The RENEGADE 2010 NW Indiana High School Top-10, Week-14 Football Poll

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-16-2010

VALPARAISO (11-19-2010) Still few upsets in Northwest Indiana in the high school football playoffs. But there's a subject that must be discussed: Luck.

Many say Morton (11-1), which hosts Bishop Dwenger (11-0) in the 4A northern Semistate, has been lucky.

When Morton faced Hobart, 1,000-yard rusher Jamar Merritt had just been suspended from the team. When Morton faced Concord, all-state quarterback Anthony Yoder and Concord's Division I tackle had been injured and eliminated for the season. It seems they have been lucky. Is it true? Of course it is.

The six week Indiana state playoffs are ridiculous. NFL teams don't go through six weeks of playoffs. I don't think any other high school state tournament in America is six weeks long.
Everyone who reaches the finals is lucky. If they aren't lucky enough to face teams that are shorthanded due to injury, they are lucky because they themselves are NOT shorthanded due to injury.

Unlike baseball or basketball, football is a hugely unsafe sport and anybody can be taken out for the season on any play. In a six-week single-elimination tournament, all champions get lucky whether they admit it or not. People have to stop whining about luck. Lowell was lucky to reach the state finals in 2005, 2007 and 2009. In 2010, Lowell wasn't lucky and their sidelines were filled with injured Devils. And they were smoked out of the tournament in the first round. And, maybe that's the way it should be. Maybe injuries are just fate and it's not your year. How do you know if is your year? Look at the scoreboard.

In the fifth week of the playoffs, several teams have wised up and scheduled semistate games for Saturdays, accepting the distance between schools like Rensselaer and Bishop Luers. The insanity does continue though. Reitz and Cathedral will play Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in Indianapolis. Luers-Rensselaer and Bishop-Dwenger-Morton will be played after dark, requiring lights that cost about $500-$1000 to run.

Why? If you play at 12 noon, everybody can drive half the state, play or watch and drive home in the daylight. The stadium lights never have to be used. Are athletic department budget crisis 'real,' or is that just a talking point?

The scheduling of state playoff games at night defies logic. Play games Saturday afternoon. It'll happen, but in Indiana things take about 20 years to make sense. This is the next to last poll. The final judgement comes out after the state title games. But some positions are pretty much etched in stone.

1.) 5A Valparaiso (13-0)
2009 (5-5), 2008 (9-2), 2007 (6-5), 2006 (3-6), 2005 (5-5)

VALPARAISO: Valpo survived a late Mishawaka rally and three pass interceptions to beat the Cavemen 21-14 in a battle of unbeatens last week. That came after a 16-6 win over Crown Point, another defensive struggle. The Vikings have allowed 13 points a game and they are living on that. Halfback Andrew Kittridge ran for three TDs last week. They seem to be living on borrowed time with the close wins, but they have clinched the Number one spot in the third poll because they're beaten Merrillville (8-3) and Crown Point (8-4) twice each. Don't say the Vikings can't beat Fishers (12-1) and reach the state finals. They aren't favored, but they haven't lost yet.

2.) 5A Merrillville (8-3)

2009 (12-2), 2008 (8-5), 2007 (12-2), 2006 (7-5), 2005 (11-3)

MERRILLVILLE: Merrillville out gained Valpo 313-265, but fell short in a 20-14 loss to Valpo, ending their season. Hard to knock them for losses to Valparaiso (13-0) twice and Warren Central (9-2). Denzel Pierce finished with a third 1,000-yard season and Zach Raspopovich finished with more than 2,000 yards passing.

The Pirates averaged 35 points a game but lost at home to Valparaiso twice. They need some new skill position stars, but I think they'll return more linemen in 2011 than they did in 2010.

3.) 5A CROWN POINT (8-4)
2009 (3-7), 2008 (3-7), 2007 (8-3), 2006 (12-1), 2005 (11-1)

CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs can't say they didn't have their chances. They lost twice to Valparaiso (13-0) by scores of 16-6 and 10-7 and both times, they had the ball in the fourth quarter in Valpo territory trailing by less than a TD. In high school football, you don't get more than two chances.

Crown Point returns QB Joe Hopman (105-187, 1,897 yards, 20 TDs, 12 interceptions) in 2011 along with two veteran offensive linemen (plus two tight ends), kicker Brett Bayer (9 field goals) and two of three defensive linemen. 2011 will be another winning season.

4.) 5A Chesterton (6-4)
2009 (7-4), 2008 (9-3), 2007 (6-4), 2006 (5-6)

CHESTERTON: Good season with wins over Crown Point (8-4) and another fast start, but back-to-back losses 32-28 and 48-27 to Merrillville (8-3) finished the season. The draw of Merrillville (8-3) in sectional play with the prospect of playing Valpo (11-0) next finished them.

The Trojans displayed a strong sophomore class and all-state kicker Kyle Schmidt will return. The DAC will be up for grabs next season with Valpo and Merrillville losing key players. With a 22-11 record the last three seasons, it may be Chesterton's time.

