Crown Point rallies in 4th Qtr (again), beats Valpo 13-10

A USA-365.com report by Mark Smith

9-24-2005

Friday, Sept. 23, 2005,  67 degrees & light to moderate rain, DAC at Crown Point

1st Qtr:  CROWN POINT (3-0) Donny Keiser 43-yard field goal – 5:00 left.

2nd Qtr:  VALPARAISO (3-3) Matt Lasky, 23-yard field goal - 10:28 left.

CROWN POINT (6-3) Donny Keiser, 26-yard field goal – 1:34 left.

3rd Qtr:  VALPARAISO (6-10) Carl Hoefler, 13-yard run. 80-yard drive, 13 plays. Colin Krupchak kick. 0:19 left.

4th Qtr:  CROWN POINT (13-10) Donny Keiser, 2-yard run. 55-yard drive, 5 plays – Brad Mallers kick. 0:33 left.

TOTAL YARDS: 

Valpo – 263, Crown Point 226

TURNOVERS: 

Valpo – 0, Crown Point – 1

RUSHING 

VALPO (36-158 yards) Hollis Ballard (VHS) 21-59, Aaron Biggs (VHS) 12-101, Carl Hoefler (VHS) 3 (-2)

CROWN POINT (26-140) Jon Sertich (CP) 11-37, Donny Kesier (CP) 10-96, TD; Blake Mascarello (CP) 3-4; Ryan Forney (CP) 1 (-1); Tommy Parks (CP) 1-4

PASSING: 

Carl Hoefler (VHS) 8-14, 105 yards

Blake Mascarello (CP) 6-14, 86 yards, one INT

Ryan Forney (CP) 0-1, 0 yards

RECEIVING: 

Tommy Parks (CP) 2-11, Ryan Forney (CP) 3-60, Zach Cecich (CP) 1-15

Ryan Pylipow (V) 2-36, Scott Rastovic (v) 2-26, Matt Kennedy (V) 2-22; Brandon Cornett (V) 1-11; Travis Allen (V) 1-10

CROWN POINT (9-23-2005) - I'm not sure how they're doing it. I really don't know how some of these games are going Crown Point's way. They've pulled the last two out of the hat, to be kind.

But when you have defeated all your big rivals and won all the tough road games on the schedule, there comes a time when you no longer ask how. 

Just how many.

The Bulldogs scraped together a desperation 55-yard drive in the final 2 ½ minutes Friday night, snatching a 13-10 victory away from the rival Valparaiso Vikings to stay undefeated, fourth ranked and at the top of the Duneland Athletic Conference.

Valparaiso drove 80 yards on 13 plays, taking up most of the third quarter to take a 10-6 lead on a well-executed 13-yard bootleg run by QB Carl Hoefler. And the home town Bulldogs appeared on a one-way ticket to loserville when the could not move the ball on two fourth quarter possessions.

But with a 4^th-and-1 and 2:29 left in the game, Valpo coach Mark Hoffman decided against a scrimmage play, on 4^th-and-1 from the Vikings' own 33-yard-line.

A bad punt set up Crown Point at the Bulldog 45 and two Blake Mascarello passes to junior Ryan Forney, the second one a spectacular diving catch, moving the ball to the Valparaiso 3-yard-line. With 33 seconds left, Donny Keiser barreled over right guard for the go-ahead touchdown and a dramatic 13-10 win.

“I'm not sure this isn't the best team we've played,” said Crown Point coach Chip Pettit, who's finding it hard not to smile in an injury-riddled but undefeated season. “We needed a play at the end and we got one.”

“I just knew we'd make a play at the end and get it done somehow,” said linebacker Vince Lewis, who helped the Bulldog defense hold a fifth team to 10 points or less. We've really got something special going.”

“I don't know exactly what happened,” said Forney of the final catch, a 'post pattern' where he beat senior VHS defensive back Gilbert Allen and dived like 'Superman' to get two hands under the ball at the three yard line. “I don't really know how I made that play.”

Valparaiso deserved a better fate. The Vikings were the first team to gain 100 yards rushing on Crown Point this season. They were the first team to commit no turnovers against the Bulldogs prolific '35' defense, that had allowed only 5.4 points per game. They won time of possession battle and accolades from both sides. The only thing they didn't win was the game.

“They hadn't scored a touchdown on us all night,” said Hoffman, on why he punted with 2:33 to play even though fullback Aaron Biggs (12 carries, 101 yards) had been nearly unstoppable.

“I was proud of our effort. We have nine seniors. Everybody else is an underclassman. We moved the ball against a very good defense.”

