Bulldogs dominate Indians in 31-14 DAC win, go to 4-0

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-09-2006

Friday, September 8, 2006,  78 degrees, dry at Crown Point, DAC

1st Qtr:  CROWN POINT (7-0) Tommy Parks, 1-yard run.  91-yard drive, 8 plays.  Michael Lipton kick 5:31 left.
CROWN POINT (14-0)  Blake Mascarello, 20-yard run.  44-yard drive, 4 plays.  Lipton kick.
2nd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (21-0)  Tommy Parks, 1-yard run.  83-yard drive, 10 plays.  Lipton kick.
3rd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (24-0)  Michael Lipton, 29-yard field goal.  63-yard drive, 8 plays.  8:28 left.
4th Qtr:  CROWN POINT (31-0)  Matt Ernest, 34-yard TD pass from Blake Mascarello.  1 play, 35 yards after Matt Osojnicki recovered Austen Macek's fumble at the LC 30.  11:33 left.
LAKE CENTRAL (31-7)  Joe Wingis, 30-yard pass from PJ Gbur.  55-yard drive, 9 plays.  Scott Spicer kick.  7:31 left.
LAKE CENTRAL (31-14)  Austen Macek, 98-yard punt return.  Spicer kick.  1:32 left.
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GAME TOTALS (Unofficial Numbers)

TOTAL YARDAGE:
CROWN POINT 387,  LAKE CENTRAL 237

RUSHING:
LAKE CENTRAL (30-118 yards, 0 fumble, 0 TDs)  Tony Morang (HB) 9-10  yards, PJ Gbur (QB) 8-39 yards; Anthony Moore (HB) 5-30 yards;
  
CROWN POINT (32-150 yards, 3 TDs, 0 fumbles)  Jon Sertich (HB) 16-63 yards, Tommy Parks (FB) 5-20 yards, Ryan Forney (WR) 2-39 yards,
Blake Mascarello (QB) 2-20 yards, Even Nikrin (FB) 2-8 yards, Nick Bruno (HB) 3-2 yards; Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 2 (-2 yards).

PASSING:
LAKE CENTRAL -  PJ Gbur (QB) 11-19, 72 yards, one TD; Corey McNulty (QB) 2-3, 21 yards,
CROWN POINT -  Blake Mascarello (QB) 12-18, 237 yards, TD, 0 INTS;

RECEIVING:
LAKE CENTRAL - Joe Wingis (WR) 6-66 yards, TD, Austen Macek (WR) 4-17 yards, Troy Gulden (TE) 1-12 yards;
Kevin Doyle (WR) 1-5 yards; Tony Morang (HB) 1 (-3 yards)

CROWN POINT - Matt Ernest (WR) 8-182 yards, TD, Ryan Forney (WR) 2-32 yards, Tommy Parks (FB) 2-23 yards.

TURNOVERS:
LAKE CENTRAL (2) 2 fumbles;  CROWN POINT (0).

CROWN POINT (9-08-2006) -  It was Crown Point's best half of the season.  A dominant pair of quarters against an undefeated squad.  The third quarter wasn't quite so good and the fourth quarter probably wasn't good at all.  But when you play Crown Point football these days, you can bad mouth your own 17-point triumph over a squad that had not previously lost.  These are indeed the 'good old days'.

"I don't know how well we played," said Bulldog coach Chip Pettit, after CP's 13th consecutive regular season victory.  "I'm going to withhold judgment on the line play until I see the tape.  I thought we missed a lot of tackles."

The Bulldogs missed many of those tackles after they led 24-0 midway through the third quarter.  With junior quarterback Blake Mascarello firing six first half completions to 6-foot-2 senior receiver Matt Ernest, CP jumped all over a Lake Central squad that had not faced a team with a winning record.  With 5,000 fans looking on, the Bulldogs (4-0) moved the ball better than they had all season, scoring three TDs in the first 16 minutes of play.  Lake Central jumped on some Bulldogs mistakes in the second half to make the final score less embarrassing, but the visitors were never in contention to win this matchup of two of the largest schools in Lake County.

The Crown Point Bulldogs football team runs onto the field of their home field, lead by Andrew Krumwied #65, Todd Wells #47, Blake Mascarello #6, Mike Damjanovic #45, Joe Patrick #48, Matt Pogorzelski #58, Tommy Parks #49 and Jon Sertich #27 prior to the Lake Central game, 9-08-06.

