The RENEGADE

2006 Week-7: NW Indiana High School Top-10 Football Poll

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-28-2006

CROWN POINT (9-28-2006) This is the final week before the state tournament matchups are announced, so this is the final week that some teams can have the illusion that they can win post-season trophies. The matchups come out Tuesday night (why, I can't tell you), so next Wednesday's practice is going to be very enthusiastic or a little subdued. It's an old story, but the draw, in some respects, makes the final two weeks meaningless. There not only are no games of true value once you know who you are playing in week 10, but several teams will draw teams they still have remaining on the schedule. The best example is probably Lowell and Hobart.

Lowell and Hobart are scheduled to meet on Oct. 6 and it is conceivable, that they could find out on Oct. 3 that they will also play on Oct. 20. It's another reason the all-inclusive state playoff is a bad idea for football. I'll say it again. I don't know why coaches and players even want to make the playoffs when they have a losing record. You've got to have more pride than that. Folks talk about what great competitors they are and then they want to make the post-season with a 3-6 record. If I lost two out of every three games, I'd take it as a sign that I should go home and consider a career in volleyball.

Whiting (5-1) and Kankakee Valley (5-1) appear to be on a collision course in the LAC Blue and Whiting appears to be set up to get the worst of that Oct. 13 collision. There are not a lot of good games this week and that's being kind. Tri-County/North Newton, Griffith/Hammond are going to get ugly. There is a good one, the DAC first place battle between 5A No. 3 Crown Point (6-0) and 5A No. 9 LaPorte (5-1).

The NUMBERS GAME: LaPorte was 5-1 in 2001 and finished at 7-3. They were 6-0 last year and finished 9-2. Portage has scored 28 points in their last five games. Lake Central was 4-2 in 1999 and finished 8-5. Crown Point has won 15 games by 10 points or more in the last two seasons. Griffith has scored at least 35 points 34 times in the Panthers' last 45 games. No one in NW Indiana is anywhere near that number. Warren Central has scored 35 or more 30 times in the last 36 games.

From the "I guess they didn't split them evenly" department: In Hamilton County, the fastest growing county in Indiana, giant Hamilton Southeastern split into two schools, becoming Southeastern and Fishers high. After six weeks, Southeastern is 6-0 and rated No. 2 in the state. Fishers is 0-6.

Former Merrillville coach Rick Wimmer is 0-5 at Fishers. Former Lake Central coach Elmer Britton is 0-6 at South Bend Adams. But former Highland and Crown Point coach and athletic director Brad Smith is on the board. Attica (1-5) defeated South Vermillion 20-14 last week.

1.) 5A CROWN POINT (6-0)
2005 (11-1), 2004 (4-7), 2003 (5-5)

CROWN POINT - Crown Point never trailed in a rainy night 35-21 win at Valparaiso. The Bulldogs blocked three punts to deny the home team. QB Blake Mascarello tossed two TDs to TE Zach Cecich and Jon Sertich gained over 100 yards for the fourth time in six games. The Bulldogs gave up some points when Valpo went to four and five wide receivers, but CP almost suggested that's a trade-off they'll take. They seem to welcome the up-tempo basketball-on grass attacks, possibly because they work against a diversified attack in practice. This team is still on school record winning streaks of 11 in the DAC and 16 during the regular season. Major hurdle this week. LaPorte ad CP have only met 16 times in history and CP has only won at LaPorte one time.

2.) 3A Griffith (6-0)
2005 (12-1), 2004 (9-3), 2003 (7-5)

GRIFFITH - Highland was the latest team to get freeze-dried by Griffith 64-0 last week. Morton got walked on 50-12 the week before. Either Griffith is one of the great teams in recent history or the LAC is very, very weak. The Panthers have outscored four LAC foes 185-31. There's a reason Griffith scheduled DAC powerhouse Merrillville next season. They need better competition than their league can provide. The only team to challenge the Panthers was Chesterton, a second division Duneland Conference team. Speedy RB-WR combo David Alexander is up to 16 touchdowns. The Panthers have rushed for 200 or more yards in every game and average 46 points a game. It's odd how both Crown Point and Griffith are supposedly less than they were in 2005 but both have run regular season win streaks to 15 in a row. Griffith has given up eight TD passes and they have lost 10 fumbles. Both totals are high for six games. But when you're playing Hammond high (0-6) this week, how much does it really matter? Griffith might be the regions' only truly intimidating team. Maybe someone in the LAC will challenge the Panthers when Andrean (5-1) meets them on Oct. 6 and Hobart takes them on Oct. 13.

