Miller's 76-yard kickoff TD return secures Crown Point 30-13 win over Hobart

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Hobart (0-2)	0	6	0	7	13
CROWN POINT (1-1)	13	3	0	14	30

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003, 76 degrees in Crown Point

1st Q: CROWN POINT (7-0) Aaron Miller, 22-yard pass from Matt Cowan. Donny Keiser kick. 74-yard drive, 6 plays, 9:20 left.
CROWN POINT (13-0) Dave Swenson, 11-yard pass from Matt Cowan. Kick hit the left upright. 59 yards drive, 9 plays, 2:30 left.
2nd Q: HOBART (13-6) Marc Drobac, 2-yard run. Kick wide 63-yard drive, 5 plays, 4:16 left
CROWN POINT (16-6) Donny Kaiser, 37-yard field goal. 63 yards drive, 9 plays, :16 left.
3rd Q: No Scoring.
4th Q: HOBART (16-13) Tim Johnson, 1-yard QB sneak. 62-yard drive, 8 plays. 10:47 left.
CROWN POINT (23-13) Aaron Miller, 86-yard kickoff return. Donny Keiser kick 10:24 left.
CROWN POINT (30-13) Alex Derks, 9-yard pass from Matt Cowan. Donny Keiser kick. 29-yard drive, 9 plays, 6:34 left.

CROWN POINT (8-29-2003) - The 10-minute multicolored fireworks display over the south end of the field Friday celebrated Crown Point's victory in the Bulldogs first ever home football game at their new 68 million dollar school campus. Crown Point also hopes it signals the true beginning of the Bulldog's 2003 football season.

"This is awesome," said senior Dave Swenson," looking up at the candy colored exploding sparkles in the South Lake County sky. "I can't believe this. We just weren't going to lose this one. There was just no way."

Senior lineman Riste Jakimoski said "It goes down in history. I love it."

"This was awesome," said senior James Fastero as the big crowd roared to explosion after explosion. "This is the best thing we could ever have. To win with this crowd. The fireworks."

"We're just 1-1," smiled CP coach Chip Pettit, after his team pulled away from Hobart 30-13. "We've just played two games."

It seems like more. And not just for the football team. The entire 'new school thing'' has been a little stressful for everyone concerned and the pyrotechnics after the home opening victory seemed to symbolize a collective blowing off of steam after a long, hot week of practice and reflection.

"It was a tough week," said Pettit, after the 20-14 season-opening loss at Lowell, which came as a big surprise to a Bulldog team that fully expected to win. "It's hard to believe that when you work the year round for something that you can't get yourself ready to play on nine Friday nights and then again in the playoffs."

"I thought the emotion was there tonight that wasn't there in Lowell. And maybe it was the coaching. We challenged the kids. We challenged the seniors. And I'm pleased we took a step forward tonight. Now, we'll have to take another step forward (against undefeated Merrillville) next week."

The Bulldogs jumped to a 13-0 lead Friday and watched Hobart close within 16-13 before senior Aaron Miller, who is being counted on to be an offensive threat, grabbed a bouncing kickoff and rambled 87 yards to a clinching fourth quarter TD. Miller had a career night. The 6-foot-2, 180 pound receiver-defensive back, then intercepted a pass from Hobart QB Tim Johnson and returned it 20 yards to the Brickie 29.

Eight plays later, Matt Cowan's third TD pass of the game found senior end Ben Derks from nine yards out and it was all over for a Hobart team that should find success once they begin Lake Athletic Conference play this week.

"Our goal is to try to go undefeated at home," said McCormack, who is in his first year at Hobart after moving over from Andrean. "Try to win our conference and try to win our sectional. This game was of no consequence. Crown Point's a good football team. They're well coached and they are going to make some plays."

The foundation for CP's wIn came early when Miller, who caught seven passes for 103 yards, grabbed a short toss from Cowan (14-of-24 178 yards) and spun towards the sidelines at the Hobart 30-yard-line. Miller, a 200 and 400-meter runner in track, ran away from the defense to score the first TD ever at the new school just 2:40 into the game.

The Bulldogs then held Hobart without a first down and drove for another TD. Sophomore halfback Donny Keiser broke off right tackle for a 21-yard run to the Brickie 26-yard-line. Three plays later, Cowan tossed a short swing pass to Swenson, the Bulldogs 230-pound senior fullback who barreled into the end zone to make it 13-0.

