NEWBURGH — Two of the more decorated players in Castle football history will be honored on Friday, Sept. 26.
Deon Chester (Class of 1984) and Scott Bonnell (’88) will be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame prior to the Knights’ game against Reitz at John Lidy Field. The former All-State players are the third and fourth members of the Hall of Fame connected with the Castle program.
They join former coach Lidy and All-State linebacker Joe Huff (’84).
“Those are guys that growing up I looked up to,” Castle coach Doug Hurt said. “Those guys are legends. To have them being recognized is a really big deal.”
Chester and Bonnell remain two of the best at their respective positions in program history.
The former was an All-State and two-time All-Southern Indiana Athletic Conference wide receiver who caught 55 passes for 1,055 yards in two varsity seasons. Chester also had 11 career interceptions at safety. During his junior season, the Knights completed an undefeated season with a 26-23 victory over Hobart to win their first state championship.
Chester was also one of the top receivers in Ball State history. He set career records for receptions (146) and yards (2,256) that stood until 2004. Chester, who played in 43 of a possible 44 games during his time in Muncie, won the John V. Magnabosco Award as the team’s most valuable player as a senior and was inducted into the Ball State Hall of Fame in 2004. He is currently an administrative aide with the President’s Office in the University of Illinois system in Urbana, Ill.
Bonnell set the standard for not just future placekickers at Castle, but arguably the area. He held most, if not all, kicking record upon graduation. Some of which still stand today: 56.1 yard kickoff average in 1987, four field goals in a game and a 51-yarder against Boonville in 1987. Bonnell was a two-time All-State and All-SIAC selection.
He followed All-Pro kicker Pete Stoyancvich at Indiana University. He went 48 of 69 on field goals in his career with a long of 55 yards against Michigan and 133 touchbacks. Bonnell, whose career points rank fifth in program history, was a First Team All-Big Ten kicker in 1991 and ’92. He signed a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears and played in one exhibition game. Bonnell is the president of Black Equipment Co. in Evansville.
“I remember Deon from being a little boy,” Hurt said. “We all looked up to Deon and thought he was the cat’s meow. He was playing college football and such a big part of the ’82 state championship. I watched (Bonnell and Joe Huff) in college. What a cool thing that was for little Podunk Southern Indiana that we had All-Big Ten cats playing for coach (Bill) Mallory at IU.”
Castle (4-1) has won four straight since an opening week loss to North and allowed only seven points in the last three. This will be an important test for the Knights with Jasper and Memorial looming. A win allows Castle or Reitz to stay one game behind Memorial in the SIAC title race.
The Panthers enter with similar strengths following low-scoring wins over North and Central.
“We’ve been very inconsistent (on offense),” Hurt said. “The same could be said for the defense. A few weeks ago, if you would said the Castle defense is going to give up seven points in three games, I would have taken that bet it wasn’t going to happen. Now, we’ve run into some headwinds offensively and the defense has stepped up.
“We’re getting a little bit better each week. We’ve got great senior leadership. Some things that we’ve got to fix.”
Kyle Sokeland is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @kylesokeland or email at kyle.sokeland@courierpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Two former Castle football greats set to be inducted into the Indiana Hall of Fame
Reporting by Kyle Sokeland, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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