Valparaiso outgained Crown Point 263-226 and played an even first half until Keiser's 63-yard run off right guard set up a 26-yard field goal and a 6-3 halftime lead.

But Biggs (5-8, 183), a regional qualifier as a wrestler, teamed with the speedy Ballard (5-11, 160) and accurate tossing Hoefler to move the green-clad visitors 80 yards in 7:11 to take the 10-6 third quarter lead on a night where a light rain fell from the second quarter on.

After three consecutive incompletions ended a CP drive at the Valparaiso 32, the two teams exchanged punts as the fourth quarter clock ran down and a crowd of about 3,500 edge to the front of their seats.

After a Bulldog punt rolled dead at the Valpo 26, Biggs gained two yards on first down. The Vikings tried a sweep to Ballard and CP defensive end Chris Rutherford led the charge which stopped the VHS back for a 5-yard loss.

But on third down, Biggs dragged CP tacklers for a 12-yard gain, setting up a 4th-and-1 with 2:29 left. It would have been unconventional to go for the first down at your own 33-yard line with 2:29 left but Biggs was not stopped for minus yardage all night.

“Sure we considered going for it,” said Hoffman later. “But we went with the defense. They'd played well all night. We needed a first down and we didn't get it. We needed a good punt and we didn't get it. Then we needed a stop and we didn't get it. We were 0-for-3.”

This game, coming on the heels of the come-from-behind 31-21 win at Portage, are an indication that the Bulldogs, at least, have reached a status in the DAC as the team to beat. Portage had a serious let down after narrowly failing to beat the Bulldogs, losing 28-14 to last place Chesterton. Lake Central, CP's week four victim, hasn't come close to winning since.

You can argue these squads pointed to the game with the undefeated team and then slid back after they failed to come out on top.

Now here comes LaPorte (6-0, 4-0 DAC), a team that was also somewhat lucky on Friday, beating Merrillville 38-35 in double-overtime. The showdown of the only two big school undefeated teams in Northwest Indiana should occur, at least, with both sides on an equal footing of hype and expectations. Defending champion Merrillville, the pre-season DAC favorite, can no longer repeat as outright league champions.

Pettit gathered his team after Valparaiso had left the field for the presentation of the County Seat trophy, the award given annually to the winner of the CP-Valpo game. He wanted to wait until Valpo and its coaching staff had left the field before they celebrated too much.

The Bulldog coaches are still careful, still calm. They know that the real season does not begin until mid-October and this present team does not have much margin for error. CP isn't so good they have to be reminded to take each opponent one game at a time.

“We believed,” he told his team gathered under the artificial light at the 20-yard line closest to the school. “We needed a play at the end and we got one.”

“Be careful. Make good decisions over the weekend. Next week. Homecoming. It'll be big.”

BULLDOG NOTES: Crown Point hopes to have senior quarterback Matt Jansen get his doctor's okay to return to action next week against LaPorte. The OK is not at all definite but coaches and players feel it is likely. Jansen was in uniform Friday night against Valparaiso.

Soph QB Blake Mascarello, obviously 6-0 as a starter, would move to the back-up role he was expected to play this season. The young left-hander was only 6-of-14 for 86 yards against Valparaiso but he was 2-of-3 on the last drive including an ad-lib 18-yard pass to Forney that got the team moving.

Injured wide receiver-cornerback Matt Ernest is not nearly as close to returning from a broken collarbone. Ernest, who was injured in week one at Lowell on Aug. 19, still has almost a month before the first playoff game on Oct. 21. His injury is a larger problem because he won't be able to deliver any solid hits right away. It is likely he would be limited to playing wide receiver, no small addition, since the 6-2 junior gained over 1000 yards receiving in 2004.

The Bulldogs might've won more easily Friday had safety Jon Sertich not muffed an interception at midfield late in the second quarter. 

“If he gets that ball,” said Pettit, “he's going to take it to the house.”

Tight end Zach Cecich got turned around on a long pass in the fourth quarter that also could have been a TD.

Donny Keiser didn't want to talk about his field goal totals but there is a major story there. The listed state record for field goals in one season is 13 by two different players.

Keiser has a school record 11 field goals already and the Bulldogs are guaranteed of at least four more games. Oddly, Keiser's totals are a mixed blessing. If CP was a more dominant offensive team, they would have finished more drives and the place-kicker would not have had 16 field goal attempts in six games.

This is CP's first 6-0 start since 1987 when they went 10-0 and finished 10-1. The Bulldogs are 4-0 in September for the first time since they entered the DAC in 1993. This is also the first time that Crown Point has ever defeated Merrillville, Portage, Valparaiso and Hobart in the same season.

Copyright © 2005 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved.
Revised: September 27, 2005 .