2006 Crown Point Football Preview: '35' Defense, returning veterans may prove to surpass success of 2005 team 

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
8-11-2006

2006 Crown Point

Enrollment: 2, 271 - Class 5A
Head Coach:  Chip Pettit  (34-31, 7 years) 11-1 in 2005
Conference:  Duneland
Offensive Coordinator: Mark Croell
Defensive Coordinator: Kevin Enright
Assistants: Sean Granger, Bob Komara, Chuck Smoljan, Tim Laba, Scott Rettig,
Mike Depta, Jake Rodriguez, Kelly Fricke, David Haney, Matt McCaleb,
Darren Clauss, Ernie Huffman, Jim Lemon
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Ryan Turley
Offensive Scheme: Multiple I Defensive Scheme:  3-5

Championships
SECTIONALS (2) 1988, 1991
REGIONALS (1) 1988

2006 Schedule - DAC games in CAPS
8-18 (F)  Lowell (11-4)
8-25 (F) at Hobart  (6-6)
9-1 (F)   at MERRILLVILLE (11-3)
9-8 (F) LAKE CENTRAL (2-8)
9-15 (F) PORTAGE (2-8)
9-22 (F) at VALPARAISO (5-5)
9-29 (F) at LAPORTE  (9-2)
10-6 (F) CHESTERTON (3-8)
10-13 (F) at MICHIGAN CITY (6-5)

2006 Returnees
Sr - Matt Ernest (WR) 18 catches, 354 yards, 3 TDs
Sr - Jon Sertich (HB)  135 rushes, 805 yards, 14 catches, 153 yards, 7 TDs
Sr - Tommy Parks (FB) 22 rushes 150 yards, 16 catches, 194 yards
Jr - Blake Mascarello (QB) 27-56, 458 yards, TD, 3 INTs
Sr - Ryan Forney (WR) 26 catches,  472 yards, TD, 13 carries, 109 yards
Sr - Jon Sertich (S) 71 tackles, 2 interceptions
Sr - Nick Damjanovic (DE) 51 tackles, 4.5 sacks

2005 SEASON (11-1)
Aug. 19  (W) at Lowell  (11-4)     16-6     
Aug. 26  (W) Hobart  (6-6)           26-0     
Sep. 2  (W) Merrillville  (11-3)     13-0     
Sep. 9  (W) at Lake Central  (2-8) 23-0     
Sep. 16  (W) at Portage  (2-8)       31-21     
Sep. 23  (W) Valparaiso  (5-5)     13-10     
Sep. 30  (W) LaPorte  (7-4)         35-14     
Oct. 7  (W) at Chesterton  (3-8)   34-17     
Oct. 14  (W) Michigan City  (6-5)   47-7

      5A Sectional 1
Oct. 21  (W) at Valparaiso  (5-5)  45-20     
Oct. 28  (W) Chesterton  (3-8)  34-0
Nov. 4  (L) at Merrillville  (11-3)  13-16

CROWN POINT (8-11-2006)  All during the off-season anyone who new how Crown Point's high school football team looked in November of 2005 spent the off season talking about how much offense they had coming back and how little defense.  Crown Point officially returns nine starting offensive players and two defenders off last year's 11-1 team that won the schools' First Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) championship.

But the wave of the future is position changes.  Maybe it's always been that way.  CP, under present management, has had absolutely no problem with changing boys' positions from year to year to fill the 22 places at the dinner table.

CP has moved three offensive players to defense in an effort to recreate the success of last year's unit, which allowed a state fewest 9.1 points per game for 5A schools.  Two juniors, tight end Zach Cecich (6-2, 220) and OT Zach Brumm (5-11, 220) have been moved to the defensive line.  So has 2005 fullback Danny Byrd (5-9, 206).  There's no way to know if the changes will work, but the Bulldogs' defense is no longer the empty shelf it appeared to be after nine starters graduated last June.

"When you start the season you don't know," said coach Chip Pettit, whose staff also made a couple of highly successful position changes in 2005.  Until about two or three weeks into the season, you don't know what you really have."

