Crown Point Bulldogs dominate Lake Central Indians in 27-6 DAC victory

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

9-11-2004

Friday, Sep. 10, 2004,  70 degrees, dry at Crown Point

1st Q:  Crown Point (7-0) Jon Sertich, 6-yard run (1^st career TD) Matt Ernest kick
71-yard drive, 8 plays - 6:46 left.
2nd Q:  Crown Point (13-0) Matt Ernest, 92-yard pass (3^rd TD catch) from Matt Jansen (5^th TD pass).
92-yard drive, 1 play – 8:10 left.

Crown Point (20-0) Brian Maloney 2-yard pass (1st TD catch) from Matt Jansen (6^th TD pass).
70-yard drive, 11 plays - :41 left.

3rd Q:  Crown Point (27-0) Jon Sertich, 2-yard run (2nd career TD). Matt Ernest kick.
67 yard drive, 9 plays – 7:43.
4th Q:  Lake Central (27-6) David Hoffmaster (2^nd TD catch), 40-yard pass from Steve Apostol (3^rd TD pass). 40-yard drive, 1 play – 4:49 left.

Game Statistics

CROWN POINT (9-10-2004) - The most misleading statistic involved with the 2004 Crown Point Bulldog football team after three games was not the 1-2 record or the 1-0 Duneland Athletic Conference record.   It was 39 points scored in 13 games. An average of 13 points per game. The current edition of Bulldogs might not be a 1-2 team and they probably are fortunate to be an undefeated DAC team.

But they certainly aren't a 13-points-per-game team.

“We shouldn't have lost to Hobart and Lowell,” said quarterback Matt Jansen, who completed a career best 17 of 22 passes for 295 yards in CP's 27-6 win over Lake Central Friday night. “Those are games we think we should have won. We kinda let them get away from us. We should be undefeated.”

The Bulldogs played like an undefeated team for a half. CP scored on three of their first four possessions, dominating their northwest neighbor on the way to an insurmountable 20-0 lead on their way to an easy win and a showdown with DAC superpower Portage (3-1, 1-1) in Crown Point next Friday.

“We had a couple of tough losses,” said coach Chip Pettit. “We played well tonight, but we did make some mental mistakes we won't be able to get away with later on. But we're 2-0 in the league and it's an exciting spot to be in. Portage is the one team we haven't beaten yet. It'll be a good game.”

Crown Point, coming off an upset of powerful Merrillville (3-1, 1-1), raced 74 yards in eight plays to score the first time they had the ball. Sophomore halfback Jon Sertich, who took the place of injured junior rushing leader Donny Keiser (knee injury), scored on a six yard run at the end of a drive where Jansen completed passes to three different receivers.

Lake Central, coming off losses to monsters Loyola Academy (3-0) and Portage, started very slowly with only three first downs in the first half. But Crown Point gave LC a major opportunity when a punt snap soared over Nick Soltis' head on the third play of the second quarter. Soltis got a weak punt off on the run, the ball was partially blocked and it rolled dead at the CP 25-yard-line.

But LC quarterback Steve Apostol was sacked twice in three plays, the second time by CP' defensive star Justin Sprehe back at the Bulldog 36. LC had to punt on 4^th-and 21 and Andy Muha's boot rolled dead at the Crown Point eight-yard-line. On the first play, Jansen faded back to the goal line behind top-caliber protection and lofted a soaring pass down the center of the field. CP's three-sport sophomore star Matt Ernest split two defenders, grabbed the ball and ran away form the LC defense for a 14-0 lead.

“He has the arm strength to make all the throws a quarterback has to make,” said Pettit of the play. “This was just his fifth varsity start. He's still a young player.”

CP iced the game before halftime with a 70-yard, 11-play drive against an already tiring LC defense. Consecutive 13-yard passes from Jansen to junior Tommy Isailovich followed by a 27-yard fade pass to Ernest down the home sidelines took the ball to the LC 4. On a 2^nd-and-8, Jansen, a 6-foot-2 lefthander, held the ball, again behind top protection, and hit a crossing Brian Maloney for the 20-0 TD with just 41 seconds left in the half.

