Lake Central Offense is Flying High These Days

ST. JOHN -- Pete Koulianos was walking the halls of his alma mater a couple of years ago when he spotted an underclassman he had met a few times.
The new Lake Central football coach was looking to recruit his own hallways.
The student was a baseball player — a one-sport athlete, not uncommon at a school the size of Lake Central.
Koulianos had a simple question.
“How can a Verta not play football?”
Frankie Verta’s father, David, was a standout football player at Whiting in the late 1990s. But Frankie had other ideas. He had hit .400 as a freshman for the Indians and was all in on baseball.
Then Pete and David started working on him.
Eventually, Verta gave football a shot. He played wide receiver for Koulianos last season, beginning a football journey that has now led to a college scholarship.
“I was all in on the baseball thing,” Verta said. “But my dad was my biggest fan. We watched football together on the weekends. So they sort of talked me into it.”
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior has made the most of the decision. Verta enters Friday’s home game against Chesterton with 29 receptions for 532 yards and seven touchdowns.
He also has an offer from Grand Valley State, which he accepted, giving the NCAA Division II power another Lake Central football player to keep an eye on.
None of it might have happened if Verta hadn’t simply been willing to welcome a freshman into his circle two years ago.
His classmates were getting together when someone mentioned that a freshman would also be stopping by. That wasn’t necessarily a common occurrence.
Then Wes Lalich walked through the door.
These days, Lalich is the one throwing passes to Verta.
The two quickly became friends, spending summer days trying to put on weight and throwing passes as they imagined themselves as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Now, they are helping lead Lake Central into the heart of its Duneland Athletic Conference schedule.
The Indians have won back-to-back games for the first time since 2021.
Lalich, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior, has completed 87 of 141 passes for 1,238 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
“I played a lot of sports when I was young,” Lalich said. “But I always loved football the most.”
Lalich played flag football in elementary school before moving to tackle football in middle school.
That’s where he met Koulianos.
“I met Wes when he was in eighth grade,” Koulianos said. “He was always around. He was always showing up. I believe he could end up being one of the best we’ve ever had here.”
Lalich played junior varsity as a freshman before seeing occasional varsity action as a sophomore. He played a full game against Michigan City, but suffered a season-ending injury the following week against Chesterton.
His return has helped transform Lake Central’s offense.
After two close losses to open the season, the Indians have won back-to-back games and enter Friday’s matchup with Chesterton at 3-3. The next three games — Chesterton, Merrillville and Valparaiso — will provide another significant test.
“We’re playing more wide-open offensively now,” Koulianos said. “I knew we could do that with Wes back there. And we just don’t have Frankie out there. We have a nice group of receivers with him.”
Koulianos pointed to sophomore Jayden Carpenter-Mansfield, junior Jonquil Sharpe and junior Will Bolden as reasons for the depth and talent in the receiving corps.
This isn’t the same Lake Central team that struggled through the 2023 season.
The Indians have dealt with plenty of adversity this year, beginning with the extreme storm that hit Northwest Indiana on Aug. 11 and disrupted their schedule. They then suffered two losses by a combined five points.
But Koulianos has been proud of the way his players have responded.
They haven’t quit.
“As a team, we have to persevere,” Lalich said. “We had to stay together and keep fighting. We have to work together to get past adversity. And that is what I believe we’re doing.”

By Steve Hanlon
Heartland Sports Network

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