Crown Point shuts out Indians on road, 27-0, now tops in DAC

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-16-2007

Friday, September 14, 2007,  65 degrees at PORTAGE, IN

1st Qtr:  No Scoring.
2nd Qtr: CROWN POINT (6-0)  Russell Chick, 1-yard run.  12-play, 60-yard drive.  Kick blocked. 7:50 left.
CROWN POINT (13-0)  Zach Cecich, 10-yard pass from Blake Mascarello.  Michael Lipton kick.  1:20 left.
3rd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (20-0)  Russell Chick, 3-yard run. 47 yard drive, 10 plays.  Michael Lipton kick. 4:10 left.
4th Qtr: CROWN POINT (27-0)  Russell Chick, 49-yard run. 80 yard drive, 9 plays.  Michael Lipton kick. 10:27 left.

RUSHING:
CROWN POINT: 46 carries, 188 yards, 3 TDs, 0 fumbles, Russell Chick (HB) 24-131, 2 TDs,  Michael Kozlowski (FB) 8-11;  Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 4-15;  Mason Popovich (HB) 7-34; Nate Haverstock (WR) 1-1; Blake Mascarello (QB) 2 (minus-5 yards);

PORTAGE: 34 carries, 98 yards, 0 TDs, 2 fumbles)   Albert Evans (HB) 19 carries, 74 yards; Charles Davis (HB) 6-35 yards; Vance Johnston (QB) 8-3 (3 sacks - 2- minus-12) 2 fumbles; Austin Orlich (HB) 1-1 yard..

PASSING:
CROWN POINT:  Blake Mascarello (QB) 5-7, 73 yards, one TD;
PORTAGE:  Vance Johnston (QB) 0-5,  one interception.

RECEIVING:
CROWN POINT:  Russell Chick (HB) 2-24 yards; Ron Burton (HB) 1-6 yards; Zach Cecich (TE) 2-43 yards, TD.

TOTAL YARDS:
CROWN POINT (261 yards, 12 first downs, 0 turnovers)
PORTAGE (98 yards, 8 first downs, 3 turnovers)

PORTAGE (9-14-2007) - The past two Crown Point high school football seasons have begun in a very strong fashion and had slight valleys before rising to great heights in the end.  This season, CP began slowly.  There were understandable doubts after a two-point win over Hobart 22-20 in week two and a three-point overtime win 20-17 over Merrillville in week three.

Doubts lessened significantly Friday night on the road after CP passed what was said to be a major test by blanking Portage 27-0 on the Indians' homecoming night in Porter County.

The Crown Point defense, which gave up key second half rushing TDs in the first two weeks, didn't give up anything Friday, as the Bulldogs took over first place in the Duneland Athletic Conference.  The running attack helped limit Portage's chances, but this was the Bulldogs' finest hour defensively.

CP's defense, led by senior end Nick Hladek, held all-state halfback Albert Evans to 74 yards on 19 carries and Indian QB Vance Johnston did not complete a pass.  Portage never advanced the football inside Crown Point's 40-yard-line.  The Bulldogs may not have expected a shutout, but they probably knew early on that it was a possibility.

"I knew they were a good team," said Anthony Stahl, who is one of Crown Point's five linebackers (actually six on this night) who held Portage scoreless.  "We are, too.  I just thought we'd play our hardest and see what happened."

What happened on this night was that Portage (2-3, 0-3 DAC) was in the game for a quarter and a half.  Crown Point drove 60 yards in 11 plays to take a 6-0 lead when Russell Chick scored from the one-yard line on a play that was set up by a 7-yard run from back-up QB Marcus Shrewsbury.  More than at any time so far this year, CP (4-1, 3-0 DAC) inserted Shrewsbury (6-0, 210) on first or fourth down to run out of the QB position.

Portage got three consecutive runs of 10 yards or more from Evans and junior Charles Davis.  But heading into a 15 mph wind, the Indians tried a fake punt on 4th-and-4 from the CP 40-yard-line.  Portage's Austin Orlach, lined up as a blocking back and took a direct snap, but barely got back to the line of scrimmage, leaving the score at 6-0, 4:30 before half-time.  Three minutes later, Portage was punting from its own 20 yard line when a high snap went over the head of Vance Johnson, the Portage QB and punter.  Johnston picked the ball up, but his line drive punt hit the back of blocker Sam Fazekas, popped up in the air and died at the Portage 10-yard line.

On Crown Point's first play, senior QB Blake Mascarello fired a quick pass across the middle to tight end Zach Cecich, who, running on an angle towards the goal post, reached behind his back and made a one handed catch to up the lead to 13-0 at the half.