3.) 4A Hobart (5-1)
2005 (6-6), 2004 (9-2), 2003 (5-7)

HOBART - Until last week, Hobart had dominated a 'down' LAC but last week, they beat Andrean 36-29, a game they dominated most of the way. QB Josh Miracle was a career best 17-of-23 for 318 yards against a good Andrean defense. The Brickie defense did give up 330 yards to Jesse Repay and the rallying Niners, but Hobart has scored 20 or more points in every game and they have more weapons than Iran. Andrew Jackson was held to just 30 yards and his 17th TD of the season, but the Brickies simply used WR Bobby James, who caught two TD passes. Hobart has looked very good winning four in a row since a 34-20 home loss to 5A No. 3 Crown Point (6-0). But there are still questions that only competition can answer. The Brickies' strength of schedule is getting better and they finish with Morton (3-3), on the road at Lowell (2-4) and Griffith (6-0) so we'll have a lot more proof very soon. But there is a feeling this is a state caliber team.

4.) 5A Merrillville (4-2)
2005 (11-3), 2003 (5-6), 2004 (6-5)

MERRILLVILLE - Merrillville had what has become their usual meltdown against LaPorte. The Slicers defeated Merrillville for the fifth time in 6 years, breaking away from a 14-14 third quarter tie to win big 41-14. I believe that was Ronneal Williams who gained 112 yards on seven carries (you can never be sure because many box scores pretend you don't have a first name) for the Pirates so that means senior Eric Williams is still out, as he has been all season. Josh Raspopovich was 15 of 32 for 199 yards but he tossed two interceptions on a wet night. Merrillville turned the ball over four times to negated the fact that they gained a season-high 378 yards. This was the first game where the Pirates broke down defensively, allowing 336 rushing yards, including over 200 to LaPorte all-stater Airrence Shark. Still, there was improvement for the Pirates in this game and the losses are to the two teams tied for the DAC lead.

5.) 3A ANDREAN (5-1)
2005 (8-2), 2004 (13-2), 2003 (12-1)

MERRILLVILLE - The 59ers got buried early 28-9 by Hobart but they rallied to take the lead before losing 36-29 on the road at Hobart (5-1). This was a pretty good loss. Mid-season road game against a team that's above you in class. Jesse repay was 12 of 26 for 149 yards and he ran for 93 more on 12 carries. RB Chandler Bowens picked up a 68 yards on 13 carries, his second best total of the season. the Niners ran for a season-best 195 yards.
The Andrean pass defense gave up 300 yards but they will not se a receiver like Bobby James in the 3A playoffs. Again, this was a good loss. The 59ers came from 19 points behind to take the lead. The Niners should take it as a positive and move on.

6.) 5A LaPorte (5-1)
2005 (9-2), 2004 (7-4), 2003 (6-4)

LaPORTE - Easily their best performance of the season last week, even though the defense gave up almost 400 yards. The Slicers didn't fall behind early and they ran the ball. Especially Airrence Shark who carried 32 times for 223 yards. LaPorte gave indication that when the weather turns bad, they'll be pretty good. QB Adam Creed didn't have a productive night with just 6-of-15 for 97 yards and two interceptions. The offensive line of Mike Berdowski (6-2, 200), Brandon Cosby (6-0, 187), Tyler James (6-4, 273), Grant Hofer (6-2, 205) and Ricky Salary (5-9, 262) appears to be improving. Why are they still this low in the poll? Because it's hard to get too high on a team that has given up this many yards (1,800) and points (171) in only six games. But if they win this week at home against Crown Point (6-0), it won't matter in the DAC standings how many yards they are allowing.

7.) 5A Chesterton (2-4)
2005 (3-8), 2004 (5-5), 2003 (7-4)

CHESTERTON - I still haven't given up on this team even though they sure do find a way to lose the close ones. Last week, a 6-3 overtime loss to rival Portage, the second overtime loss for the Trojans this year. Here's the statistic that hurts. Chesterton has led or been tied in the second half of every game this year and they are 2-4. This team could be 6-0. The Trojans' west coast offense has gone to Jersey and they were bottled up by the tough Portage defense. How come they're still here? Because they lost in OT to Griffith (6-0). They lost in the 4th quarter to Andrean (5-1) and they lost a 14-point second half lead against LaPorte (5-1). Chesterton has playing power but they don't have staying power. This is still a strong team, but they probably lack some fourth quarter confidence right now.

