A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

8-21-2010

Friday, Aug. 20, 2010 -  85 degrees & cloudy, season opener at CROWN POINT, IN
 

1st Qtr:  CROWN POINT (3-0) Brett Bayer, 30-yard field goal. 28-yard drive, 5 plays. 1:41 min. time of possession (TOP). 2:12 left.
CROWN POINT (10-0) Austin Atherton, 28-yard pass from Joe Hopman. 48-yard drive, 3 plays. 0:35 sec. TOP. Bayer kick. 0:00 left.
2nd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (17-0) Cody Bacon, 73-yard pass from Joe Hopman. 75-yard drive, 3 plays. 1:34 min TOP. 6:34 left.
LOWELL (6-17) Jimmy Szafranski, 20-yard pass from Chris Sekuloski. 68-yard drive, 11 plays. 5:57 min. TOP. Kick hit goal post. 0:36 left.
3rd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (24-6) Cody Bacon, 2-yard run. 77-yard drive, 8 plays. 3:30 min TOP. Bayer kick. 8:20 left.
4th Qtr:  CROWN POINT (27-6) Brett Bayer, 18-yard field goal. 74-yard drive, 11 plays. 5:38 min TOP. 11:55 left.
CROWN POINT (30-6) Brett Bayer, 34-yard field goal. 34-yard drive, 9 plays. 3:45 left.
CROWN POINT (37-6) Logan McRae 40-yard run with Chris Sekuloski fumble. Bayer kick. 2:09 left.

RUSHING:

LOWELL (40 carries, 115 yards, 2 fumbles) Jeremy Crocker (QB) 4 carries (-14 yards) 2 sacks (-9); Cole Midgett (HB) 5-5 yards; Jordan Juarez (HB-FB) 15 carries, 54 yards, fumble; Nick Tokarz (FB) 2-yards; Chris Sekuloski (QB) 8-27 yards, fumble; Austin Magley (FB) 2-9 yards; Nick Hamilton (HB) 2-27 yards; Joey Gruszkowski (HB) 2-1 yards.

CROWN POINT (30 carries, 91 yards, TD) Cody Bacon (HB) 18 carries, 70 yards, TD; Joe Hopman (QB) 9-3 yards (2 sacks -15); Peter Parks (FB) 1-3 yards; Jake Lindeman (HB) 4 carries, 20 yards.

PASSING:
LOWELL (2-of-5, 38 yards, TD) Jeremy Crocker (QB) 1-2, 18 yards; Chris Sekuloski (QB) 1-3, 20 yards, TD;
CROWN POINT: Joe Hopman (QB) 8-of-10, 233 yards, 2 TDs.

RECEIVING:
LOWELL: Jason Parker (WR) 1-18 yards; Jimmy Szafranski (TE) 1-20 yards, TD;
CROWN POINT: Austin Atherton (WR) 5 catches, 134 yards TD; Jordan Jurasevich (TE) 1-24 yards; Cody Bacon (HB) 1-73 yards; Tyler Wells (WR) 1-2 yards.

TOTAL YARDS:
LOWELL - 153 yards, one TD, 2 turnovers;
CROWN POINT - 324 yards, 3 TDs, no turnovers.

Click Here for Game 1 Photo Gallery.
 

CROWN POINT (8-20-2010) There was this idea people were starting to get that Lowell was supposed to defeat Crown Point every year to start the football season.
Even though CP is twice the size of Lowell and has twice as many boys on the roster, the impression did get out that the Devils were favored to beat CP in the 2010 season opener Friday night.

There was a return to the norm Friday night as CP scored early and often to dominate the Red Devils 37-6 in the 2010 season debut for both teams. The result does NOT mean that CP will have a good season or that Lowell will have a bad one. It's just a return to 'normal' after a stretch where Lowell defeated CP eight times in 11 years and three times in a row.

But a relatively small 4A school shouldn't beat a large 5A school eight times in 11 years.

