Warren Central over-powers Merrillville, 64-13 before region TV audience

The Lakeshore Public Television (LPTV) broadcast truck showed up early as the Merrillville game with No.1 Warren Central was broadcast live.

Star running back Deionte Buckley (22) was ready to go at the coin toss. He ended up rushing for two TDs. (All photos by Mark Smith)

There was a significant size difference between Merrillville and Warren Central, highlighted by Merrillville's Darryl Peppers (44) and Warren's Sheldon Day (91). Peppers is 5-foot-6 and 174 pounds. Day is 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds.

Lakeshore Public TV stars Wayne Svetanoff, left, and Joe Arrendondo did host duties for the TV broadcast from down on the field.

Warren Central's Jamaal Bridges (26) runs back the opening kickoff, but he's having a hard time against Merrillville's Michael Jones (33) and Robert Nelson (85).

The Pirates cheerleaders were full of spirit before the high pofile game.

Merrillville QB Jake Raspopovich (9) gets a rare moment of peace while trying to pass. Raspopovich was 16 of 17 for 130 yards.

Merrillville's Ian Stacks (62) wishes he could stop the Warren Central tide early in the game. Nobody could as Warren won 64-13.

Warren's Jordan Shine (15) runs for daylight after receiving a fumble with Darryl Peppers (44), Brandon Spencer (57) and Anthony Disco (60) in pursuit. Warren Central gained over 600 yards.

The empty seats behind Warren Central QB Kyle Faunce (11) are misleading. The visitors stands were largely empty but there may have been a little over 3,500 fans on the home side at Merrillville's Demaree stadium.

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

8-21-2011

Saturday, August 20, 2011 -  78 degrees, cloudy in season opener at MERRILLVILLE, IN
 

1st Qtr: WC (8-0) Kevin Davis, 86-yard shovel pass from Kyle Faunce. (1st scrimmage play of the game) Kam Utter, 2-poinmt conversion pass from Faunce. 11:40 left.
WC (15-0) Domonique McFarland, 1-yard run. Pedro Alvarado kick. 42-yard drive, 5 plays. 10:06 left.
MERRILLVILLE (6-15) Darryl Peppers, 1-yard run. 5 plays after WC fumble. Bad snap on conversion. 4:22 left.
WC (22-6) Deionte Buckley, 3-yard run. 49-yard drive, 8 plays. Pedro Alvarado kick. 2:32 left.
MERRILLVILLE (13-22) Aaron Dye, 38 yard pass from Jake Raspopovich. 57-yard drive, 5 plays. Matt Warren kick. 0:47 left.
2nd Qtr: WC (29-13) Kevin Davis, 47-yard pass from Kyle Faunce. 72 yards drive, 3 plays. Pedro Alvarado kick. 11:15 left.
WC (36-13) Kevin Davis, 31-yard screen pass from Kyle Faunce. 71 yards drive, six plays. Pedro Alvarado kick. 8:36 left.
WC (43-13) Domonique McFarland, 5-yard run. 74-yard drive, 8 plays. Pedro Alvarado kick. 4:36 left.
3rd Qtr: WC (50-13) Deionte Buckley, 1-yard run. 1 yards drive, 1 play after Jordan Shine ran an interception back 32 yards to the 1-yard line. Pedro Alvarado kick. 11:04 left.
WC (57-13) Deionte Buckley, 45-yard run. 56-yard drive, 6 plays. Pedro Alvarado kick. 6:57 left.
4th Qtr: WC (64-13) Domonique Shropshire, 1-yard run. 28-yard drive, 4 plays after fumble recovery by Deon Brown at the Merrillville 28. Pedro Alvarado kick. 8:11 left.

TOTAL YARDS:
WARREN CENTRAL: 613 yards, 32 first downs, 3 turnovers;
MERRILLVILLE: 187 yards, 12 first downs, 3 turnovers.

RUSHING:
WARREN CENTRAL: (45 carries, 341 yards, 7 TDs)
Deionte Buckley (HB) 19 carries, 184 yards; Shaquille Breeding (HB) 10 carries, 50 yards; Domonique McFarland (FB) 5 carries, 19 yards; Anthony Cooper (QB) 3 carries, 35 yards; Dominique Shropshire (HB) 3 carries, 22 yards; Kyle Faunce (QB) 3 carries, 5 yards; MyKelti Williams (QB) 2 carries, 26 yards.

MERRILLVILLE (25 carries, 57 yards) Darryl Peppers (HB) 8 carries, 28 yards, one TD; Joel Martin (HB) 8 carries, 20 yards; Jake Raspopovich (QB) 10 carres, 9 yards (one sack, minus-7 yards).

