10-04-2009

Friday, October 2, 2009,  52 degrees & light rain, Duneland Athletic Conference at CROWN POINT, IN.

1st Qtr:  CROWN POINT (7-0)  Joe Hopman, 20-yard run.  73-yard, 8-play drive.  3:49 time of possession (TOP).  Brett Bayer kick.  5:37 left.
2nd Qtr:  LaPORTE (3-7) Nick Santana, 27-yard field goal.  70-yard, 18-play drive.  10:13 TOP.  7:20 left.
3rd Qtr:  LaPORTE (10-7) Simmie McGruder, 24-yard run on second play following fumble recovery of 2nd half kick-off.  TOP 0:34.  Santana kick.  10:56 left.
CROWN POINT (14-10) Mason Popovich, 16-yard run.  76-yard, 8-play drive.  3:44 TOP.  Bayer kick.  7:16 left.
LaPORTE (17-14) Dustin DeMuth, 80-yard run.  90-yard, 4-play drive. 2:19 TOP.  Santana kick.  1:34 left.
4th Qtr:  CROWN POINT (21-17) Mason Popovich, 9-yard run.  87-yad, 5-play drive.  2:14 TOP.  Bayer kick.  11:15 left.
CROWN POINT (27-17) Mason Popovich, 15-yard run.  59-yard, 9-play drive. 5:07 TOP.  (Kick blocked)  3:29 left.

STATISTICS

 RUSHING:
LaPORTE (40 carries, 246 yards, 2 TDs, 1 fumble) Nick Latchford (RB) 15-78 yards, Simmie McGruder (RB) 10-53 yards, TD;
Dustin DeMuth (QB) 6-87 yards, TD; Andrew Schuelke (RB) 5-19 yards, Kyle Hartson (QB) 2-0 yards, Emmerson Cooper (WR) 1-7 yards, Max Kessler (DL) 1-2 yards. 
LaPorte Total Net Yards Rushing: 207.

CROWN POINT (38 carries, 302 yards, 4 TDs, 1 fumble) Mason Popovich (RB) 27-236 yards, 3 TDs; Joe Hopman (QB) 9-62 yards, TD; Pete Parks 1-0 yards, fumble.
Crown Point Total Net Yards Rushing: 292.

PASSING:
LaPORTE -  Dustin DeMuth (QB) 3-4, 33 yards, 2 sacks (-17 yds loss)
Kyle Hartson (QB) 4-5, 37 yards, 2 sacks (-15 yds loss);
LaPorte Total Net Yards passing: 70.

CROWN POINT - Joe Hopman (QB) 1-2, 12 yards, 1 sack.
Crown Point Total Net Yards Passing:  12.

RECEIVING:
LaPORTE - Emmerson Cooper (WR) 3-30 yards, Scott Vaughn (TE) 2-17 yards. 
CROWN POINT - Pete Parks (RB) 1-12 yards.

TOTAL YARDS:
LaPORTE (277 net yards, 13 first downs and 5 turnovers)
CROWN POINT (304 net yards, 15 first downs and 2 turnovers)

TURNOVERS:
VALPARAISO (5) 1 fumble; CROWN POINT (2) 2 fumbles.

CROWN POINT (9-25-2009) -  Both the visiting LaPorte Slicers and Bulldogs came into Crown Point's Homecoming game Friday with questions following their respective blowout losses the week before (LaPorte 31-0 to Merrillville and Crown Point 56-21 to Valparaiso).  In addition, both teams knew coming into the game that two days of rain would make the artificial Field Turf surface slick and that the passing game would likely be negligible.  But what most everyone did not know, was that on this night, both teams would hold the lead on two separate occasions and that the Bulldogs' Mason Popovich would carry the home team to victory with an impressive 236 rushing yards for three touchdowns en route to a 27-17 Homecoming win on a cool rainy night.

LaPorte has struggled on the road in recent years, and the Bulldogs' defense shut down the Slicers to four downs and out on their first possession.  Crown Point put together a nice drive on their first possession, driving 87-yards in 8 plays, which was capped by sophomore quarterback Joe Hopman's 20-yard TD run with 5:37 left in the first quarter.  Brett Beyer connected on his first of three Point after touchdown conversion kicks for a 7-0 Bulldogs lead.

LaPorte then responded with a very long and impressive drive featuring the running of junior running back Nick Latchford, who would finish with 15 carries for 78-yards before leaving the game in the second quarter with what was described as a high ankle injury.  The 18-play, 70-yard drive by the Slicers began in the first quarter and extended into the second quarter, but had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Nick Santana.  That was due in part to an ill-timed off-sides penalty by LaPorte, but perhaps more so, an 8-yard quarterback sack by the Bulldogs' senior linebacker Steve Perillo, the first of three sacks on the night.