"Three years ago, we both had good teams," said CP coach Chip Pettit, who didn't join the celebration for CP's first win over Lowell since 2006. "But the last two years, they were just better than us. That's why they won. No excuses."

"Tonight, we played very well and we've been expected to play very well this year."

This might have been CP's best game in three years. On a warm, humid night in front of a standing room only crowd of 5,000, the Bulldogs rolled up 324 yards of total offense with 15 first downs. CP did not fumble or throw an interception and they did not commit a penalty. Defensively, the Bulldogs held Lowell's traditionally strong ground game, which gained 3,500 yards in 15 games in 2009, to 115 yards and no touchdowns on 40 carries.

The Devils were forced to punt five times after 'drives' of one first down or less. Lowell also fumbled twice, leading to 10 CP points.

"They were playing in our backfield most of the first quarter," said Lowell coach Keith Kilmer, understandably disappointed in his head coaching debut game after 10 years in the Red Devil program. "They are a pretty good football team. They were more fine-tuned than we were. We hoped conditioning would pay off in the end, but it wasn't close."

Crown Point, which won only six games (they were 6-14) in each of the last two seasons, took a late first quarter lead after linebacker Scott Hannon recovered a fumble by Lowell's Jordan Juarez at the Lowell 41-yard-line.

On the next play, junior QB Joe Hopman fired a quick pass to Austin Atherton, lined up as a slot receiver on the wide side of the formation. Atherton eluded defenders until defensive back Cole Midget caught him at the Lowell 6-yard line. Two plays later Brandon Reed sacked Hopman to prevent a TD but Brett Bayer's 30-yard field goal gave CP a 3-0 lead with 2:12 to go in the opening quarter.

After three Lowell plays and a quick punt, Hopman found tight end Jordan Jurasevich for a 24-yard gain to the Devils' 21-yard line. Lowell defensive end Tyler Wright sacked Hopman for a 7-yard loss on the next play, but Hopman (8 of 10, 233 yards, 2 TDs) then found Atherton isolated against Cole Midgett on the wide side of the formation again. Hopman lobbed the ball high into the air down the home sidelines and Midgett fell down trying to change direction. Atherton, CP's leading receiver in 2009, caught the pass all by himself to give CP a 10-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter.
 

Lowell gained a first down on its next possession, but a sack of Lowell starting QB Jeremy Crocker by junior lineman Cameron Tanner (6-1, 270) forced Lowell's third punt of the game.
On a 3rd-and-8, CP halfback Cody Bacon lined up in the slot on the wide side of the formation (as Atherton did on the first big play), caught a quick pass from Hopman and ran away from the Lowell defense for a 73-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead with 6:34 still left in the half.

"We just lined up wrong," said Kilmer. "Mental error. That's my fault."
 

Lowell then changed the offensive backfield, inserting senior quarterback Chris Sekuloski, moving fullback Juarez to tailback and inserting Nick Tokarz at fullback to try to counter the hard charging 3-5-3 defense of CP. Lowell then drove 68 yards in 12 plays with Juarez (6-1, 195) gaining 26 of the yards on five carries. Sekuloski then fooled CP on a play-action pass to a wide-open Jimmy Szafranski for a 20-yard TD with 31 second to go before halftime.
 

Cole Midgett's extra point hit the right goal post, but as it turned out, that didn't matter. Crown Point took the opening kickoff in the second half and drove 67 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 20-yard run by Bacon with 8:20 left in the third quarter. After a quick Lowell punt (the Devils ran just five offensive plays in the third quarter) CP drove 74 yards in 11 plays and Bayer's second field goal of the game gave CP an insurmountable 27-6 lead with 11:55 left in the game.
 

The game was some redemption for CP's offensive line, which was ineffective for much of the second half of the 2009 season. CP only scored 140 points in the entire 2009 season and just 111 points in 2007. Facing a strong Lowell defensive front, tackles Stephen Hutchison and Eric Huttle plus guards Mitch Kositzky, Andrew Wrecsics and center Alex Zagrocki protected Hopman, especially after halftime.
 