The Bulldogs finished off the victory with a 67-yard drive starting the second half. Sertich's 2-yard run made it 27-0 with 7:43 left in the third quarter. LC scored in the late going on a 40-yard pass from Apostol to David Hoffmaster, but the game had been decided.

Pettit left Jansen on the field until the end. Not because he didn't think the game was in the win column but because he wanted the new QB to play.

“He needs to experience the whole realm of playing quarterback,” said Pettit. “We've had a couple of tough losses. He's still learning how to close out a game and play with a lead.”

The statistical highlight of the second half was Sertich, a 160-pound sophomore, breaking the 100-yard mark. The Bulldog offensive line with senior Steve Ellingsen (6-4, 280) and junior Marcus Robinson (6-2, 235) clearly won the battle at the line of scrimmage after the intermission.

“Jon's a good football player,” said Pettit. “Last week he played a lot on defense and this week he played well on offense. Jon's the kind of guy who would play well almost wherever you put him.”

The loss of Donny Kaiser, who is not expected back until next month at the earliest, took away CP's kickoff man, punter and tailback. Soltis averaged 30 yards on three punts, not counting the one he had to punt on the run after the bad snap.

Sophomore Mike Damjanovic handled kickoffs, although his distance was shorter than Keiser's. Ernest, who apparently can play most positions, was a shaky 3-of-4 on extra points. Truthfully, CP's kicking game is not as strong as it was with Keiser and that may show up down the line.

But the Bulldogs now try to scale Mount Everest. Not only has Portage defeated CP 13 times in the last 14 meetings (including twice last year), Crown Point has never had a winning record in the month of September in the 11 years they've been in the DAC. September has always meant Portage and Valparaiso, the league's two dominant teams over the past decade. But Crown Point may not accept the fact that they won't be favored to win these next two games.

“Big game next week,” said Jansen. “We can be 3-0 in the Duneland. That's big.”

CP NOTES:  The odd thing about junior Matt Jansen completing 23 passes to sophomore Matt Ernest in the first four games of the season is the fact that the two boys had never played together before this season. Not one game. Not ever.

“Not in football,” Jansen says. “He's in a different grade. But he was on our baseball team last spring and I got to know him. We got pretty close. He's awesome. He's so fast and tall and he can go up and get the ball. When he's in the the open field you have almost no chance of catching him.”

The second half was very anticlimactic with some of the 3,000 fans actually filing out after the third period. But that may have been because of a late summer onslaught of mosquitoes that hit football fields across northwest Indiana. The Bulldogs don't win so much that fans leave after three quarters on near-perfect weather nights.

Crown Point had a power failure on the athletic fields 24 hours before the CP-LC game. A DAC Thursday night soccer matchup between Chesterton and Crown Point had to be called at halftime because the soccer field lights would not go on. The trouble was a transformer fuse that blew. It was replaced and CP's lighting was 100% for the Friday football game.

Among at least eight boys in street clothes for LC on this night was senior linebacker Eric Mikolajczak (5-11, 215), who is scheduled to miss the entire season with a back problem. CP played without Donny Kaiser, 2003 starting linebacker Jordan Rhye, who is scheduled to make his 2004 debut next month after a pre-season shoulder injury, projected defensive line regular Kris Babic (6-2, 295), who reportedly will miss the entire year with a leg injury and junior lineman Brad Gertsch (6-2, 230). All four were in street clothes on the home sidelines Friday.

Crown Point's opening two losses to Lowell and Hobart didn't look so bad after four weeks. Hobart improved to 3-1 with a 10-7 win over Highland and Lowell got 502 yards rushing and advanced to 3-1 on the year with a 52-21 win over Morton.  Merrillville, a 7-3 loser to CP on Sept. 3, won at Portage 29-14 on Friday to up their record to 3-1.

According to the Sagarin computer rankings, Crown Point has played one of the top-40 schedules in the state. After four weeks, eight of Crown Point's nine 2004 opponents were at .500 or above.