Crown Point QB Blake Mascarello #6 had his best passing game of the year (12 of 19, 240 yards, 1 TD) against LC.  Pass blockers included linemen Matt Childress #71, Matt Polus #62, Kurt Wermers #70, Andrew Krumwied #65 and running back Jon Sertich #27, 9-08-06.

Crown Point linebacker Andrew Szymborski #20 flies past LC blocking back Tony Morang #44 to catch Indians QB P.J. Gbur #5 behind the line of scrimmage, 09-08-06.

Crown Point linebacker Tony Conway #2 wraps up Indians QB P.J. Gbur #5 as defensive linemen Nick Hladek #93 and Zack Brumm #60 apply pressure in the Bulldogs 31-14 win over Lake Central, 9-08-06.

An estimated 5,000 fans witnessed Crown Point's 31-14 victory over Lake Central at their home stadium, 9-08-2006.  (All photos by Mark Smith.)

"We didn't have any doubt," said junior offensive lineman Kurt Wermers of the quick start.  "He (Ernest) was just doing his job.  He was just doing his thing.  We just want to keep going.  We just want to practice hard four days a week and come out to play on Friday.  That's all there is to it.  We really don't think a week ahead.  If you do, somebody sneaks up on you and takes you down."

After the Bulldogs scored at will in the first half and dominated yards (gained (387-237) and scoring (31-14), LC (3-1, 1-1 DAC) may have sneaked up on them in the final 18 minutes, tagging on two consolation TDs that probably 1.) Embarrassed CP's highly-rated (9.8 points allowed per game) proud defense and 2.) Gave LC some crumbs of hope for a sectional rematch.

"I think we were a little conservative early," said LC coach Bill Melby, who was not too discouraged by the Indians' first defeat.  "They were in our backfield all day.  It's hard to complete a pass and get anything done.  I thought the second half was positive.  We gave up a turnover (in the third quarter) that gave up seven.  But we did some good things.  I know they had some 2s (second string players) in there, but the guy we threw at (Joe Wingis' TD against CP's Anthony Stahl) was a regular.  But that's why they're rated third in the state."

Crown Point gave up two rushing first downs after the opening kickoff, but after a good punt by LC's Scott Spicer, the Bulldogs started a drive from their own 9-yard line. Mascarello's first pass went to Ernest, who made a 13-yard catch.  Mascarello, who had a career-best 13 of 22 for 237 yards, then fired a quick pass to the single-covered Ernest and the CP baseball shortstop broke a tackle to pick up 19 more yards.  Two more passes to Ernest and a 30-yard run by senior Ryan Forney on a wide receiver reverse put the ball at the one yard line where Tommy Parks' fifth TD of the season on the next play made it 7-0 with 5:31 left in the first quarter.

LC tried a trick play on the second possession.  After taking the kickoff back to the LC 24, senior QB PJ Gbur fired a lateral pass to receiver Austen Macek, who was going to throw a down field pass to end Joe Wingis.  The play might have fooled CP, but Macek was ruled to have gone to one knee to catch Gbur's lateral pass.  It appeared that Macek did go to one knee although the LC junior vigorously protested the call.

"That's one of the best refereeing crews around," said LC coach Bill Melby.  "So I guess his knee was down.  But I thought we had him right there.  It was well-designed. That would make a big difference.  A lot of it is still mental.  If we tie them up 7-7 right there, it makes a big difference."

But the Indians lost six yards on that play and had to punt two plays later.  CP got a 16-yard punt return from Ryan Forney and drove 40 yards in four plays to make it 14-0 on a 20-yard run by Mascarello.  The Bulldogs lined up with Ernest flanked left to the wide side of the field and Mascarello, out of the shot gun formation simply ran off left tackle and broke through two defenders to score.

But this time, LC was reeling and, despite a 50-yard kickoff return by Macek, LC had to punt on the first play of the second period.  Quickly the Bulldogs were in the end zone again.  Mascarello hit Ernest for gains of 16 and 25 yards before a pass interference call put the ball on the 13-yard-line.  Forney ran another wide receiver reverse to the LC 9-yard-line and Parks again scored from the one yard line to make it 21-0 with 7:18 before halftime.

