Week 1, NW Indiana HS Football: Lowell 19, Crown Point 0

Friday, Aug. 21, 2009, 68 degrees & cloudy, wet field, season opener at LOWELL, IN

1st Qtr: No Scoring.
2nd Qtr: LOWELL (6-0) Ray Skamay, 15-yard TD run. 80-yard drive, 15 plays. Bad snap on XP. 8:54 left.

LOWELL (13-0) Cole Midgett, 9 yard TD run. 15-yard drive, 3 plays after Jordan Juarez interception. Cole Midgett kick. 3:40 left.
3rd Qtr: LOWELL (19-0) Cole Midgett, 32-yard pass from Ray Skamay. 29-yard drive, 4 plays after short punt. Kick failed. 7:56 left.
4th Qtr: No Scoring.

RUSHING:
CROWN POINT (66 yards, 26 carries) Cody Bacon (HB) 7 caries, 42 yards; Chris Klein (HB) 12 carries, 24 yards; John Hannon (FB) 1 carry, 18 yards,
Joe Hopman (QB) 6 carries, (minus -18 yards) 3 sacks, minus -17 yards.

LOWELL (51 carries, 230 yards, 2 TDs) Brandon Grubbe (HB) 15 carries, 94 yards; Jordan Juarez (HB) 9 caries, 44 yards; Ray Skamay (QB) 14 carries, 46 yards;
Nate Cleveland (FB) 7 carries, 27 yards; Cole Midgett (HB-WR) 6 carries, 19 yards.

PASSING:
CROWN POINT: Joe Hopman (QB) 2-of-6, 14 yards, one Interception.
LOWELL: Ray Skamay (QB) 1-of-8, 32 yards, one TD, two Interceptions.

RECEIVING:
CROWN POINT: Travis Woosley (WR) 1 (-2 yards); Spencer Rapchak (FB) 1 catch, 8 yards;
LOWELL: Cole Midgett (WR) 1 catch, 32 yards, TD.

TURNOVERS:
CROWN POINT (1) interception; LOWELL (2) 2 interceptions.

FIRST DOWNS:
CROWN POINT (5); LOWELL (10)

Crown Points Steven Strong (94) warms up in front of Lowell's renovated scoreboard. The Devils now have a message board to talk to the fans during games. (All photos by Mark Smith)

Lowell trainer Bobby Wong talks to CP offensive coordinator Brett St. Germain before the game.

Senior wide receiver Jake Grah (83) reaches for some water while waiting with his Red Devil teammates for the start of the opening season game.

There was a lot of fraternizing with the 'enemy' before and after the game Friday, 08-21-2009.

Crown Point running backs Chris Klein (27), Mason Popovich (2), Cody Bacon (25) and Jake Vingua (26) get ready prior to the opening kickoff.

Lowell seniors Nate Cleveland (26), Tony DeMario (56) and Chad Ulanowski (62) pose with the Leather Helmet Trophy, won by Lowell 19-0 Friday night.

LOWELL (8-21-2009) It wasn't what you would call an exciting game, but it wasn't an upset.

"The offensive line needed to win this football game for us," said Crown Point coach Chip Pettit after his side lost 19-0 in the season opener at Lowell. "To come in here and beat them, we had to play perfectly on offense and we didn't."

"But that's a pretty good team over there."

That's probably what you take out of this game, the season opener on an unusually cool August night in front of about 3,000 fans in Lowell. The home town Red Devils didn't scare any of their future foes with a blistering display, especially on special teams, but they acted like they expected to win and they did.

"I just expected them (CP) to come out and be a solid football team," said Lowell's Nate Cleveland, who had double duty at fullback and linebacker. I didn't pay any attention to anybody saying they might be good or might not be good. I thought they were a solid team. Our conditioning paid off later in the game. We still had it and they looked a little gassed."

Crown Point had a chance to take the early lead after stopping Lowell on 4th-and-1 at the Lowell 44 yard line on the first possession of the game. Chris Klein ran for a first down and Joe Hopman, under pass rush pressure from Lowell's Joe Bell (6-4, 207), completed an eight yard toss on 4th-and-1 to Spencer Rapchak who got down to the Lowell 15-yard-line. But three runs by Cody Bacon gained just seven yards and Brett Bayer's 27-yard field goal was blocked by Nate Cleveland.