CP's defense is not supposed to be a strong point, but maybe that judgment needs to be reevaluated. Lowell tailback Toby Goetz, who gained 150 yards against Crown Point, carried 22 times for 302 yards against Morton Friday. Merrillville's James Aldridge, who gained 120 yards against CP, carried 21 times for 208 yards in the win at Portage.

The last time Crown Point won three games in a row in September was 13 years ago when CP defeated Lake Central 21-7, Highland 27-0, Griffith 20-19 and Lowell 26-0 in September of 1991 when the quarterback was present-day CP coach Chip Pettit. Obviously that was prior to CP's entry into the tougher Duneland Conference.

The Bulldogs were 0-4 in September in 1997, 2000 and 2001. The victory over Lake Central gives CP an all-time series edge 23-22-1.

LAKE CENTRAL (1-3, 0-2 DAC)

(W) 50-6 South Bend Riley (0-4)

(L) 0-19 (Wilmette, Ill.) Loyola Academy (3-0)

(L) 7-35 Portage (3-1)

(L) 6-27 at Crown Point (2-2)

Sept. 17 - LaPorte (2-2)

Sept. 24 - at Michigan City (2-2)

Oct. 1 - Chesterton (3-1)

Oct. 8 - Merrillville (3-1)

Oct. 15 - Valparaiso (2-2)

CROWN POINT (2-2, 2-0 DAC)

(L) 15-25 Lowell (3-1)

(L) 17-21 at Hobart (3-1)

(W) 7-3 at Merrillville (3-1)

(W) 27-6 Lake Central (1-3)

Sept. 17 – Portage (3-1)

Sept. 24 – at Valparaiso (2-2)

Oct. 1 – at LaPorte (2-2)

Oct. 8 - Chesterton (3-1)

Oct. 15 – at Michigan City (2-2)

DUNELAND
ALL TIMES EASTERN STANDARD
	CONF.	PTS	OPP	ALL	PTS	OPP
Chesterton	2-  0	69	14	3-  1	116	53
Crown Point	2-  0	34	9	2-  2	66	55
Merrillville	1-  1	32	21	3-  1	123	34
Portage	1-  1	49	36	3-  1	127	66
LaPorte	1-  1	41	42	2-  2	72	87
Valparaiso	1-  1	59	36	2-  2	121	53
Michigan City	0-  2	9	86	2-  2	110	113
Lake Central	0-  2	13	62	1-  3	63	87

Friday, Sep. 3
Chesterton 48, Michigan City 0‡
Crown Point 7, Merrillville 3‡
LaPorte 27, Valparaiso 21, overtime‡
Portage 35, Lake Central 7‡
Friday, Sep. 10
Chesterton 21, LaPorte 14‡
Crown Point 27, Lake Central 6‡
Merrillville 29, Portage 14‡
Valparaiso 38, Michigan City 9‡
Friday, Sep. 17
Chesterton at Valparaiso‡, 7:00 pm
LaPorte at Lake Central‡, 7:00 pm
Michigan City at Merrillville‡, 7:00 pm
Portage at Crown Point‡, 7:00 pm

‡Conference game

Crown Point 27, Lake Central 6

Game Statistics

RUSHING:

CP --28 carries, 108 yards, 2 TDs; LC -- 27 carries, 104 yards

Jon Sertich (CP) 25 carries, 117 yards, 2 TDs
John Maida (LC) 13 carries, 87 yards

PASSING: 

Matt Jansen (CP) 17-22, 295 yards, 2 TDs
Steve Apostol (LC) 5-14, 151 yards, TD, one INT

RECEIVING: 

Matt Ernest (CP) 7 catches, 176 yards (season: 23-488 yards, 3 TDS)
Mike Smith (CP) 3 catches, 49 yards (season: 9-112 yards)
Tommy Isailovich (CP) 3 catches, 29 yards (season: 4-41 yards)
Brian Maloney (CP) 1 catch, 3 yards, TD (season: 10-123, TD)
Chris Wilson (CP) 2 catches, 20 yards)

David Hoffmaster (LC) 3 catches, 89 yards (season: 12- 308 yards, 2 TDs)
John Maida (LC) 1 catch, 31 yards
John Cabrera (LC) 1 catch, 31 yards

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Revised: September 11, 2004 .