RECEIVING:
WARREN CENTRAL: Kevin Davis (WR) 4 catches, 188 yards, 3 TDs; Devante' Thomas (TE) 3 catches, 39 yards; Kameron Utter (WR) 3 catches, 39 yards; Deionte Buckley (HB) 2 catches, 28 yards.

MERRILLVILLE: Kourtney Berry (WR) 6 catches, 26 yards, one fumble; Cortez Smith (WR) 2 catches, 21 yards; Darryl Peppers (HB) 2 catches, 19 yards; Ryan Neal (WR) 1 catch, 0 yards; Joey Cowser (WR) 1 catch, 14 yards; Brian Jenkins (WR) 1 catch, 12 yards; Aaron Dye (WR) 2 catches, 37 yards.

PASSING:
WARREN CENTRAL Kyle Faunce (QB) 11-15 272 yards, 3 TDS; Anthony Cooper (QB) 1-1 12 yards.
MERRILLVILLE: Jake Raspopovich (QB) 16 of 29, 130 yards one interception, one TD; Tyler Kepchar (QB) 0-for-1.
 

MERRILLVILLE (8-20-2011) The bad news about Warren Central's 51-point Saturday night win over Merrillville is that the other seven Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) schools could all scout the Pirates in person and see what to do to them.

The good news is: The other seven DAC schools can't do what Warren Central can do. I understand the logic of playing Warren Central to begin the football season. When you play in the highest class of Indiana football, you need to face at least one of the state's elite teams if you ever hope to be one of the state's elite teams.
I also appreciate that opening night is the best time to face that superpower. It makes for a true opening night. No illusions. No misleading matchup.

But it isn't easy to watch.

"That's the best of the best you're seeing there," said Pirate quarterback Jake Raspopovich afterwards.

Class 5A No.1 Warren Central did not 'take it easy' on the Pirates in any way, leading 15-0 after two minutes, 43-13 at the half and 64-13 at the end of the 2011 season opener Saturday for both schools.

A Chicagoland television audience watched Warren Central, the No. 3 ranked team nationally, roll up 613 yards and stop Merrillville for the fourth year in a row.

"Everybody on our schedule is good," said Raspopovich, who completed 16 of 29 passes. "We could have played better. We did pretty well. Our line blocked well and we moved the ball some. But obviously, they're very big and very fast."

The 10th-ranked Pirates did show some offense initially, playing against a defense with nine Division I players. But Warren's offense, based on the college-size offensive line of Brian Genger (6-3, 250), Justin Sparks (6-4, 250), Dwayne Trotter Brown (6-4, 300), Deyshawn Bond (6-3, 290) and Antonio Freeman (6-2, 320), was unstoppable. On dry, fast artificial turf in 70 degree weather, Warren could have scored more points than they did. The Pirates, who are a little undersized this year by Merrillville standards, had no answer for Bond and Brown on the left side of the line. Deionte Buckley, who will play at the University of Cincinnatti next season, gained 184 yards on 19 carries, playing 2-1/2 quarters. Wide receiver Kevin Davis caught four passes (including an 80-yard shovel pass from quarterback Kyle Faunce on the first play of the game) for 186 yards and three TDs.

As it was, the 64 points is the most ever scored against Merrillville in the 66-year history of the football program. Lake Central defeated Merrillville 56-13 on Nov. 5, 1993. The final score of 64-13 is the worst Merrillville defeat of all time. The Pirates lost 46-0 at Hobart on October 27, 1967 and 46-0 at Griffith on October 4, 1957.

"Their offensive line gets as much of a push as any (high school) offensive line I've ever seen," said Pirate coach Zach Wells, facing Warren Central for the fifth time. Wells thought this was an outstanding team even by Warren Central (seven state title) standards.

"They come off the line hard. They've got a good fullback, good tailback. Theirs guys on the edge are better than the guys they've had in the past. They've scored on the first play of the game three times now in the past four years and that's something you don't like to see."

The first play was a shovel pass. Warren QB Kyle Faunce, an out-of-state transfer, lined up seven yards behind center in the 'shot gun' formation. He caught the snap and then tossed it in front of him to wide receiver Kevin Davis who was headed around left end. They got good blocks, but Davis (6-0, 175) outran everybody down the visitors' sidelines for an 86-yard TD in the first 11 seconds of the game.

On Merrillville's first play, a quick pass from Rapopovich to wrestling star Kourtney Berry, was good for six yards, but Berry was hit hard and fumbled to Warren's Jordan Wallace at the Pirate 42 yard line.

The Warriors, from the southeast side of Indianapolis, scored in four plays on a one-yard run by big fullback Domonique McFarland (6-0, 215). Merrillville, which has been outscored by Warren 204-53 in the last four meetings, rallied after a pitchout fumble by Warren's Buckley recovered by Merrillville's Darryl Peppers at the Warren Central 7-yard line.

