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Portage turns out lights on Bulldogs in 31-3 Loss to Indians |
A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
9-21-2013
Portage's home field was alive for the first Friday night this season after four season-opening road games. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
Senior Zane Cecich (85) and kicker Evan Markowitz (4) help lead the Bulldogs out onto the field Friday night in Portage. |
CP senior Dakota Haniford (77) doesn't want Chris Russell (50) to get to Bulldog running back Tristan Peterson (2) early in Friday night's action. |
CP linebacker Brendyn McKinnon (47) makes sure he's onside before he charges into the Portage backfield Friday. CP's defense only allowed 2 TDs but Portage's defense scored two more themselves as Portage pulled away from CP 31-3. |
CP's defense, included Billy Bernhardt (3) and Rory Packard (24) try to be patient and wait for the light during the power failure Friday at Portage. |
Portage's Chris Russell (50) barely misses the tackle on CP quarterback Jake Jatis (7) early in Friday's Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) game in Porter County. |
Crown Point's Chris Dietrich (12) comes off the field after a late second quarter interception stopped a Portage drive. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
CROWN POINT (2-3, 0-3 DAC) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Portage (2-3, 1-2 DAC) | 0 | 14 | 0 | 17 | 31 |
Friday, September 20, 2013, 72 degrees at PORTAGE, IN
1st
Qtr: No
scoring.
2nd Qtr: PORTAGE (7-0) Cody Maldonado, 30-yard pass from
Gage Pearman. 83-yard drive, 10 plays. Time of possession (TOP) 2:22 min. Nate
Johnson kick. 3:00 left.
PORTAGE (14-0) Lorenzo Wells, 39-yard interception return of CP's
Jake Jatis' pass. Nate Johnson kick. 3:20 left.
3rd Qtr: CROWN POINT (3-14) Evan Markowitz, 28-yard field
goal.
47-yard drive, 8 plays. 3:25 TOP. 8:19 left.
4th Qtr: PORTAGE (21-3) Cameron Vaughn, 5-yard pass from
Gage Pearman. 72-yard
drive, 12 plays. Nate Johnson kick. 6:02 TOP. 10:38 left.
PORTAGE (28-3) Nate Johnson, 51-yard field goal. 22-yard drive, 9 plays. 5:15 TOP. 3:41 left.
PORTAGE (31-3)
Lorenzo Wells, 68-yard interception return of CP's Jake Jatis' pass. Nate
Johnson kick. 3:20 left.
RUSHING:
CROWN POINT (34 carries, 152 yards) Tristan Peterson (RB) 17-86 yards; Jesse
Martin (RB) 3-30 yards;
Tyler Downing (HB) 3-21 yards; Dexter Jones (RB) 2-18 yards; Wes Honaker (WR) 1-4
yards; Jake Jatis (QB) 5-(-7) yards.
PORTAGE (32 carries, 77 yards) Nathan Chery (RB) 26-66
yards; Gage Pearman (QB) 6-11 yards.
PASSING:
CP: Jake Jatis (QB) 4 of 13, 31 yards, 2 INTs; Artie Equihua (QB) 0 for 1, 0
yards.
Portage: Gage Pearman (QB) 12 of 21, 133 yards, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING:
CP: Jacob Kocher (WR) 3-20 yards; Morgan Kral (SE) 1-12 yards.
PORTAGE: Joe Roman (WR) 3-31 yards; Cody Maldonado (WR) 7-100 yards, TD; Cameron
Vaughn (TE) 1-5 yards, TD; Nathan Cherry (RB) 1-(-3).
TOTAL YARDS:
CP: 183 yards, 7 first downs, 2 interceptions, 0 fumbles.
PORTAGE: 230 yards, 13 first downs, 1 interception, 0 fumbles.
PORTAGE
(9-20-2013) Sometimes you have a good idea of how a football game is going
to end up. Last Friday at Portage was not one of those times. A scoreless time
late in the second quarter turned into a wonderful night of community sports
pride and fun in the cool autumn air. Unfortunately, all those blessing fell
upon Portage. Crown Point was the visiting team, riding home from Porter County
on the loser's bus after a 31-3 loss.
After four tough road games, the Indians (2-3, 1-2 DAC) got two touchdown passes
from senior quarterback Gage Pearman and two interception runbacks for
touchdowns by defensive back Lorenzo Wells to defeat CP for the first time in
four seasons.
Crown Point? I can't explain what's happening. After a fairly strong 2-0 start
and a narrow 14-13 home loss to powerful Merrillville, the Bulldog offense has
shut down, not scoring a touchdown for the last two weeks and giving up points
through turnovers.
Coach Kevin Enright obviously feels his team can get back to the level they
played at the first two weeks.
"Teams go through adversity like
this and we have done some stupid things out there," he said on the way to the
bus Friday. "We've just got to get better."
The game was a lot of fun for Portage. With four minutes left in the second
quarter, the stadium lights went out and the fans sat in varying degrees of
darkness for about 20-minutes. The power came back on very quickly but stadium
lights in most places take 10-15 minutes to re-boot once they are turned off.
So, as the Public address system played music, kids pulled out their cell phones
and waved them in the air like they were candles at some hippie rock concert.
Two plays after the power came back on, Pearman tossed a 30-yard TD pass to Cody Maldonado to start the scoring. On the next play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Wells grabbed a deflected pass and raced 39 yards for a 14-0 lead. Two touchdowns in 12 seconds.
