Keiser's extra point the margin in Bulldogs' 17-16 win over rival Lake Central in key DAC showdown

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team	1	2	3	4	F
CROWN POINT (3-1)	0	10	0	7	17
Lake Central (1-3)	0	3	13	0	16

Friday, Sept. 12, 2003, 71 degrees in St. John

1st Q: No Scoring.
2nd Q: CROWN POINT (7-0) Justin Sprehe, 2-yard pass from Matt Cowan.
Donny Keiser kick. 47-yard drive, 10 plays, 7:48 left.
LAKE CENTRAL (7-3) Andrew Lawrence, 29-yard field goal.
33 yards drive, 10 plays, 2:30 left.
CROWN POINT (10-3) Donny Kaiser, 29-yard field goal.
20-yard drive, 6 plays, :00 left.
3rd Q: LAKE CENTRAL (10-10) Jon Maida, 3-yard run. Andrew Lawrence kick.
75 yards drive, 10 plays, 7:15 left
LAKE CENTRAL (10-16) Jon Maida, 42-yard run. Kick wide.
72 yards, 5 plays, 3:07 left.
4th Q: CROWN POINT (17-16) Donny Keiser, 22-yard run. Kaiser kick.
42 yards, 2 plays, 6:02 left.

St. John (9-12-2003) - Crown Point has won three of four games with the only loss coming on the road at undefeated Lowell (4-0). CP is not quite as capable as that resume would indicate. But it sure is fun to watch them.

In a roller-coaster game that again found the Bulldogs trailing in the fourth quarter, Crown Point got a 22-yard run from halfback Donny Keiser with 6:02 to play to stay in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) pennant race with a 17-16 victory over neighbor Lake Central.

In a game where the Bulldogs simultaneously made enough mistakes to lose and enough big plays to win, an injury-weakened CP defense got a fourth down sack, a fumble and a pass interception in the final six minutes to leave the luckless home team just one point from victory.

"I'm getting way too old for this," said line coach Mark Reid.

"I'm not sure we're a good team," said head coach Chip Pettit. "But I thought it was a gutsy effort. To come from behind on the road and get the win. I'm proud of them."

"I can't fault our effort," said LC coach Scott Freckelton, who saw his team drop out of the race for first place in their debut season in the DAC. "We just needed to make one more play."

Trailing 16-10, CP gave up the ball when Keiser missed a 37-yard field goal with 9:13 to play. On second down, Lake Central, which came in off consecutive losses to Chicago suburban power Loyola (3-0) and DAC leader Portage (4-0), drew consecutive holding penalties that pushed the ball back to the LC 3-yard-line. The second penalty wiped out a 42-yard completion form LC quarterback Dale Murzyn (8-22, 136 yards) to junior receiver David Hoffmaster (5 catches, 110 yards) that would have pulled LC to midfield. Two plays later, Andrew Lawrence's' punt rolled dead at the LC 42-yard line.

Cowan immediately hit a 20-yard crossing pattern to Mike Smith and Keiser scored on a 22-yard run off left guard and tackle on the next play to give the Bulldogs the lead.

"I thought that the left side of our line, Corey Bush and Steve Ellingsen dominated the fourth quarter," said Pettit.

Crown Point (3-1, 2-0 DAC), which plays at DAC leader Portage (4-0, 2-0) next Friday, fumbled three times. On the second play of the game, on their own 45 with 9:32 left in the game, and on the LC 30-yard-line with 3:24 left in the game. All three fumbles should have killed them but didn't.

The Bulldog defense grabbed four LC turnovers, but if senior defensive tackle James Fastero didn't have a hand in two QB sacks in the final two minutes, Lake Central would have spent the post game minutes talk about how much character they had shown.

But Crown Point rallied in the final four minutes and hit a two-point conversion pass just seven days earlier to beat Merrillville 23-22. Add that to two overtime victories in 2002 and the Bulldogs seemed well-suited to pull out these last season showdowns.

"It does give you a little more confidence," said senior receiver Aaron Miller, who caught 10 passes to stay among the state leaders in receiving. "And your confidence is what gets you through. What it comes down to is one more play. All the time. One more play."

Pettit added, "I think we've got some experience and we're confident in this kind of a situation."

Pettit wouldn't mind if CP spent less time in that situation. It didn't have to happen Friday because CP led 10-3 at the half. On a 3rd-and-16 from the LC 19-yard line in the first minute of the third quarter, Murzyn escaped the rush and found Hoffmaster for a 42-yard gain behind the CP defense. That started a 75-yard drive that ended with the game tied 10-10 after back-up halfback Jon Maida (6-2, 195) scored on a 3-yard run.

The Indians dominated the third quarter, running wild on the option as Lowell did in the second half against CP in a 20-14 victory in Lowell on Aug.22. After a short CP punt, the Indians reached the end zone in five plays including a 42-yard TD run on an option pitch with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

Crown Point drove 57 yards on 13 plays but a 10-yard TD pass from Cowan to Miller was called back on an offensive pass interference penalty and Keiser missed the 37-yard field goal.