"The offensive line is always a work in progress," admitted Pettit. "But we've got three guys the middle in Kositzky (6-2, 255), Wrecsics (6-4, 265) and Zagrocki (6-0, 275) who played all last year as juniors and they should be pretty good players. We'll see how it goes."

Lowell may not have as many problems as it seemed on this night. But the Devils offensive line was only occasionally effective and, with four returning regulars, that has to be the strength of this Lowell team.
 

"They were in a 3-3 stack and if you can handle the nose guard you can do business," said Kilmer. "But that little guy (converted linebacker Evan Wilson) and that big '92' (Tanner). In that first quarter, he (Wilson) was three yards in our backfield."
 

"We cannot be successful playing on our side of the line of scrimmage. We have to be on their side and we never got there. That was the difference."
 

"I was starting middle linebacker last year," explained Wilson, who is a very hyper player. "Back in January I was about 205 (pounds). During conditioning, Coach said that to be a linebacker we need you to be faster so I started cutting weight. I got down to 175-180."
 

"Then the IU camp comes around and I tore my ACL. And they said, we're going to put you on the nose. Less running. They'll wean me back into shape."
 

"Nose guard? I like it. I do miss the full speed running into people, though. You only get one step at nose guard. But I'm playing. It's great. I got a few good hits tonight. I do miss the full speed collisions."

Lowell traditionally is a slow-starting team. In 2006, they lost 35-0 to Griffith and still won the sectional championship. In 2005, Lowell lost to Crown Point 16-6 and was 1-4 before they rallied and won the 4A state title. The Lowell-CP game has rarely been a hard and fast predictor of either team.
 

"We'll be okay," said Kilmer. "We did alright in the first half. We were in the game. But we needed a stop in the second half and we didn't get one. We need some leaders out there to step up. But we'll be okay. We just need to work and figure out some personnel issues. You always make your biggest improvement from week one to week two. That's what Chip always says, right?"
 

CP knows they still need to make a big improvement before week three when they meet arch-rival Merrillville, who lost 49-14 to top-ranked Warren Central Friday night. But the Bulldogs needed to beat Lowell. For all the success the Devils have had in recent years (39-4 in the last 3 seasons) it has to be hard for CP players to believe they can defeat 5A arch rival Merrillville two weeks after losing to 4A Lowell. This year, they don't have that mental hill to climb.
 

"Its a fresh start for our team," said Wilson. "Coming off two 3-7 seasons. It's just a stepping stone. But it means more to our team than anything."

DEVIL-DOG NOTES: The 37 points for Crown Point is the most for the Bulldogs since they won 42-24 at Chesterton on Oct. 5, 2007.

Lowell reported no injuries after the game, a significant factor with the Devils 47-man roster. Crown Point is easily the biggest and deepest (90-man roster) team Lowell will see.
 

"They're fine," coach Keith Kilmer said on his way off the field after the game. They may not be after I talk to them."
 

Kilmer praised Justin Juarez (15 carries, 54 yards) after the game.
 

"Juarez was one guy giving it everything he had," Kilmer said. "I went to him after the first quarter and told him to get ready. You're about to get pounded again and again. He went in there and did his job."
 

Lowell and CP have played in the season opener in each of the last 13 seasons with Lowell leading that stretch eight games to five. There was no segment of the CP effort that didn't get a little praise.
 

"Our defensive line did a good job of getting in the gaps," said CP coach Chip Pettit. "They were disruptive."
 

"Our quarterback did a real nice job of letting the game come to him," said Pettit, himself a CPHS quarterback in the early 90s. "After seeing him as a sophomore, you can tell from watching him tonight that the game slowed down for him and he wasn't just running himself into trouble."
 

Atherton clearly won the one-on-one match with Lowell's Cole Midgett, catching five passes for 134 yards. But truthfully, Lowell gambles that they can get to the QB because he can beat one-on-one coverage.
 

"When they brought nine men up near the line to take way our run," said Pettit. "We had to take what they gave us. If they'd have brought seven up, we'd have done something else. We had good balance tonight."