Melby suggested afterwards that if there is a rematch, the Indians will bring a different defensive game plan to the table against Ernest, who appeared to be single-covered, even on the wide side of the field.  LC concentrated on stopping CP rushing leader Jon Sertich, knowing that Ernest had not been 100% in earlier games and they might not have thought he could do the damage he did.  Ernest caught eight passes in three quarters for 182 yards and a 34-yard fourth quarter TD.

"That's what happens when you get him (Ernest) the ball," said Sertich.  "And Blake was really good tonight. That was his best game of the year."

"It was fun," admitted Ernest, who had caught just three passes (he has played through an ankle injury) in the first three games this season and certainly didn't know in advance he would be featured on this night.

"He (CP coach and 1990s Bulldog quarterback Chip Pettit) pretty much goes with the game and if he thinks we need to throw the ball around, we pretty much trust him.  He's a great coach.  Tonight, he thought we needed to throw it and Blake had a great game.  He was awesome.  Coach always puts a lot of pressure on Blake.  He does that with the quarterback.  So when he gets out here, its probably easier for him.

Mascarello, the left-handed junior, was hard on the Lake Central defense, delivering the ball quickly and on target.  The CP baseball pitcher was 5-of-5 in the first two TD drives for 140 yards.  He missed six passes all night, three of them after the score was 24-0.

Pettit agreed with his players that Ernest, who has accepted a scholarship offer to Indiana University, was just doing his job and that Mascarello had an outstanding game, maybe the best of his two-year career.

"I'm very pleased with the development that Blake has made," said the old QB about the young one.  "From where he was in the first game to where he was tonight."

"Matt's a good player.  He's proven.  He's got a 1,000-yard season (2004) under his belt.  He doesn't have to prove anything.  The key is for Blake to improve every week and if he does, Matt, Forney and all the other guys will get the ball."

The score became 24-0 in the third quarter after a 63-yard, eight-play drive that ended in Bulldog sophomore Michael Lipton's 29-yard field goal after the second half kickoff.  When LC's Macek fumbled a punt at the LC 30-yard line on the second play of the fourth quarter, Mascarello immediately hit a play-action pass down the center of the field to Ernest, who made an acrobatic grab of a ball that actually appeared to be thrown behind him.  It was 31-0 with 11:33 left in the game.

"Sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss," Pettit said.  "In some spots, we've made a steady progression of improvement.  Defensively, I thought we tackled poorly.  We're not going to be able to tackle like that later in the season.  I'm happy with the outcome, but not totally how we got there."

Lake Central's P.J. Gbur (11 of 19, 72 yards) found Wingis (6 catches, 66 yards) on a 30-yard toss for LC's first touchdown with 7:31 left in the game.  Then Macek, who had a healthy 224 yards on a total of six punt and kickoff returns, dropped a boot, retrieved it at the 2-yard-line and raced 98 yards through the Crown Point coverage team for another score with 1:32 left.  Senior linebacker Brandon Baumgarten (5-11, 225) may have had 20 tackles for LC.

"That's the sign of a good team, I guess," Melby said about the special team's success.  "But we also fumbled one away.  We're just going to have to go back and try to get better."

Ernest, a senior, says his team has to do the same.  The Bulldogs all repeat they really can't look ahead in the schedule beyond the next game, which is Portage (1-3), a 28-3 loser at home to Merrillville Friday.

"It's easy, actually," he said.  "The coaches do a good job of just keeping us looking at the team we're playing.  Everybody in the DAC is good.  You just don't know what they'll do.  You don't know who can beat you.  Portage has talent.  Eventually they will find a combination that works."

Crown Point, which has won 15 of the Bulldogs' last 16 games, has found a combination that has worked for two seasons now.  It's hard to believe this school lost 22 games in a row six years ago.  As thousands of colorfully dressed moms and dads, boys and girls drifted away into another south Lake County summer night, word of No. 1 Warren Central's rout of No. 2 Ben Davis in Indianapolis reached Bulldog turf.  'Little old' CP, No. 3 in the 5A state poll this week, would be moving up to No. 2 next week. 

"It's just week four, guys," Pettit smiled.

True enough, but these are clearly the good, old days.

