect.
“We felt like they got away with a couple of PIs (pass interference) and some things in their coverage. That’s not to sound argumentative with the refereeing or anything like that or degrading toward Valpo. We felt like there were a couple of instances where we needed a call, and we didn’t get it.”
Hayden Vinyard ran for 173 yards on 39 carries for Valparaiso. Schafer had four catches for 46 yards, and teammate Ricky Hall had two catches for 51 yards.
Valparaiso led 10-0 on Tony Johnson’s 27-yard field goal with 2:44 left in the first quarter, and Lockhart’s 1-yard TD run with 4:06 left in the second quarter capped an 86-yard drive.
“I love our guys,” Peterson said. “Just moving forward, we have a great group. Sometimes you have to go through these situations to learn how to win the tight ones. Hopefully we’ll use this in another opportunity.
“Coming out of a game like this, certainly we feel down right now. But there’s a lot of positive things to build on.”
Valparaiso extended its winning streak in the rivalry to seven games.
“When these two teams get together, you never know what to expect,” Marshall said. “That is a terrifically coached team over there. I can’t thank our coaches enough and the great job they do. But it all boils down to our kids wanted it, and they just took it.”