Lake Central quarterback Zach Bundalo looked the part of a seasoned veteran Friday night.
In reality, the sophomore made his varsity debut in a 35-7 victory over rival Munster.
Bundalo went 11-for-15 for 179 yards. He connected with Josh Benson for a 32-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, then hooked up with Benson from 58 yards early in the third.
“It gives you the chills,” Bundalo said. “I was nervous before the game, but it was positive nerves. I was hyped up. I wasn’t nervous to fail. I was ready to go.”
Bundalo had never taken a varsity snap before Friday. In fact, the 2015 freshman team quarterback made just one JV appearance at the end of last season, a performance he described as “pretty ugly.”
“Zach has had a really good summer and camp for us,” Lake Central coach Brett St. Germain said. “We feel confident with Zach.”
The last time Lake Central (1-0) beat Munster (0-1), the current seniors were in eighth grade.
“The message that we relayed to the kids is that we felt the last couple years, Munster played the game at a much higher emotional level than we did,” St. Germain said. “It almost appeared that they wanted to win more, the game was more important to them. We addressed that this year.”
Lake Central senior Anthony Giles rushed for 169 yards on 16 carries, including a 56-yard TD run on the first play of the second quarter that gave Lake Central its first lead of the game.
“Anthony’s a kid that has some big-game breakaway ability,” St. Germain said. “We’re going to need him to play that role for us as a running back. He’s going to get the ball plenty of times, so he’ll keep getting those opportunities.”
Munster struck first when Andrew Jumonville plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out with 6:38 left in the first quarter. Jumonville went 6-for-16 for 62 yards.
Lake Central’s Quincy Tribble returned a punt 42 yards for a TD. Offensively, the Indians finished with 396 yards and 16 first downs.
The victory allowed Lake Central to snap a four-game losing streak after finishing 2015 with a thud.
“There’s no doubt that part of our goal this year is to erase some of the bad taste of last year,” St. Germain said. “We’re trying to keep our kids in an upbeat and positive mindset this year so we feel like we can win games every time we step on the field.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