Swenson said that the Bulldogs were calm before Friday's game, trying not to feel the pressure of a game they very much needed to win.

"We don't want to do any fake running around screaming," he said of the pre-game mood. "We just want to keep focused. We just need to come out ready every game. We have to find a way to do that."

Crown Point led 16-6 at the half as a Hobart's Marc Drobac (20 carries, 168 yards) TD was partially offset by Donny Keiser's first CP field goal, a 33-yard boot just 16 seconds before halftime.

Hobart appeared to take control in a penalty filled third period. Running behind 6-foot-4, 350-pound sophomore right tackle Adam Bailey, Hobart rumbled 71 yards in five plays before Miller's sack of Hobart QB Tim Johnson (5 of 13, 67 yards) stalled the drive and Andrew Martin missed a 30-yard field goal attempt with 8:40 left in the quarter. Later in the period, Hobart rolled 62 yards in eight plays to score on a quarterback sneak by Johnson with 10:47 left in the game.

But the kickoff went to Miller, who broke through the Hobart coverage at the right hashmark and accelerated down the sidelines for the game-clinching TD.

"He was great," said Pettit, who heard that the first TD was the biggest play of the night. "How about his kickoff return and his interception? Obviously, it's great to see. Hopefully, there's' much more to come."

Hobart coach Wally McCormack was understanding about what he saw on this night as well as what he saw during the Brickies' season opening 49-7 loss at Portage on Aug. 22. "We're still learning," McCormack said. "We've got a lot of young players and we'll get better."

"It's a long season," said Pettit. "If we improve week to week, we'll be okay. But right now, we're 1-for-2."

Of course that's right. Hobart's 0-2 and CP's 1-1 probably pale in the long run against the glow of opening night. They'll play Crown Point football out behind the new school for the next 50 years but it will change nothing that happened on a near-perfect first night.

"A lot of people worked very hard," said Pettit. "Our building and grounds crew. Our staff deserves a lot of credit for getting this ready because there's a lot of things in a new facility. Things that aren't even thought of have to get done. I thought this was a special night for Crown Point."

For now and forever.

DOG NOTES: Defensive end-tight end Adam Hilliard was injured blocking on Dave Swenson's first quarter TD and he had to be helped off the field. Athletic personnel are no longer allowed to give out the medical conditions of students but it was feared that Hilliard, who returned to the sidelines to cheer on his team, had a season-ending injury.

Short of some big kids smoking under the grandstand and little kids running around playing in some roped off areas, the standing room only crowd of about 5,000 to 5,500 on opening night was well-behaved and festive. The feared major traffic problems really never materialized and, considering the fact that the first night crowd was larger than the capacity (4,800) of the field, most fans seemed comfortable.
"Looks like the only problem we have now is to win the game," principal Ryan Pitcock said just before game time. The Bulldogs winning decisively also was a crowd control blessing. When the CP lead mounted to 30-13 with six minutes left, many Hobart fans headed for the parking lot, which eased the post-game traffic crush. The post game fireworks also kept CP people in the stands while Hobart followers cleared out.

"It's difficult," said Hobart coach Wally McCormack. "Because with all the things they do on offense, you spend all week working on their spread offense and their shotgun stuff. Plus they also have the ability to line it up and run at you. Portage is the same way. They throw 40 different formations at you and you never get to play your defense."

Crown Point gave up more than 150 yards rushing for the second week in a row. Hobart has now allowed 79 points in two season-opening road games.

The sellout crowd impressed everyone. CP is used to playing in front of a filled home grandstand but now that grandstand seats about 3,500 people.

"I feel like I'm in college," Swenson said. "This new field is awesome. It's got sand underneath it. The water just runs right off." The Bulldog field took about six hours of rain early Friday but none of it was visible in the humid, 70-degree atmosphere of game time.

CP's Dave Swenson played the the Bulldogs 21-20 victory over Hobart at the old Crown Point high school last September. In that game, CP also jumped to a two touchdown lead and fought off a Brickie rally. The similarity of the games was starting to bother the CP senior.

"I was freaking out," Swenson said, after the game. "It was almost the same score! We jumped out to a big lead and then we started to relax. Just like last year."

A week later, CP couldn't explain the loss to Lowell, a team which improved to 2-0 Friday with a 42-0 burial of Calumet. "I didn't play well," said Swenson of the Lowell game. A lot of the seniors didn't play well. We thought we were ready but we definitely were not."