Chick rushes for 159 yards, 3 TDs as Bulldogs beat Munster 35-9 in sectional opener

A USA-365.com Special Report by Dave Woodworth

10-20-2007

Friday, October 19, 2007,  59 degrees, wet field at MUNSTER, IN

1st Qtr:  CROWN POINT (7-0)  Russell Chick, 10-yard run.  23-yard, 4-play drive following Anthony Stahl's fumble recovery on Munster's first play of game, 1:15 time of possession (TOP).  Michael Lipton kick.  10:34 left.
CROWN POINT (14-0)  Russell Chick, 2-yard run.  55-yard, 11-play drive following Lance Lamere fumble recovery, 2:33 TOP. Michael Lipton kick.  4:42 left.
2nd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (21-0) Russell Chick, 1-yard run.  46-yard, 6-play drive, 1:44 TOP.  Michael Lipton kick.  11:56 left.
MUNSTER (3-21)  William Hasse 23-yard field goal.  71-yard, 12-play drive, 4:11 TOP.  7:43 left.
CROWN POINT (28-3)  Zach Cecich, 23-yard pass from Blake Mascarello.  79-yard, 14-play drive, 7:04 TOP.  Lipton kick.  0:33 left.
3rd Qtr:  CROWN POINT (35-3)  Mike Kozlowski, 1-yard run.  80-yard, 9-play drive, 3:44 TOP.  Lipton kick.  8:16 left.
MUNSTER (3-21)  John Jurkash 5-yard run.  76-yard, 12-play drive, 3:53 TOP.  2-point pass play failed.  4:17 left.
4th Qtr:  No scoring.

RUSHING:
MUNSTER (28 carries, 56 yards, 1 TDs, 2 fumbles)
John Jurkash (HB) 16-48 yards, 1 TD; Joe Gill (QB) 1-2; Ian Boswell (HB) 2 (-4);  Gilroy Velasquez (Wing) 4-10;

CROWN POINT (44 carries, 202 yards, 4 TD, 0 fumble)
Russell Chick (TB) 23-159, 3 TDs; Blake Mascarello (QB) 2 (-16) (2 sacks); Mike Kozlowski (FB) 2-11, 1 TD; Mason Popovich (HB) 11-19; Dan Downes (FB) 2-4 yards.

PASSING:
MUNSTER -  Joe Gill (QB) 13-20, 128 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT;
CROWN POINT - Blake Mascarello (QB) 8-10, 91 yards, 1 TDs, 0 INTs;
Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 2-3, 29 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs.

RECEIVING:
MUNSTER - Aaron Estrada (WR) 5-74, Danny Gardner (WR) 3-25; Ian Boswell (Wing) 1-31;
CROWN POINT - Zach Cecich (TE) 4-37 yards, 1 TD; Ron Burton (WR) 1-5 yards; Danny Osojnicki (WR) 3-39, Mike Kozlowski (HB) 1-15; Joe Baker (WR) 1-14.

TOTAL YARDS:
MUNSTER (184 yards, 11 first downs and 2 turnovers)
CROWN POINT (322 yards, 23 first downs and 0 turnovers)

PENALTIES:
MUNSTER 2-20 yards; CROWN POINT 2-30 yards

TURNOVERS:
MUNSTER (2) 2 fumbles; CROWN POINT (0).

MUNSTER (10-19-2007) -  Crown Point opened the Class 5A, Sectional 1 playoffs by capitalizing on two early Mustangs turnovers to take a quick 14-0 lead just over seven minutes into the ballgame and the Bulldogs never looked back, winning 35-9 before approximately 2,000 fans at Mustang Field.  It was the Bulldogs fourth consecutive sectional tournament opening night win and the defending sectional champions had to Merrillville for the semifinal sectional match with the Pirates, who shut out Chesterton on the Trojans' home field 21-0.

Senior tailback Russell Chick, who recorded his 10th straight 100+ yard rushing game of the 2007 season, racked up 159 yards and three touchdowns to make him Crown Point's all time single season rushing leader with 1,739 yards on 281 carries and 21 TDs.  Chick's first quarter touchdown runs of 10-yards and 2-yards and another one-yard TD in the secondbuilt up a 21-0 lead.