Lowell then drove 80 yards to take the lead with new QB Ray Skamay, halfback Brandon Grubbe and Cleveland alternating carries on a 15-play drive. Skamay ran an option play 15 yards for the first TD of the year with 8:54 left in the first half.

After an exchange of possessions, CP's Hopman dropped back to pass on 1st-and 10 from the Bulldog 15. Rushed hard again by Joe Bell (6-4, 207), this time, his hurried toss was intercepted by Lowell's Jordan Juarez who returned it to the CP 12-yard line. On 2nd-and-7 from the 9-yard line, the Devils' Cole Midgett ran a reverse off left tackle for a 9-yard TD just 3:40 minutes before halftime.

"That's an inverse," said Midgett of the play where Skamay and Grubbe begin a play to their right and the wingback (Midgett) comes back in front of the QB and heads left. The Lowell junior, whose brother Cody Midgett started for the Devils in 2008, scored untouched.

"Cody got that play a lot last year. We can run a fake off that, too."

Crown Point had some early success overloading one side of the line with a tight end and an extra receiver and running behind him. CP's Austin Atherton had a 58-yard kickoff return after Lowell's second TD, but the Bulldogs, with a 1st-and-10 at the Lowell 27 and then a 2nd and 2 at the 19 could not advance any further and gave the ball up on downs.

The third quarter was dominated by Lowell. Atherton bobbled the kickoff and Tony DeMario tackled him at the CP 9-yard-line. Three plays later, Spencer Rapchak's punt carried only to the CP 29-yard-line. On 4th and 13, Lowell's Skamay dropped back to pass and found Midgett all by himself down the visitor's sideline and the TD pass gave the Devils a 19-0 lead with 7:56 left in the third quarter.

"How'd I get that open on fourth down? I don't know, admitted Midgett. "Last year against Morton, we ran as 'flood' play (three receivers on one side) where we all crossed, and Jake Belt got open. This time the corner jumped the fade and I was open on the 'under' route."

You never got the impression that CP could comeback after that. Unofficially, Lowell held the Bulldogs to just 80 total yards with a defense that included few from last year's regional championship team. Senor Jay Trappani (6-4, 219) and linebacker Anthony DeMario (6-1, 194) were factors in stopping the running game while Bell and Cleveland made it difficult to throw.

When Brandon Grubbe had a solid collision on the field and had to sit down for a while to recover, Lowell used junior Jordan Juarez (6-1, 197) very effectively as a backup tailback through much of the second half.

"Juarez has been looking pretty good in practice," said Lowell coach Kirk Kennedy. "He's not the 'home run' threat that Grubbe is, but he's got a nice little cutback move and really that's more of what we want to do. Play defense with our offense and control the ball. The worst thing about a long run is that you have to kick off."

"We know we've got some holes to fill there," he said afterwards. "We just hoped it wouldn't cost us the game. Our defense gave us some great field position twice and we left those on the table. But with just four returning starters to come out of the gate like this is good."

"Cole Midgett is an athlete and he's going to have to grow into that role for us. When opponents have answers for us we're going to have to figure out other things and that's Cole. He's not a main guy, but he's a good secondary option."

The Bulldogs are working on their primary offensive options. Junior Austin Atherton had the long kick return and he's got speed enough so you have to worry about him. Junior Cody Bacon had some good runs at halfback. Another junior, Travis Woosley looks like he could be a reliable wide receiver and nobody knows how good Hopman is. He did not seem scared in his debut and he'll face a lot of teams that can't rush the passer like the Devils can.

"We didn't ask him to do a whole lot," admitted Pettit. "Coming in here, our line had to control the line of scrimmage. That was how we were going to win. You're not going to pull out a sophomore 'Q' (quarterback) in his first varsity start and have him run the whole deal. Our line needed to win this game and we weren't good enough there."

"We were going to run right at each other and they did it better than we did. If we don't improve by next week and we keep looking the same, then that won't be good. I'm disappointed because I thought we were capable of more."

"Hey, we just got beat by a better team tonight."

DEVIL NOTES: Lowell star Brandon Grubbe left the game after what appeared to be a blow to the head in the third quarter. Brandon sat on the bench for a while and then joined his teammates on the sidelines, but he never re-entered the game, in part because Lowell was leading 19-0. He did not appear to be significantly injured, but the truth is, a blow to the head is not serious only if it's not your head.

"He got dinged up," said coach Kennedy. "He'll be all right. You want to be careful. We'll evaluate it, but I think he'll be all right."