Crown Point switched 2004 junior Chris Rutherford from tight end to defensive end where he was an all-Duneland Conference player in 2005 and his team's Most Valuable player.  Rutherford plated so well he earned a scholarship to Millikin University.  The Bulldogs also dropped 2004 linebacker Jon Sertich to the safety position where he was an honorable mention all-DAC player.  That move was also supposed to save Sertich's legs for running the ball and he gained over 800 yards from the halfback position for the 11-1 Bulldogs.

This year the player shifts go from a well-stocked offense to a graduation-depleted defense.  But expectations for both units are very high.

"Last year we were strong defensively and on special teams," said Pettit last Friday.  "But I don't think the offense approached it as if they didn't have to do much.  This year we have skilled kids on offense in Matt Ernest, Sertich and (Tommy) Parks.  Ryan Forney came up huge for us last season in big games.  He's an impact player in his own right."

CP needs quarterback Blake Mascarello to be an impact player.  The junior left-hander was 6-0 as a starter last season, but CP's defense was so dominant that the plays called for Mascarello to run were rather conservative.  The highly-regarded baseball pitcher will be called on to execute the entire playbook in 2006.

"As a player, as you become more familiar with the offense," said Pettit, "you become more aware of what is going on around you, too."

Although he was undefeated in 2005, Mascarello did have his 'rookie moments' as a sophomore quarterback when his coaches covered their eyes.  But he does not appear to be the kind of player who is scared by anything on the playing field.

"I know the speed of the game now," Mascarello said last Friday.  "I feel more at ease.  If I hadn't played those six games last year, I'd be pretty nervous."

Mascarello put in a lot of time with the team this summer, something he did not do in 2004 because of his summer baseball team in Hammond. 

"I played with the Seminoles last year," he said, "and we went to the (Babe Ruth League) World Series.  I didn't know I was going to play varsity.  This year, I was with the Chiefs (the older version of the Seminoles), but I quit because I needed to be here."

"The Chiefs are in the Babe Ruth World Series, but they get there almost every year.  I can play with them the next two summers."

Indiana University recruit Matt Ernest's low numbers are deceptive.  The baseball shortstop caught 47 passes in 2004 for over 1,000 yards.  Ernest (6-2, 170) and Forney (5-9, 170) are significant pass catching threats and the new tight end, Matt Osojnicki (6-6, 200), a track hurdler, has upper level potential.

Senior Andrew Krumwied (6-5, 245) and junior Kurt Wermers (6-5, 270) lead what should be a powerful offensive line.  Juniors Cody Blue (6-3, 210), Matt Polus (6-1, 240) and Matt Childress (6-2, 245) are among those who can fill those three holes on the offensive line.

Defensively, CP graduated all the linebackers who started on last year's No. 1 scoring defense in Class 5A.  Look for Nick Cottrell (5-9, 205), Adam Kukulski (5-11, 180), Joe Patrick (6-1, 175) and Andrew Szymborski (6-1, 185) to be among the half dozen candidates to man the five linebacker sets that CP used in 2005.  Senior Mike Damjanovic (6-0, 220) will swing between the linebacker core and the defensive line.

Forney and Ernest can be game-breakers as punt returners.  Ernest or soccer team goalie Nick Barber, doing double duty, may be the punter.

But don't look for players other than Sertich and Forney going both ways.  One of the keys to last year's defense was the fact that CP defensive players were defenders exclusively, which increased practice time and continuity.  When you have 2,200 students, you can have two platoons.

How ever you want to do it, you need to get your players off the field half the time.  Football people are sometimes too macho to admit this, but especially at the Class 5A level, it is becoming increasingly difficult to have players effectively go both ways, even your elite athletes.  The Bulldogs allowed only two fourth quarter touchdowns in the entire 2005 season and both times, they led by more than 14 points.  CP allowed only 16 first quarter points all year and only one touchdown in 12 games.  They started games fast and they closed them even faster.