Late in the fourth quarter LC's Murzyn and CP's Keiser fumbled on consecutive plays to keep the crowd of about 1,500 in an uproar. On 4th-and-13 at the Lake Central 27 with 1:58 left, Fastero and junior defensive end Justin Sprehe (6-3, 190) sacked Murzyn at the line of scrimmage. After CP ran Lake Central out of time outs, the Bulldogs tried a 4th-and-8 from the LC 25. Cowan scrambled into the clear but fell down by himself one yard short of the first down.

LC's Murzyn hit three consecutive passes gaining 41 yards to the Bulldog 41 but CP finally stopped them. The crucial play was a wide side 'fade' pattern to Hoffmaster at the Bulldog 20-yard-line that Miller leaped high to knock away.

"Miller made a great play," said Freckelton. "If he doesn't get that, Lawrence kicks the game winning field goal from there. He's good from 40 yards in. Even with those penalties, one more pass and we win. We were about 15 yards away. The way we were going that was one more pass."

The Bulldogs have responded from the 20-14 loss to Lowell on opening night to beat three decent teams.

"I think we've gotten better week to week," said Pettit. "Good football teams have to overcome adversity like this. I'm not sure we're a good football team yet but we're getting to that point. Guys get injured but if we get other guys to step up, we'll be okay."

But will Crown Point be 'OK' next Friday (Sept.19) when they travel to Portage, a team that has beaten all four foes by 17 points or more? Portage crushed Crown Point 40-3 in the 5A Sectional One semifinals last November.

"It's going to be a lot closer than that this time," said Miller. "We'll give them a run for their money."

Week 4 scores in NW Indiana

DUNELAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (DAC)
Portage (4-0, 2-0) 24, MERRILLVILLE (2-2, 0-2) 7
Chesterton (3-1, 2-0) 42, LaPorte (1-3, 1-1) 23
Valparaiso (2-2, 1-1) 42, Michigan City (2-2, 0-2) 7
CROWN POINT (3-1, 2-0) 17, LAKE CENTRAL (1-3, 0-2) 16

LAKE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (LAC)
ANDREAN (4-0, 2-0) 42, Hammond (0-4, 0-2) 0
Munster (4-0, 2-0) 49, Griffith (1-3, 0-2) 42 (OT)
Hobart (2-2, 2-0) 16, Highland (2-2, 0-2) 14
LOWELL (4-0, 2-0) 42, Morton (2-2, 0-2) 7

DOG NOTES: Lake Central outgained Crown Point unofficially 295-236 and had six more (18-12) first downs. Dave Swenson grabbed his first career interception when Dave Metsch sacked Dale Murzyn with a hard rush. Aaron Miller grabbed his second interception of the season in the final minute to end LC's last threat. Miller grabbed a game-clinching interception late in the Hobart game on Aug. 29.

Defensive end-tight end Adam Hilliard says that he is not totally out for the year, as was earlier reported here. "I know I'm not out for the year," Adam said Friday. "I'll be back for the Valparaiso game." Hilliard has a knee that will require surgery but he could play with a brace.

It is not known whether Crown Point has ever won two consecutive games by one point. It has not happened in, at least, 16 years. In 1998, the Bulldogs beat Lake Central 28-27 on Oct. 4 and then beat Chesterton 35-33 on Oct. 11.

The crowd was disappointing at Lake Central. On what turned out to be a clear, dry night after some late afternoon rain, less than 2,000 fans showed up at Lake Central.

Crown Point had played before crowds of 4,000+ in each of their first two home games and it was hoped that many of those and would take the 10-minute drive to LC.

"I think the rain held the crowd down," said LC athletic director Mark Peterson.

Crown Point lost senior two-way tackle Mark McInerney (6-2, 305) to a knee injury in the second quarter and he hoped his fate would not be the same as Hilliard. McInerney would be a big loss in more ways than one.

"They just don't know yet", Pettit says. "Big Mac's our leader in there. But you know what. They (LC) lost their tailback (Ryan Goodman) and they played without their middle linebacker (Demetri Doukas) . The have a wide receiver (state track finalist Brian Kaluf) who has been out all year. It's football. Injuries happen. Marcus Robinson (6-2, 235) came in at tackle and Riste (Jakimoski) went to guard. That was big for us. Sure it was."

"Kaluf's out for the year," said Freckelton. "Goodman's out for the year with an ACL. Doukas will probably be back next week. It's a credit to the guys who stepped in.

Aaron Miller ended his fourth game of the year with 35 catches for 440 yards, the top total in northwest Indiana. CP quarterback Matt Cowan improved his number to 57 of 96 for 654 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.

The combined record of the three teams Lake Central has lost to is 10-1."The only consolation is that we played hard," said coach Scott Freckelton. Lake Central's state finalist softball and baseball teams were honored at halftime. The last time CP won at LC was September of 1995 when the Bulldogs held on for a 14-7 victory in a game that was delayed 45 minutes at halftime by a bomb threat that cleared the stadium.