After the disappointment of a flag that took Chesterton’s lone points off the scoreboard in the opener, junior Sam Posavac, a welcome addition to the offense, special teams and at some point defense, and his new teammates move on to a road game at Hammond Morton

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Returning a kickoff for a touchdown is such a rare feat that Mark Peterson entered his 14th season as head football coach at Chesterton without ever having had a Trojan accomplish it.
It’s as exciting to watch as it is rare, so just imagine being the one carrying the football all the way to the end zone and then absorbing the roar of the crowd.
Junior Sam Posavac does not need to imagine it. He experienced it in his first game with Chesterton after transferring from Portage.
On that one play, Posavac demonstrated a few of the traits that make him such a welcome addition to the program. He read the field perfectly, expertly cut through danger zones, and turned on the burners racing down the right sideline all the way to the house on the first play of the second half.
The apparent TD triggered multi-colored light beams shooting out a scoreboard with numbers that suddenly looked so much better to spectators on the home side of the stadium.
“When I ran it in, I saw the light show. I didn’t know that happened here. When the lights started going off, I thought this is crazy. It was really cool,” Posavac said. “First time I scored a touchdown since freshman year and then someone came up to me and said ‘I think there was a flag.’ I felt like I almost passed out at that point.”
But a confusing signal on the field led to an announcement that the penalty was on Hobart, reviving Posavac’s spirits. Then the announcement quickly was corrected.
“My momentum just dropped. It was sad,” he said. “It was heartbreaking, honestly.”
He said that by Monday he had already watched the replay 20 times.
“There was no hold,” he said. “It was a double-team, a great double-team. It was a great block.”
The flag landed on the Trojan logo in the middle of the field, making it blend in and difficult to see. When the penalty was called, Posavac already was on the 35 on the right sideline, nowhere near the flag.
The sprint and the letdown sapped his energy, so when he carried the ball on the first two plays from scrimmage, Chesterton was staring at 3rd-and-8 and a score that was 14-0 instead of 14-7. It all snowballed from there all the way to a 33-0 loss.
“If the kick return counted it would have been pretty good. First play of the second half, down 14, all hyped up coming out of the locker room,” Posavac said. “It could have been a completely different game. It could have been a huge momentum switch, but it is what it is.”
Posavac transferred at the semester break of his sophomore season and has been participating regularly ever since in strength and conditioning coach Matt Wagner’s program.
After discussions with Wagner, Posavac said he plans to run track this coming spring.
“The weight room is very important to me,” Posavac said. “That’s a big part of my game. It makes you stronger, and it’s going to make you a better player. It translates well to the field.”
Posavac indicated he likes more than just the football program at his new school.
“Everyone’s been really nice, especially coming from Portage, where there’ll be fights or whatnot,” he said. “No fights here. I like it out here. It feels like I’m part of the family now.”’
He said he missed multiple games with injury as a running back for Portage’s freshman team and recalls that he scored in every game that he was healthy enough to play.
Promoted to varsity last season, he led the Portage defense in tackles, generally not a great sign for a defense for a safety to be the leading tackler, but proof of his talent.
Posavac’s versatility as a runner makes it tricky to try to typecast him. His work in the weight room hints at his power. He showed speed and shiftiness on his kick return, and he seems to hit the holes quickly. He does a little bit of everything, which without blocks doesn’t always amount to a whole lot of anything, even for the best of running backs.
Looking ahead to his senior season, the good news is that four of the five starting offensive linemen return. The not-so-good news: The starting line features a freshman and two sophomores. That’s great news for 2027 and 2028, but the Chesterton schedule is a tough one for blockers whose bodies are from finished products.
So, Posavac’s stats in the opener, 14 carries for 40 yards, need to be viewed through that lens. He has practiced at safety as well and was disappointed he didn’t get any defensive snaps last week.
“I was a big part of the defense over there,” he said.
Even so, he acknowledged, “I like offense better. I like putting up points.”
Posavac was the only Trojan to put points on the scoreboard in the opener, but quicker than it took him to make it to the end zone, the points were taken down.
On to Morton.