The Chesterton football team got its 2009 season started on Friday night at Hobart and looked liked they picked up right where they left off.

The Trojans scored six touchdowns, allowed just two by Hobart, and spread the ball around offensively in their second year running the option under head coach John Snyder.

“I thought, execution-wise, we did a good job,” Snyder said.

The Trojans split time between quarterbacks Jon Watson and Taylor Brown with each showing signs of being able to handle the job.

“One of the things we learned from last year is that you have to have two guys that can run your offense,” Snyder said. “Jon had some nerves and made some mistakes the first series. Taylor’s Taylor. He’s going to make people miss and he’s strong enough to break tackles. He’s just got to make better decisions getting out of a bad play.”

Chesterton took the ball on its own 35 yard line to start the scrimmage and took seven plays to drive down the field and score. Peter Fouts scored from four yards out.

The Trojans restarted and went seven plays that led to a 40-yard field goal from sophomore Kyle Schmidt.

“He’s a weapon for us,” Snyder said. “With his leg, he gives us a couple options once we get inside the 40.”

Defensively the Trojans came out and stopped Hobart with consecutive three and outs and kept the Brickies out of the end zone with a tackle at the one-yard line on their final play.

“Defensively without some key starters, we played pretty well,” Snyder said. “I thought Sevante Yates and Nate Majcher really stepped in and did some good things tonight.”

When the Trojans took over for their second possession at the Hobart 10 yard line, they looked in complete rhythm. Chesterton scored four touchdowns in 10 plays.

After a one-yard run by Watson, Greg Nowak scored from nine yards out. Four plays later, Fouts scored his second TD of the night from two yards away.

Brown scored the final two touchdowns on scampers of eight and 10 yards.

“We have guys that can make plays,” Snyder said. “We have to be able to get that balance. We don’t go in with the mindset that there’s one guy we’re looking for.”

The Trojans proved that philosophy by getting the ball in the hands of six different ball carriers. Watson (8 carries) and Nowak (5 carries) each gained 48 yards on the ground, while Brown had 47 yards on five carries.

Hobart scored just once from the Chesterton 10-yard line. Kendall Gumm scored from two yards away on his way to 122 yards on 13 carries for the night.

In their final possession, beginning at the Hobart 35 yard line, the Trojans put a four play drive together that culminated in Watson scoring from four yards out as CHS ran a no-huddle offense.

“We practice the no-huddle as conditioning,” Snyder said. “It’s better than lining up and just running sprints. We just run as many plays as we can as fast as we can.

“If we can get the other team’s defensive line tired and keep them from changing personnel, I like the chances of us calling a good play.”

Chesterton ended the drive with five field goal attempts from Schmidt. The sophomore banged in two 32-yarders and a 45-yarder. A bad snap and a 40-yarder were short in the other two attempts.

The Trojans open the regular season Friday night when they play host to Lew Wallace beginning at 7 p.m.

Posted 8/17/2009