In fact, Perillo was instrumental in ending a late second quarter Slicers' scoring threat when he sacked LaPorte quarterback Dustin DeMuth on 4th and 24 situation at th Crown Point 27-yard line.  Perillo has a strong game for the Bulldogs, as he recovered a Slicers' fumble to end a third quarter drive and eventually set up field position for a later score by the Bulldogs.  Perillo also was involved in the tackle that took Demuth out of the game late in the fourth quarter, when the Slicers's quarterback attempted to leap over a defender, and Perillo reached up to grab DeMuth's ankle, and he came down hard, knocking the wind out of him with 2:18 left in the game.

But... I'm getting ahead of myself.  The second quarter ended with Crown Point holding on to a well-deserved, but slim, 7-3 lead.

The second half actually opened with LaPorte kicking off to Crown Point, but the kick-off was fumbled by Crown Point's usually sure-handed kick returner Austin Atherton, and LaPorte took over at the Bulldog 28-yard line.  On the second play from scrimmage, LaPorte's Simmie McGruder -- filling in for the injured Nick Latchford, scored on a 24-yard touchdown run and the Slicers took their first lead of the night 10-7 with 10:56 left in the third quarter.

Crown Point again responded to the challenge and proceeded to march 76-yards down the field in 8-plays, which was capped by senior running back Mason Popovich's first of three second half touchdowns with 7:16 left in the third quarter.

The lead was short-lived however, as LaPorte quarterback Dustin DeMuth put on a remarkable demonstration of a spin-move and change of direction as he ran 80-yards mostly untouched straight up the field for another go-ahead touchdown and 17-10 lead.  The four-play, 90-yrd drive took just 2:19 minutes off the third quarter clock.

But Crown Point also demonstrated the ability to score quickly.  On the third play of the next drive, a 2nd-and-13 situation, Popovich burst through the lines for the longest run of his career, a 76-yarder down to the Slicers' 11-yard line.  Two plays later he was in the end zone, following a 9-yard run.  Bayer's PAT made the score 21-17 with 11:15 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs forced LaPorte to go 4-and-out and took over on the CP-41 yard line after an 11-yard Austin Atherton punt return.  Crown Point proceeded to march 59-yards in 9-plays for Popovich's third TD from 15-yards out with 3:29 left in the game to effectively put the game on ice with a 27-17 lead.

LaPorte's was forced to throw the ball in a clock management mode in their final drive, and that is where most of the Slicer passing statistics came from.  But again, it was a Steve Perillo sack, this time of back-up quarterback Kyle Hartson on 4th-and-20 that turned the ball over to Crown Point with 1:02 left.  The Bulldogs' QB Joe Hopman took a knee two times to run out the clock.

DOG NOTES:  Crown Point sophomore place-kicker Brett Bayer's fourth PAT attempt was blocked by LaPorte's offensive lineman Trevor Sales (6-1, 280), and was only the second missed point after touchdown kick of the season.  Bayer is now 14 of 16 (.875) and 1 of 2 on field goal attempts (made - 27, missed - 27). 

Bulldog fans who remember the 2006 Regional championship game with the Slicers at LaPorte (LaPorte won in overtime, 28-21) may also remember the full-house backfield formation the slicers used with big fullback Darren Kincaid, and twin running backs Airrence Shark and Carlton Austin.  This year the Slicers are doing it again, this time with junior Max Kessler (5-8, 209), who is listed on the roster as a defensive lineman (and who indeed plays on the defensive line), but who also serves as a lead blocking back most of the time for Nick Latchford (110 carries, 756 yards, 9 TDs), and alternating running backs Simmie McGruder (5-5, 150), a junior and sophomore Andrew Schuelke (6-0, 181).  While quarterback DeMuth is a senior and will have graduated by the 2010 season, the back-up junior quarterback Kyle Hartson was effective Friday night in limited, late fourth-quarter duty.

With the win, Crown Point improves their season record to 3-4 and 2-3 in the Duneland Conference.  LaPorte drops to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the DAC. 

In other conference games, Merrillville defeated Valparaiso 35-7 as Denzel Pierce had 60 yards rushing on 11 carries and three touchdowns for the Pirates.  Unfortunately for Valparaiso, one of their star running backs, Nick Thompson went down with an apparent leg injury in e third quarter following a tackle by the Pirates senior James Travis.  Thompson, who had run for nearly 200-yards and 4 TDs the previous week at Crown Point, did not return the game. 

Chesterton won their homecoming game 40-7 over Lake Central, as Trojans quarterback Jon Watson ran for three scores and threw an 17-yard TD pass to Andrew Bobrowski.  Watson, Taylor Brown and Dan Jensen combined for 234 rushing yards and three pass completions for 74 yards.  The Bulldogs travel to Chesterton for their next game on Friday, October 9th.

Portage defeated Michigan City 21-19 in a classic slugfest at Ames Field Friday night as Jake Dixon ran for 172 yards and all three Indians' touchdowns.  The Wolvs played without regular starting quarterback Rodney Washington, who was out with an injured shoulder.  Sophomore Joel Hirsch filled-in at QB and threw for 145 yards and a toucdown.  Senior running back Adam Harmon finished with 257 yards rushing for Michigan City.  Michigan City will be Crown Point's week-9 opponent in the regular season finale at Bulldog Stadium.

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Revised: October 04, 2009 .