Cole Midgett said he isn't new to place kicking.

"I used to play soccer when I was little," he said. "So I kicked when I was a freshman and on the JV. But I didn't know tonight. I went up to coach during warm ups and I said, 'Do you want me or big Bobby (Pejoski) to do PATs. He said, I guess YOU have to do it.'"

The first extra point snap was a little wild, Midgett run over to get it and lateraled it to holder Ray Skamay who looked around and threw the ball towards a Lowell lineman in the end zone. The second PAT (point after touchdown) was perfect, but the third one wobbled to the right and was no good.

Kennedy likes the Lowell-CP game and his boys still take pride in winning the 'Old Leather Helmet' trophy, which was awarded to seniors Nate Cleveland, Tony DeMario and Chad Ulanowski after the game.

"It's a great football game," he said. "The schools, the communities. There's a lot at stake. I'm glad the weather held off and we were able to play before it rained. They're a great program. We're always proud to beat them."

SECOND THOUGHTS

LOWELL - Lowell's passing game should come along. Both interceptions were situations where you could throw the ball away. One was the next to the last play of the first half and the other was a fourth quarter fourth down play deep in CP territory with a 19-point lead. The new Lowell QB seemed much better throwing from the 'pocket' than he did on the run. Ray Skamay will be very productive running the ball because defenses (like CP) have to pay special attention to Brandon Grubbe and they can't ignore big fullback Nate Cleveland.

The Devils seem to be a long way from home on special teams. They were one of three in PAT conversion attempts and gave up a 53-yard kickoff return. Going into what could be a high-scoring Morton game, the Devils need every 'free' point they can get.

Lowell starters were: Ray Skamay (QB), backs Brandon Grubbe and Nate Cleveland, receivers Jake Grah, Cole Midgett and Joe Bell (TE). The linemen were Anthony DeMario (6-1, 194), guards Chad Ulanowski (5-10, 215) and Tyler Wright (6-4, 223) and tackles Dominic Rebesco (6-2, 215) and Luke Mitrisin (6-3, 281).

The defensive line included Ulanowski and Hayden at the tackles with Cleveland and Bell at the ends. The four starting linebackers were DeMario, Jordan Juarez, Jeff Harbrecht and Mike Sekuloski (6-3, 210). The defense perimeter included Cole Midgett and Steve Gartin on the corners and Jake Payton at safety.

CROWN POINT - The Crown Point offensive line, with the help of some power formations, looked good for about a quarter, but could not adjust when Lowell adjusted. Inexperience showed, but to be fair, few teams are going to successfully pass block Lowell defensive ends. The Bulldogs' receivers dropped more than one pass that could have been completed. CP was not that conservative, often calling early down pass plays in their own territory. The deciding factor was that after the first period, the Bulldogs, bigger than Lowell up front, were not stronger and more effective.

Defensively, linebacker Steve Perillo (6-1, 170) and Evan Wilson (5-7, 190) made key stops. Lowell truly had just one extended drive, the 80-yarder in the second quarter. The defense did seem to tire and that's a concern, because they'll see more experienced lines than Lowell had. CP also has to work on special teams. The blocked field goal early in the first quarter was a big play because the game was scoreless at the time. Crown Point shouldn't be discouraged by this game. The Bulldogs obviously did not deserve to win, but they were not embarrassed by a traditionally strong team on the road.

The Crown Point starters were: Joe Hopman (QB), Spencer Rapchak (H-back) and Chris Klein (TB) in the backfield with Travis Woosley and Austin Atherton at wide receiver and senior Conrad Kats at (6-2, 245) at tight end. The starting offensive live was anchored by Andrew Pals (6-1, 260) at center with junior guards Andrew Wrecsics (6-3, 270) and Mitch Kositzky (6-3, 260) and tackles Zach Breuckman (6-2, 230) and Alex Zagrocki (6-1, 255).

On defense, Steve Strong started at tackle with seniors Chris Shimley and Ben Cottrell at the ends. The five starting linebackers were juniors Joel Johnson, Evan Wilson and Jordan Jurasevich plus seniors Steve Perillo and Brad Pusateri.

The three-man secondary included seniors Steve Polacek and Tommy Renn on the corners and junior Scott Hannon (6-1, 165) at safety.

Team	1	2	3	4	F
CROWN POINT (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0
LOWELL (1-0)	0	13	6	0	19