The Bulldogs totally dominated the game after that.  CP's Nick Bruno intercepted Johnston on the fourth play of the second half and CP, which won for the fourth week in a row, drove 47 yards in 10 running plays.  Chick scored his second TD from three yards out with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

Portage quickly punted again and another long CP drive, 80 yards in 10 plays, ended with a 47-yard run by Chick, upping the score to 27-0 with 10:27 to go.  The third TD convinced a lot of Portage fans to head for the parking lot on a night where temperatures dipped into the mid-50s late in the game.  Portage averaged just 16 points a game in the first four weeks and they have still scored just 16 points total in the second half all year.

This was a good night for Chick, not only because the senior first year starter gained an unofficial 131 yards on 24 carries, but because he was able to sit out most of the fourth quarter, allowing sophomore backup Mason Popovich to gain 34 yards on seven carries in his varsity debut.

Chick, who has carried the ball 137 times in one half (assuming a minimum of 10 games) of a season, still seems a little surprised that he is running the ball so much and gaining 100 yards every time out.  The senior didn't get hit quite as often as he had in some earlier games, but that's all relative.  Running backs get hit a lot.

"The offensive line's been great," he said.  "They seem to take a lot of pride in me getting a lot of yards.  I knew it would be tough.  All the teams in the Duneland are pretty good this year.  I really didn't know I'd be doing this."

"We were all a little discouraged after the opening loss (23-14 at Lowell on Aug. 17), but we knew we had to pick it up and we knew we could."

"We really haven't had any doubts about Russell Chick all season," said coach Chip Pettit.  "He runs hard.  He made a great cut on that last score to pop out of there.  He's getting better with each carry, although he certainly has had a lot of them so far."

This was the fifth consecutive 100-yard game for Chick against five good defensive teams In Lowell (4-1), Hobart (4-1), Merrillville (4-1), Lake Central (4-1) and Portage, which had allowed less than 13 points a week before the CP game.

"I thought our offensive line wore them down.  This was a good win for us.  I thought when we took the ball in the third quarter and went down the field and scored against the wind (on 10 running plays), that was big."

Crown Point has gone out to a 4-1 start with a changing group of offensive linemen.  The Bulldogs have used senior Zach Brumm on both sides of the ball.  In week five, he was back on defense with Cody Blue, a 2006 offensive linemen, who CP originally converted to defense, before going back to the O-line.

"Cody Blue is back on offense in the right tackle spot and Zack Brumm is back on defense," confirmed Pettit, who considers Brumm a team leader.  "It worked well both ways tonight."

Pettit wasn't in high spirits after the game due to a serious-looking hand injury to linebacker-defensive end Nick Cottrell.  Junior Greg Schillo, who had been listed as a starter 
for the Lake Central game on Sept. 7, took Cottrell's place and did well.  The Bulldogs, who use a base formation that has three linemen, five linebackers and three defensive backs, have an abundance of linebackers.  But CP's defense isn't simple and to insert new people is always a cause of concern.

"To say we would not miss Nick is not accurate," said Pettit.  "But one of the advantages of being a 5A school is that you have a little depth.  Schillo has been knocking on the door (for playing time) and we expect Greg to step in and play well.  Injuries are part of the game."

Portage could not block the eight-man CP defensive front and Johnston could not complete passes behind the Bulldogs.  There was a feeling that CP had this game locked up after the score mounted to 20-0. 

The focus now changes.  CP had faced five predominantly running teams.  Now they see the high-powered passing attacks of Valparaiso (next week), Chesterton and Michigan City.  But with the Valparaiso's 28-20 win over previously undefeated Chesterton and with CP's shutout at Portage in what was supposed to be a close game, there's no doubt who the top dog is in the standings of the DAC at mid-season.

"They were pretty physical," said Chick of Portage.  "They hit hard.  I'll be sore tomorrow."

The Bulldogs will also be in first place tomorrow.

DOG NOTES:  This was the fourth consecutive victory for Crown Point over Portage and CP's 17th consecutive Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) win for the Bulldogs.  Portage owns 19 consecutive DAC games in 1994, '95 and '96.

Anthony Stahl is a returning regular for Crown Point, but not at the same position.

"I didnt play every game last year (at defensive back), but I basically split the time with (IU freshman) Matt Ernest.  I subbed in in every game," said Stahl.  "When they first told me I was moving to linebacker, I was a little skeptical.  But once I got in there and learned all about it, I loved it.  It's a lot more run defense and a lot more tackles.  I was ready for that."

Stahl plays the strong side linebacker who is required to not only be able to stop the run and rush the passer, but to cover wide receivers.  It's a perfect position for a converted defensive back.

Portgage continued to run the ball even late in the fourth quarter when they trailed 27-0.  The Indians were heading into the 15 mph wind in the final period.  Albert Evans' 39 yards on five carries came after CP led by four touchdowns and had inserted second string defenders.

The attendance at Portage was about 3,500 but it was not a capacity crowd in the 5,000-seat Portage stadium.  Maybe 500 fans came from CP.  Many in the crowd seemed surprised by how much the temperature dropped during the game.