Munster's lone three points of the first half came on a 23-yard field goal by William Hasse with 7:43 left in the second quarter to climb within 21-3.  But that was quickly countered by a 23-yard TD pass from Bulldog QB Blake Mascarello to TE Zach Cecich, that built up an insurmountable first half lead of 28-3.

Crown Point then opened the third quarter with an 80-yard, 9-play drive that was capped by junior fullback Mike Kozlowski's first rushing touchdown of the season from one yard out to up the Bulldog advantage to 35-3.

Munster's only other score came on the ensuing drive, a time consuming 12-play, 76 yard drive that took 3:53 minutes off the third quarter clock.  It was not clear if the point after touchdown playt was a designed fake kick or a broken play, but the place holder appeared to botch the snap and picked up the ball and rolled right, completing a pass to a wing out of the backfield, but who was tackled short of the end zone.

By the late third quarter, Crown Point began freely substituting back-up players into the game.  Back-up junior quarterback Marcus Shrewsbury ((6-0, 210) played the last few plays of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter in his first extended varsity action, completing two of three passes for 29 yards, with one to junior fullback Mike Kozlowski for 15 yards and another for 14 yards to senior wide receiver Joe Baker (6-4, 180).

Sophomore running back Mason Popovich (5-8, 160) saw his first varsity action with extended playing time in the late third quarter and all of the fourth quarter, carrying the ball 11 times for 19 yards.  In addition, junior Dan Downes (5-6, 180) saw some time in the fullback position late in the game, with two carries for 4 yards.

The Bulldogs' defense had two quick take-aways in the first quarter that set up the early demise for the Mustangs.  On the very first play of the game from scrimmage, Anthony Stahl's fumble recovery of a Mustang mishandled ball set up the Bulldogs on a short field at the Munster 23-yard line.  It took CP just four plays to set up Russell Chick's 19th rushing touchdown of the year from the 10-yard line.  On the next series Munster managed to move from their own 20-yard line to their 32-yard line, when on the sixth play of the series, a Bulldog defender popped the ball loose from Munster quarterback Joe Gill, who was struggling to avoid a sack in his backfield, and the loose ball was caught in mid-air by CP's Lance Lamere.  What looked to be an intercepted shovel pass was later ruled to be a fumble recovery by Lamere with 7:19 left in the first quarter.

Crown Point's second scoring drive took just 7 plays from the Munster 32-yard line with Russell Chick scoring his 20th TD of the season on a 2-yard run with 4:42 left in the first quarter.  It would soon be 21-0 as Chick scored his third TD of the night and 21st rushing TD of the season from one yard out just four seconds into the 2nd quarter.  Michael Lipton was perfect on PAT kicks, going 5 for 5 on the night.

Munster responded on the next series by marching downfield with their Wing-T offense, mixing runs and passes over a 12-play, 71-yard drive that stalled at the CP 15-yard line.  William Hasse then booted a 23-yard field goal with 7:43 left in the second period.

But Crown Point put together their fourth consecutive scoring drive covering 14 plays and 79 yards with a time of possession of 7:04 minutes.  Blake Mascarello threw his 13th TD pass of the season, covering 23-yards to his senior tight end Zach Cecich (8th TD catch of year) on a beautifully-timed fade pattern to the right end of the end zone.  The time-consuming drive left just 33 seconds remaining on the first half clock.

DOG NOTES:  This is the Bulldogs' 4th consecutive opening sectional tournament victory, and 4th straight win since dropping a 21-17 Duneland Conference game to Valparaiso on Sept. 21st.  CP's 35-9 win over Munster was just the second time the two schools had met on the gridiron since their last meeting August 28, 1998... a 27-0 Bulldog win.

Next Friday (Oct. 26), the Bulldogs (8-2) visit neighboring Merrillville (9-1, ranked No.4 in Class 5A) for a Class 5A, Sectional One semifinal game.  The Pirates shut out Chesterton on their home field 21-0, and will be looking to avenge their only loss of the season August 31st to CP by a score of 20-17 in overtime. 

The Pirates have had a most impressive season in tying for the Duneland Athletic Conference 2007 title with Crown Point, but have held opponents to an average of just 11.1 point per game while scoring  an average of over 28 points per game on the 2007 season.  The Sagarin Ratings, which takes into account strength of schedule, show Merrillville with 91.42 points, good for 7th overall, and 7th in Class 5A. Crown Point has 85.76 points, good for 14th overall and 10th in Class 5A.