Jake West’s mom, Julie Bales-Schroeder, and stepdad, Brett Schroeder, are escorted onto the field by the entire Slicer squad during the Senior Night ceremony before the game.
Noah Boardman pauses at the orange hash tag honoring Jake before the game.
Photos and story by Mike Kellems
(Click on photos to enlarge)
For the LaPorte Slicer football squad, a victory over the Merrillville Pirates on Friday night, Sept. 26, 2014, meant a lot for a host of reasons: It was senior night, they’d lost three very close contests, and this game signaled the one-year anniversary of the loss of teammate Jake West.
QB Ben Dermody fires the ball.
The game had a shaky start for the Slicers as Merrillville scored back-to-back touchdowns. But LaPorte buckled down and answered with its own back-to-back scores. The Slicers went into the locker room at halftime down 17-14.
Whatever adjustments or motivations took place during the break, they worked. LaPorte dominated the Pirates on both sides of the ball for the remainder of the game.
The Slicers utilized their most effective weapon, running back Charles Salary, who notched his sixth game with more than 200 yards rushing. Salary ended the game with 238 yards on 42 carries.
Just to mix things up, sophomore quarterback Ben Dermody, who had taken over as signal caller when Eric Mazany was injured in the Chesterton game, utilized an effective passing game. Dermody connected with Scott Cooper on a 23-yard pass and a Slicer touchdown. Gino Francesconi added to the point total with an exciting 77-yard run to the north end zone, and again on a 15 yarder. Dermody aided his own cause with a 1-yard keeper in the third quarter.
In the end, with both offense and defense firing on all cylinders, the Slicers downed the Pirates 42-23.
But regardless of the score, both teams united in remembering Jake even before kickoff took place. At the 50-yard-line, the Pirates and Merrillville School Corp. presented a check to Jake’s mother, Julie Bales-Schroeder, for the Play for Jake Foundation.
And when Slicer seniors were recognized by walking onto the field with their parents, the final senior announced: No. 26, Jake West. At that moment the entire Slicer squad walked to the end zone to follow Jake’s mother and stepfather, Brett Schroeder, onto the field. Tears flowed as senior Noah Boardman, Jake’s best friend and teammate, handed Julie a rose, offered his arm to her and escorted her to the center of the field. In another sweet tribute, each Slicer player paused to touch the orange hash mark at the 26-yard-line, a permanent tribute to Jake.
On Oct. 3, Homecoming Night, the Slicers will host Crown Point. Game time is 7 p.m. at Kiwanis.
As usual, opponents found themselves chasing Charles Salary.
Noah Boardman wraps his arms around Merrillville’s quarterback deep in the backfield in one of his two sacks of the night.
Gino Francesconi is going … going … gone toward one of his two TDs of the game.
Scott Cooper drags a defender along with him on his way to a Slicer touchdown after completing a pass from Dermody.
With Omyi Armstrong blocking, Francesconi takes the handoff from Dermody and heads more than 60 yards for a thrilling TD.
Dermody finds a sliver of space to dive through for a quarterback keeper TD.
Head Coach Bob Schellinger applauds his team’s effort as the clock ticks down.
The final!