Peppers, who starts at halfback and linebacker, scored on a one yard run with 4:22 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 15-6.

Warren got a long kickoff return and went 59 yards in eight plays to take a 22-6 lead on a 3-yard run by Bucker, who gained 1000 yards as a junior for Warren in 2010.

Raspopovich, the third member of his family to play quarterback for Merrillville was 4-of-4 on a late first quarter drive to cut the lead to 22-13. The scoring play had three receivers set to the left and Aaron Dye (5-10, 152) broke free into the Warren secondary for a 38-yard TD pass with :44 seconds left in a first quarter which took almost an hour to play.

To be totally honest, Warren Central totally dominated the Pirates from that point on. Warren went 72 yards in four plays to make it 29-13. They drove 71 yards in six plays to make it 43-12. The visitors also went 74 yards in seven plays to make the score 43-13 at halftime.

In the second quarter alone, Warren Central gained 233 yards.

The Warriors (1-0) used all-state defensive tackle Sheldon Day (6-2, 286) as a blocking back for short yardage plays near the goal line. Warren is said to have 10 Division I prospects in the starting lineup and that's not exactly true. They do have 10 Division I prospects but all are not in the starting lineup. Day has signed to play for Notre Dame. He is ranked 22nd in the nation among defensive tackles. Seniors Deionte Buckley (5-9, 200), Deyshawn Bond (6-3, 290), Josh Posley (6-1, 250) and Jonothan Burt (6-2, 255) will all play at the University of Cincinnatti in 2012. Wide receiver Kevin Davis (6-0, 175) and linebacker Jordan Wallace (6-2, 225) are committed to Indiana University. Defensive back Jordan Shine (6-0, 180) is headed for Purdue next fall.

Defensive tackle Darnell Smith (6-2, 260) does not start for Warren Central, but he has signed to play for Ball State. Cornerback Kaleb Humphrey reportedly is being recruited by Indiana and Ball State but has not yet signed. Linebacker Tim Kimbrough (6-2, 215) does not count among the 10 D-1 boys because he is still a junior, but he is also being recruited by Purdue.

That knowledge created an odd feeling about this game. Merrillville was not devastated by this loss. In the back of their minds, they almost seemed to know it was coming.

"I wasn't nervous," said Raspopovich. "I started at wide receiver against them last year. I was excited to play them, but it was just a regular game."

"We'll highlight the bright spots," said Wells. "I don't know if there's a lot of them when you give up 64 points. But we'll keep it in perspective. We'll look at the turnovers. There's lots of things we can correct."

One 'plus' about facing Warren Central in the opener is that the Pirates won't see a bigger school with more athletes for the rest of the season. Wells obviously wants his team to feel they are the equal to any mixture of size and speed.

"You can do something against 300-pound tackles (Warren has two)," he argued. "If your pads are down (you are in a low, correct stance) and you get bowled over then they're just that god. Their Joes beat your Joes. But if your pads are up, that's something we can correct."

Merrillville looked good on offense, if that's possible in a 51-point loss. Raspopovich should have been sacked a half dozen times, but he was able to move quickly and avoid the Warren Central rush. Peppers, in his first game as a two-way starter, put out a great effort.

"I thought Jake played really well," said Wells. "The stats line (his passing statistics) would be different if he wasn't going against D-1 defensive backs. But he knew when to get rid of the ball and when to throw it away.
Darryl has waited his turn to play and now he's going to play all the time. He'll play both ways and he'll do a good job for us."

But the question has to be asked. It's great for us who don't play to throw around new-age theories about how playing a great team in the season opener helps you. Even if you get blasted by 50 points. But are the boys OK with it? They need to be, because Merrillville plays Class 2A No. 1 Andrean (1-0) next Friday and arch-rival Crown Point (1-0) on the road in two weeks.

"We have a two-year contract with them," said the Pirate coach of 2011 and 2012 dates with Warren Central. Coach Hart is a great coach. Obviously, they could have scored 100 points tonight if they had wanted to."

"As long as we improve the week after we play them (Warren), it's okay. I'm not okay with 64-13. Last year, we didn't improve as much as we had the years before. We'll have to look at that this week. But as long as we improve coming off of it, I'm okay with playing them."

PIRATES NOTES: Merrillville people estimated the crowd between 3,500-4,000, almost all from Merrillville. Heavy rain moved in about 1 p.m. Saturday but cleared up long before the 6:30 p.m. start and the artificial turf was dry at game time.

This is the fourth consecutive season that Warren Central, a seven-time state champion, has beaten Merrillville. The other three scores are 49-14, 49-16, 42-0. Merrillville won the first meeting between the two schools 17-10 in 2007.

The live television broadcast on Lakeshore Public Television (LPTV) appeared to go well, although the competitive thrill in the game was gone early.