5.) 3A Andrean (8-4)
2009 (9-4), 2008 (6-7), 2007 (9-4), 2006 (8-3), 2005 (8-2)

MERRILLVILLE: Andrean easily rolled through the sectional, but they can't move up in this poll because they didn't take out a beatable St. Joseph's (7-5) team when they had a chance. When QB Demetri Blanco suffered a concussion late in the 28-21 regional loss, it crippled the offense.

Andrean has won 3A Sectional 17 four years in a row but they have not survived regional play. The Niners will be big sectional favorites again with 1,500 yard rusher Mason Zurek and fullback-linebacker Zack Kogut plus big base defender in tackle Phil Roach (6-2, 335) and kicker Danny Wirtz. The new QB will be Bryan DeSomer, who was a JV freshman in 2010.

6.) 4A Morton (12-1)
2009 (11-2) 2008 (7-5), 2007 (6-4), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (8-4)

HAMMOND: Morton did get to meet crippled foes in Hobart and Concord, but they won both games decisively, including the 46-13 rout of No. 4 Concord. Andrew Glidewell threw three TD passes as Morton never trailed and the Governors won the regional for the first time. What you have to understand when you get to this point is: You won't be back next year. The six-week state tourney does not work that way. To get a home semistate game is a dream for a program. Morton hosts superpower Bishop Dwenger (12-0) and they have to treat this as the state championship game. Every player must treat this as the final game of his career and play like it. Morton is a huge underdog even at home. But almost everybody who wins the semistate for the first time is an underdog when they do it.

7.) 4A Lowell (6-4)
2009 (13-2), 2008 (13-1), 2007 (13-2), 2006 (7-6), 2005 (11-4)

LOWELL: The Devils got smoked 44-13 at Concord, two weeks before the Concord QB Anthony Yoder, breaks his foot. It just wasn't the Devils year. There were six teams in 4A Sectional 10 they could have defeated, but they drew the one they couldn't. I can't move Lowell ahead of Andrean just yet. What's odd is: Lowell beat Morton 40-26 and Morton (12-1) is in the semistate. But that was a Lowell at full strength. That game in August was the last time Lowell had a complete team on the field. The Devils return seven defensive starters from 2010 and three offensive linemen. With a kicker and a new QB, the Devils will play more than 10 games in 2011. They topped Andrean (8-4), Morton (12-1) and Munster (7-4) but they'll remember the season opening 31-point loss at Crown Point (8-4) and the season ending 31-point loss at Concord (11-0). Cole Midgett finished with 1,400 yards rushing, but 2011 is very promising for more than one reason.

8.) 5A Portage (5-5)
2009 (6-6), 2008 (6-4), 2007 (5-5), 2006 (6-5)

PORTAGE: Like Lowell, it just wasn't their year. Losing 23-21 on a final play pass at CP in the sectional opener? Again, why is a 5-5 team in the Top-10? Portage has lost to Valparaiso (13-0), St. Rita (11-1), Merrillville (8-3) and Crown Point (8-4) twice.

Senior halfback Jake Dixon cleared the 1,500 yard mark and he is not replaceable. They must rebuild the offense for 2011, but almost everybody in the DAC will be saying the same thing. But they're never going undefeated against this schedule. It just won't happen.

9.) 5A Munster (7-4)
2009 (7-3), 2008 (7-4), 2007 (3-7), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (3-7)

MUNSTER: The Mustangs reached the sectional semifinals before losing 28-10 at home to Crown Point. The losses were to Andrean (8-3), Morton (10-1), Crown Point (8-4) and Lowell (6-4) so this was a quality team. One big edge here is that QB Mark Strbjak is only a junior and will lead the offense in 2011. The Mustangs don't get beat down like Indiana University.

But it was almost 16 years before CP competed in the DAC consistently after they joined in 1992. It will be awhile before Munster seriously challenges for the 5A Sectional 1 title. They must toughen up the schedule and they know that.

10.) 2A Rensselaer (13-0)
2009 (11-3), 2008 (7-6), 2007 (5-7), 2006 (6-7), 2005 (11-2)

RENSSELAER: The Bombers blanked Wheeler 28-0 and nipped Bremen 35-28 in overtime to reach the semistate against 2009 2A state champion Bishop Luers (12-1).
The Bombers become the first team since Griffith in 1997 to have three 1,000-yard rushers led by Keaton Lyons (1,700 yards). I'm still not convinced that Rensselaer would certainly defeat Lake Central or LaPorte, but since Munster was 2-0 this year against LC, I think I may have it right. Rensselaer can move up in this poll if they defeat Luers, which is one of the top-25 teams in the state in any class. But even if they don't, you can make a realistic argument that, even though they faced none of the top nine teams here, that they could slip into the 10th spot. But then if the Bears stop Michael Vick, they could go to the Super bowl.