A lot of that is good players, but some of it is two platoons that feed off each other rather than a lot of two way players who ride momentum roller-coasters.

When Crown Point was performing so well in the 2005 season, the question came up, as to whether the success was due to CP's senior dominated personnel or whether it was because of the 3-5-3 defensive look, which confused offenses in the DAC.  Was it the team or the scheme?  The Bulldogs didn't beat a lot of very good teams in 2005, but the games weren't close.  CP beat 10 teams by 10 points or more and the loss was by three on the road to the toughest team they saw.  CP did that without their starting QB for six games and without their top wide receiver for seven games.  There were some fortunate bounces of the ball early in games, but truthfully, considering the injuries, CP was not lucky.

We may be about to find out that, with all due respect to the 2005 seniors, it was both.  During the off season, more than one NW Indiana team went to the 3-5-3 or '35' defense.  Hobart coach Wally McCormack reportedly called Crown Point to ask about the defense and how to implement it.  Crown Point is a difficult team to prepare for because of the '35' and all they do offensively with three and four wide recovers, plus two different types of tight ends and pass catching backs.

There is always a fear CP can beat themselves if their new personnel can't handle the complexity of the offensive and defensive schemes.  But if the newer Bulldogs can grasp the offense and defense, the 2006 Bulldogs are clearly bigger and arguably faster, especially defensively, than the 2005 championship squad.

That's bad news for the nine teams they will meet.

2006  CROWN POINT  varsity roster - as of Aug. 4, 2006

1.  Nate Haverstock (5-7, 150) WR-DB (sophomore)
2.  Tony Conway (5-7, 165) LB (junior)
3.  Scott Rutherford (6-0, 225) DL (junior)
4.  Adam Kukulski (5-11, 180)  LB (senior)
5.  Joe Baker (6-4, 170) WR (junior)
6. Blake Mascarello (5-11, 180) QB (junior)
7. Danny Osojnicki (5-11, 150) DB (sophomore)
8.  Brandon Bork (5-10, 165) LB (senior)
9.  Logan Brown (5-8, 145) WR-DB-K (junior)
10. Marcus Shrewsbury (5-11, 205) QB (sophomore)

11. Nick Barber (5-10, 180) P/PK (junior)
12. Ryan Forney (5-8, 165) WR-DB (senior)
13. Mike Mohr (5-8, 155) DB (senior)
14. Brad Jones (6-0, 155) DB (sophomore)
15. Matt Ernest (6-2, 175) WR-DB (senior)
16. Justin Cope (6-0, 145) WR (junior)
17. Kyle Qualizza (5-9, 160) WR (sophomore)
18. Jake Castellanos (5-11, 150) DB (sophomore)
19. Ryan Levin (5-9, 170) LB (junior)
20. Andrew Szymborski (6-0, 180) LB (junior)

21. Nick Henderson (5-10, 160) DB (sophomore)
22. Chris Schelbenrelf (5-6, 125) RB (sophomore)
23. Anthony Stahl (5-9, 155) WR-DB (junior)
24. Jayme Smith (6-0, 160) DB (sophomore)
24.  James Steriovski (5-7, 140) PK (sophomore)
25. Nathan Ingram (5-9, 140) RB (junior)
26. Lance LeMere (6-0, 185) LB (sophomore)
27. Jon Setich (5-9, 170) RB-DB (senior)
28. Mike Kozlowski (5-10, 190) RB-KLB (sophomore)
29. Russell Chick (5-10, 180) RB (junior)
30. Evan Nikrin (5-10, 190) RB-LB (soph)

31. Nick Kabella (5-8, 140) DB (sophomore)
32. Chris Johnson (5-9, 180) LB (senior)
33. Nick Cottrell (5-9, 205) LB (junior)
34. Nick Bruno (5-6, 140) RB (sophomore)
35. Mike Lankas (5-8, 140) DB (sophomore)
36. Billy Cox (5-10, 170) LB (junior)
37. Dan Downes (5-9, 140) HB (sophomore)
37. Matt  Davis (5-9, 140) DB (sophomore)
38. Chris Ruderschmidt (5-9, 185) P-LB (senior)
39. Brandon Corning (6-0, 180) RB  (junior)
40. Danny Byrd (5-6, 210) DL (senior)