DOG TALES:  The Bulldogs, who were rated third in the state in the Associated Press poll before the fourth weekend of the season, will be the state's No. 2 team before they host Portage.  In a massacre of frightening proportions, Class 5A No. 1 Warren Central (4-0), Indiana's three-time defending big school state champion, got out a serious whipping stick on 5A No. 2 Ben Davis (3-1) by a score of 76-7, the worst varsity football defeat in the proud (7 state titles) history of Ben Davis high school.

Crown Point's undefeated regular season boosted them up to the No. 2 position in the 5A poll last October, also behind Warren Central.

Crown Point quarterback Blake Mascarello came into the LC game at 24-of-44 for 281 yards and five TDs.  Against the Indians, he was 12 of 18 for 237 and another TD.  In 62 passes, Mascarello has had only one intercepted this season.  The Bulldogs have turned the ball over just four times in four games.

Lake Central attempted a trick play on their first possession, the Indians shifted three players from the wide side of the field to the weak side, just before the snap.

"We were just trying to get them to line up improperly," said coach Bill Melby.  "It worked.  We got a good gain on first down.  But you can only do that so many times.  They've got a clipboard over there and they go to work on it and they adjust."

At least three times in the game, LC junior Austen Macek (5-10, 167) either dropped a kick or he virtually walked up the field on a kick return, reading blocking, only to burst into the clear and make a big return for LC.  There's a theory that a fumble or a hesitation throws off the timing of the kick coverage team.  CP coach Chip Pettit thinks that theory is pretty bogus.

"That's just our kids not keeping the proper leverage and not hustling until the play is over," he said flatly, hinting that there will be different faces on special teams next week against Portage.  "If it's a hustle issue, that's something we can fix and we will fix.  The kick coverage teams will be revamped.  We will totally start from scratch."

But Pettit was impressed with LC.

"That's a good team," he said.  "They're going to win a lot of games."

Crown Point junior offensive lineman Kurt Wermers sounds very confident about this season and he says there won't be any letdown in 2007 either.

"I'm excited about that already," he said.  "We've got four guys coming back on the offensive line next year.  We're big now, but we're going to be really big."

The Bulldogs appear to run to their right a lot behind guard Wermers (6-5, 270), tackle Andy Krumwied (6-5, 245) and Zach Cecich (6-2, 220).  And somebody may be kidding about Cecich being 220.  Let's just say the junior Bulldog tight end, an accomplished weight lifter, appears a tad larger than his listed weight.

"We don't have designed plays to the right side," said Wermers who was 6-foot-2 and 230 when he was a freshman.  "But we have two of our biggest and strongest guys on the right side, so when we need a yard, we do kinda go there."

The biggest difference between CP now and five years ago is the size and strength of its players on both sides of the ball.  Crown Point's five man offensive line averages 241 pounds per man and, while they're not manhandling Merrillville yet, CP is no longer getting shoved back in their own backfield by anybody like they were five years ago.

Matt Ernest, who has adopted the punting role for the Bulldogs this season, suggests that he does not expect any standing ovations for his kicking.

"I really haven't punted in high school before," he said.  "I'm working on it.  My sophomore year, I had a couple of extra points in a game.  I can do it in practice.  It's a slow process.  I try.  I fake it every time.  I'm working on it."

Sertich likes the idea of soccer players Nick Barber (kickoffs) and Michael Lipton (place-kicking) doing double duty this fall including the football kicking.

"That's what they do," he said.  "They've got the leg.  Look at (soph soccer player Mike) Lipton, he hasn't missed an extra point yet.  It was tough because we had (Donny) Keiser last year.  But Lipton is solid.  He's filled that spot."

Former CP foe Hobart continues to dominate everyone else.  The Brickies, who lost 34-20 to CP, crushed Highland 38-14 as region scoring leader Andrew Jackson (38 carries, 238 yards) scored four more TDs.  Another CP victim, Merrillville (3-1), continued to smoke everyone else but the Bulldogs.  The Pirates scored 21 unanswered second half points and roasted Portage 28-3 behind QB Josh Raspopovich (15-24, 273 yards).

LaPorte (3-1, 2-0) stayed in a two-way tie with CP for the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) lead, scoring 27 unanswered second half points to overcome Chesterton 34-21.

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Revised: September 17, 2006 .