8.) 5A Lake Central (4-2)
2005 (2-8), 2004 (1-9), 2003 (1-9)

ST. JOHN - LC was very unimpressive in a 28-7 victory over Michigan City. This is the team you are least sure of in this poll, because they have not defeated a winning team. LC gained only 160 yards and they gave up almost 300 yards to the Wolves. PJ Gbur (71-118, 881 yards) is a good player, but they have to have a balanced attack every night. HB Tony Morang (85 carries-356 yards) and WR Joe Wingis (30-527 yards) have decent numbers but the offense has been mediocre for four weeks now. The matchup with Chesterton this week will feature two teams searching for a confidence builder.

9.) 3A New Prairie (5-1)
2005 (6-4), 2004 (12-2), 2003 (8-3)

NEW CARLISLE - Still on the rise against the easier second half of their schedule. The Cougars rolled up 314 rushing yards and blasted out-manned 1A Triton 34-14 for their fourth consecutive win. It was 34-0 at the half and, truthfully, this was a week off for New Prairie which takes on rival John Glenn (4-2) this Friday. What will hurt this team is the largely 2A schedule, which will dumb them down competitively before the playoffs. NP is still riding those wins over LaPorte (5-1) and Jimtown (4-2) and, to be fair, that's a pretty good horse to ride. Would they beat Morton, Lowell or Munster right now? Yes they would. In a month, after a couple more romps over weak teams, I don't know.

10.) 5A Valparaiso (1-4)
2005 (5-5), 2004 (6-5), 2003 (5-6)

VALPARAISO - Valpo puts up a better fight than Bill Clinton against Condolesa Rice, but the Vikings don't have anything to show for it. I don't count the forfeit win over Roosevelt so the Vikings have won one game. Losses to Penn (4-2), LaPorte (5-1) and Crown Point (6-0) have sent the proud Vikings to the poor side of town. Still, when they lined up Hollis Ballard at halfback and four wide receivers, they moved the ball on Crown Point's highly-regarded defense in the 35-21 loss. Valpo has to get the ball to Ballard more, even on a bad field. Crown Point couldn't control him. The Vikings' defense isn't that quick, but I still can't understand why they've allowed 193 points in five games. Valparaiso and Chesterton are the biggest disappointments of the season so far. But what they have to hold on to is, under the present playoff format, the season so far means absolutely nothing. A Valpo upset of Merrillville Friday could put them on the right track.

On the outside looking in...

11.) 3A Morton (3-3)

2005 (8-4), 2004 (4-7), 2003 (5-6)

HAMMOND - Morton is getting grilled against the tough part of their schedule. Talk of them being among NW Indiana's elite has proven premature. The Governors made a late rally, but fell short against Munster 33-27, a game in which they had two punts blocked and gave up 258 more rushing yards. The Governors have allowed 850 yards rushing in the last four games and you can't win that way. They have yet to defeat a team with a winning record and they have trailed by at least 10 in the second half for four weeks in a row.

There is a serious concern here that the Governors cannot turn around this fall. They really need that game with winless Hammond high to be this Friday and it isn't. The Governors must travel to powerful Hobart (5-1), which can take advantage of their soft run defense. The Governors are great to watch as they've gained 300 yards in every game this year. But it's crisis time in the next couple of weeks against Hobart and Highland.

12.) 4A Munster (4-2)

2005 (3-7), 2004 (4-6), 2003 (8-3)

MUNSTER - I don't think Munster proved to be superior to Morton in last week's 33-27 victory. Morton should have won in the fourth quarter and the Mustangs have been shelled for 400 yards by three consecutive foes. I don't know what's happening here either. This teams has been outscored 34-7 in the fourth quarter by Hobart and Morton and they have three weeks to shore up the defense. Joe Gill is 13 of 34 the last two weeks and the Mustangs have given up 82 first downs in six games and that's too many for a winning team that has not played any large schools. The ponies still have road games at Lowell and at Andrean and the concern here is the same as it is at Morton. This team needs to be playing winless Hammond this week but that game is not until Oct. 6. Munster at Lowell Friday is a pivotal game for both sides.

13.) 4A Lowell (2-4)
2005 (11-4), 2004 (9-4), 2003 (11-2)

LOWELL - Lowell got that 'Hammond' break beating the winless Wildcats 35-12. It means nothing unless they can come out stronger this week. Lowell's defense has still allowed just 15 TDs all season and 18 points a game, but the offense has to gain confidence. Lowell and Portage (2-4) are in the same boat, but the Indians (who average only 9.3 points a game) have a sophomore QB, which will limit what is possible there. Lowell QB Josh Kuiper appears to have survived the storm (of state-rated foes Andrean, CP and Griffith) largely in one piece and his time may be coming. Halfback Steffan Peck (600 yards gained) is still in one piece and he scored three times against Hammond last week. The Devils have some injuries and they are very young in a half dozen spots. But no one they will see next month is better than a couple of the teams they have already faced.