41.  Alex Mudge (6-1, 155)  DB (junior)
42.  Mark Myers (5-9, 160) LB  (sophomore)
43. Cory Cook (5-11, 160) DB (junior)
44. Kyle Lumbarkoski (5-11, 195) Hb (junior)
45. Mike Damjanovic (6-0, 220) LB-DE (senior)
46. Mike Haverstock (5-9, 170) RB (junior)
47. Todd Wells (5-10, 170) LB (senior)
48. Joe Patrick (6-1, 175) LB (junior)
49. Tommy Parks (5-11, 205) FB (senior)
50. Nick Jones (5-9, 230) OL (junior)

51. Donny Covaclu (5-9, 170) LB (sophomore)
52. Ron Walden (6-1, 190) DL (junior)
53. Jimmy Bakalik (5-9,,205) LB (sophomore)
54. Sean Sprehe (6-0, 170) DL (senior)
55. Cody Riggle (5-9, 195) LB (sophomore)
56. Mike Plumb (5-9, 195) OL (junior)
57. Kyle Land (5-10, 180) LB (sophomore)
58. Matt Pogorzelski (5-9, 175) LB (senior)
59. Steve Williams (6-2, 275) DL (senior)
60. Zach Brumm (5-11, 220) DL (junior)

61. Cody Blue (6-3, 210) OL (junior)
62. Matt Polus (6-1, 240) OL (junior)
63. Nick Ryan (5-7, 210) OL (sophomore)
64. Kyle Marshall (6-1, 220) DL (sophomore)
65. Andrew Krumweid (6-5, 245) OL (senior)
66. Nick Colonna (5-11, 215) OL (sophomore)
67. Austin Batklewicz (5-10, 185) OL (sophomore)
68. Jon Cooke (6-4, 260) OL (sophomore)
69. Mark Granko (5-10, 190) DL (sophomore)
70. Kurt Wermers (6-5, 270) OL (junior)

71. Matt Childress (6-2, 245) OL (junior)
72. Nick Russ (6-0, 240) DL (senior)
73. Jason Hulen (6-2, 240) OL (junior)
74. Cody Haywood (6-0, 205) OL (sophomore)
75. Eric Manley (6-3, 240) OL (senior)
76. Nick Pluchinsky (5-10, 270) DL (sophomore)
77. Matt Dzieclolowski (6-0, 265) DL (sophomore) 
79. Mark Selp (5-11, 225) OL (junior)
80. Nick Sneiderwine (5-9, 140) PK (junior)

81.  Nik Pusara (6-2, 180) WR (junior)
82. Joey Maginot (6-2, 205) TE (junior)
83. Justin Krajcl  (5-5, 130) DB (junior)
84. Matt Osojnicki (6-6, 205) TE (senior)
85. Ben Friedman (5-11, 145) PK (junior)
86. Ryan Madison (6-0, 155) WR (junior)
87. Steve Muenstermannn (6-1, 145) WR (sophomore)
88. Jeff Smith (6-3, 195) TE (junior)
89. Zach Cecich (6-2, 220) TE-DL (junior)
90. Mike Lipton (6-0, 165) PK (soph)

91. Jeremy Podgorzelski (5-8, 160) LB (junior)
92. Dustin Woosley (6-2, 190) LB (junior)
93. Nick Hladek (5-8, 185) LB/DL (junior)
94. John Sparr (6-2, 195) LB (junior)
95. Kyle Cortese (5-8, 160) LB (junior)
96. Kyle Angel (5-11, 225) DL (sophomore)
97. Derek Fornof (5-8, 155) LB (junior)
98. Greg Schillo (5-11, 195) LB (junior)
99. Matt Semchuck (5-9, 235) DL (sophomore)