"We've been on the road for a month," said a happy Portage coach Wally
McCormack. "When the lights went out, we all looked at each other and said,
'What are you going to do?'"
"We need a win. It's tough to look them (the players) in the face and say
'you're getting better,' 'you're getting closer,' if you finally push that rock
over the hill. At least for tonight, we were able to get it done. But you know
how it is in this league; everybody is good. We'll enjoy it tonight and then
start getting ready for Chesterton."
Crown Point, which gained 198 total yards, moved the ball only at the start of
the third quarter when senior Jake Kocher ran the kickoff back 32 yards to the
Portage 43-yard line. A 13-yard run by Wes Honaker and two 10-yard runs by
Peterson move the ball to the 14. But two runs and a pass gained just four yards
and Evan Markowitz came on to slice a 28-yard field goal barely inside the goal
post early in the third period. But the next time CP had the ball, they
committed a holding penalty, had to call two time outs and punted after three
plays.
Late in the third quarter, Portage drove 71 yards to take a 21-3 lead as Pearman
completed 4-of-5 passes including a 5-yarder to a wide open fullback Cameron
Vaughn in the end zone with 10:38 to go in the game. CP failed on a 4th-and-5 at
their own 45 with 8:35 left. Portage then ran the ball seven times with Nate
Cherry (5-11, 170) and kicked a 41-yard field goal using strong footed senior
Nate Johnson.
On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, CP quarterback Jake Jatis, who was
just 4-of-13 for 28 yards (he was sacked twice) overthrew a receiver into the
hands of Wells (5-9, 155) who raced down the visitors sidelines for the fourth
Portage TD and the 31-3 advantage.
"He's so valuable for us," McCormack said of Wells. "We'd like to play him at
running back or wide receiver but we can't. He's too valuable to us on defense.
He matches up with the other team's best receiver."
"We started two sophomores and two juniors on the offensive line tonight against
a really good front. Their interior is very, very good. You look at the points
they (CP) have given up. Seven to Mishawaka. Two TDs to Merrillville. Two short
field cheap ones to Lake Central."
"They (CP's defenders) don't give up a lot and I thought our guys up front did a pretty god job to keep them off of us."
The Bulldogs, who punted five times in the first half, have looked bad for two
weeks now and CP, despite a good night running from Tristan Peterson (17
carries, 94 yards), just doesn't act like they can make the plays on offense
they made the first two weeks. The problems may be more mental than physical and
the only good news is that the sectional playoffs don't start for another month.
The Bulldogs have time to get themselves straight and it will be good to have a
home game, next Friday (Sept. 27) against Valparaiso (3-2, 3-0 DAC).
"Anytime you go through adversity it can make you stronger," Enright said. "You
find out what kind of character you've got. Players and coaches. All the way
down the line."
DOG NOTES: Crown Point did not score a TD in consecutive games for
the first time since 2009. They also have now lost three in a row for the first
time since 2009. CP played without linebacker Rory Packard and safety Billy
Bernhardt, who may both have been injured. The Bulldogs have not appeared to
suffer any major injuries on offense. They have shuffled a couple of linemen,
but the skill position players are almost exactly the same (with the addition of
junior Wes Honaker on certain plays) as they were in the season opener.
Coach Wally McCormack, who coached
Andrean to the Class 3a state finals in 2002, said it's tougher in the big
school Duneland Athletic Conference.
"I was fortunate enough to have a great team when I came in at Andrean," he
recalled. "And sometimes when you're a young coach, you think that's what is
supposed to happen."
"Football is a different animal. A loss sucks because it sucks for seven days.
In other sports, you play the next night. A loss stays with you all week. When
you win, you celebrate for about four hours and then you start worrying about
the next team."
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DUNELAND ATHLETIC | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ALL TIMES CENTRAL | ||||||
Conf | Pts | OP | AG | Pts | OP | |
Lake Central | 3- 0 | 62 | 15 | 4- 1 | 95 | 42 |
Merrillville | 3- 0 | 101 | 39 | 4- 1 | 174 | 80 |
Valparaiso | 3- 0 | 62 | 34 | 3- 2 | 79 | 104 |
Chesterton | 2- 1 | 84 | 72 | 3- 2 | 136 | 108 |
Portage | 1- 2 | 56 | 46 | 2- 3 | 76 | 85 |
Crown Point | 0- 3 | 16 | 68 | 2- 3 | 62 | 87 |
Michigan City | 0- 3 | 47 | 108 | 2- 3 | 159 | 122 |
LaPorte | 0- 3 | 40 | 86 | 0- 5 | 68 | 161 |
Friday, Sep. 20 | ||||||
Lake Central 27, LaPorte 7 | ||||||
Merrillville 56, Michigan City 9 | ||||||
Portage 31, Crown Point 3 | ||||||
Valparaiso 21, Chesterton 14 | ||||||
Friday, Sep. 27 | ||||||
Chesterton at Portage, 7 pm | ||||||
LaPorte at Merrillville, 7 pm | ||||||
Michigan City at Lake Central, 7 pm | ||||||
Valparaiso at Crown Point, 7 pm | ||||||
Friday, Oct. 4 | ||||||
Lake Central at Chesterton, 7 pm | ||||||
LaPorte at Crown Point, 7 pm | ||||||
Merrillville at Valparaiso, 7 pm | ||||||
Portage at Michigan City, 7 pm | ||||||
Conference game |
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Revised: September 22, 2013
.