"The Renegade"

High School Top-10 Football Poll

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

CROWN POINT (11-3-2003) The more Elkhart Memorial and Portage win, the better dearly departed LaPorte looks. Merrillville and Griffith are living up to the positions they've held most of the year and Valparaiso show a lot of promise for next season. Chesterton could be rated anywhere from 2-to-8.

As always, 'The Renegade', with no allegiance to any school or any sponsors (not yet, anyway) can tell it like it is about local prep football. All schools in the six county Northwest Indiana region count and records are irrelevant. These are the BEST teams.

1.) Portage (10-1)

Injury questions still haunt HB Antoine Brown (235 carries, 1,837 yards, 29 TDs) who gained an outrageous 336 yards on 29 carries against Valpo in a 24-14 win last week. Brown hurt his leg late in the game and coach Craig Buzea was quoted in the Times as saying that Antoine is 50-60% healthy. In some respects that's scary. Portage takes their last turn at being the target this week against Merrillville. Once you get outside of our 5-county northwest Indiana cocoon, the 5A opposition goes up to a whole other level.

2.) LaPorte (6-4)

With Portage (10-1) still playing, Elkhart Memorial (11-0) still playing and Elkhart Central (7-4) and New Prairie (7-4) now free to play basketball, you can see how good LaPorte was. A LaPorte-Andrean fantasy game works on paper but it wouldn't on the field once the 59ers had to tackle 253-pound Kyle Cepeda (113 carries, 603 yards) and guard 6-foot-4 Jerome Vann (54 catches, 994 yards). The Slicers eventually will be in Section one when East Chicago shrinks to 4A (it's close now; EC is only about 20 kids bigger than 4A Munster) and they'll get away from the Penn Sectional (5A Sectional 2).

3.) ANDREAN (11-0)

The 59ers smoked overmatched Morton again and now the playoffs begin. The 59ers, who have won 38 of their last 41 games, are facing the prospect of playing Griffith (7-4), Twin Lakes (11-0), Northwood (8-3) and Bishop Chatard (10-1). They should keep in mind that beating Griffith, Northwood and Twin Lakes would give them the experience and the juice to beat Chatard. Everyone will discuss how much the Panthers want to beat Andrean after a 28-27 59er win in October, but Andrean has probably been preparing for Griffith for three weeks. Everybody loves to throw the ball if they can, but give coach Brett St. Germain credit. With Morton woefully weak against the run (200 yards allowed per game), Andrean left their ego at the door and simply ran the ball down the Governors' throat, impeaching them like so many Gray Davis.' When you look at QB Tommy Finn (88 of 156, 1,117 yards, 13 TDs, 3 INTs), it's still that interception total (only 3 in 10 games) that jumps out at you.

4.) LOWELL (10-1)

Justin Henley (214 carries, 1,321 yards, 17 TDs) carried 34 times against Munster for 184 yards last week, but the Devils need to get Toby Goetz (124 carries, 716 yards) reestablished as a threat. Back-up QB and wingback Scott Schulz (13 carries, 121 yards) is a key man on reverses designed to use defenses' quick pursuit of Henley against them. Lowell's 21-7 win at Munster marks the first time the Devils have ever beaten Munster twice in one year. Lowell has 43 quarterback sacks in 11 games and has lost only 21-7 to 3A No. 2 Andrean (11-0). Maybe they'll see the 59ers in the RCA Dome on Nov. 29 (the 3A and 4A title games are played back to back) but with only 36 pass completions all year and still poor numbers on kick returns, the Devils' potential has not been reached.

5.) Chesterton (7-4)

Chesterton gained only 300 yards rushing in the last three games and I just don't know why, except that maybe I'm not giving enough credit to Merrillville, which was the foe on two occasions. QB Casey Martin (86 of 161, 11 TDs, 10 INTs) was 8-of-19 for 152 yards and four interceptions against Merrillville in last week's season-ending 21-14 loss. Seven of Martin's interceptions came in two games against Merrillville. Chesterton lost twice in the final three weeks to Crown Point last year. The Trojans lose some of the size in their lines, but they return a lot of skilled perimeter players next season.

6.) Griffith (7-4)

There's no looking ahead and there's no looking back. Griffith' season will be a success if they beat Andrean this Friday (Nov. 7) and if they don't, it probably wont. Jack Kosinski (168 carries, 1,815 yards, 22 TDs) scored five TDs last week, but it was five TDs against Gavit in a 60-18 win. Andrean is not Gavit. It'll come down to the offensive line, led by Aaron Cavazos (6-3, 285). Griffith, which gained 347 yards rushing on Oct. 10 in the 28-27 loss to Andrean, must run and score in the rematch. They can't win a shootout with the multidimensional 59ers.

7.) MERRILLVILLE (7-4)

Merrillville swept Chesterton 21-14 last Friday after beating them 7-3 on Oct. 17. Brandon Mosely (178 carries, 1,153 yards, 12 TDs) was too much for the Trojans, but the Pirates now have to deal with Portage (10-1), a team they lost to 24-7 in September. The Pirates have allowed 39 points in the last four games and they were down just 10-7 going into the fourth period on Sept. 12. This sectional title game Friday (Nov. 7), Merrillville's first in 10 years, will match Portage's Antoine Brown with the school he transferred away from last summer.

8.) CROWN POINT (5-5)

CP lost to Portage (10-1), LaPorte (6-4), Chesterton (7-4) and Lowell (10-1). It wasn't a bad year. QB Matt Cowan (116-216, 1,543 yards, 15TDs and 9 INTs, plus 140 carries, 546 yards) would be an all-area player if his team had progressed further in the state tournament. Same is true of WR Aaron Miller (60 catches, 937 yards, 9 TDs). With the late season run of Lowell and Hobart, CP's 1st two opponents next fall, the Bulldogs' 2004 schedule looks tougher than 2003's slate, which was rated among the top 40 in the state.

9.) Valparaiso (5-6)

Valparaiso gave up 500 yards to Portage in a 24-14 loss, but VHS had a good rebuilding year losing twice to Portage (10-1), Chesterton (7-4), CP (5-5) and LaPorte (6-4). Jon Moon (92-of-183, 1,290 yards, 11 TDs, 11 INTs) returns next year as do almost every other skill position player including 1,000-yard rusher Jeff Brandt. The Vikings will be a DAC title favorite. Sure hope you beat them this year.

10.) Munster (8-3)

Five turnovers in a 21-7 loss to Lowell ends the year. Munster never got started this year. The win over Griffith (7-4) in OT was the only significant win and that was really a tie. Munster has a lot of skill position players coming back if they can develop another QB. They were just unlucky enough to be good in a year when Lowell and Andrean were better. Munster needs a tougher nonconference schedule.

JUDGMENT Day is coming....

for Merrillville (7-4)

The Pirates stoked up on fading Chesterton to build a 3-game win streak but here comes Portage (10-1), the DAC champ. This is the Super Bowl to Merrillville. They know they don't have a state title team. But they are four quarters away from a very satisfying conclusion to a rebound season. A win over Portage makes them the last DAC team standing and earns a home game against Penn, a high-profile program booster for younger players. But the main man stopping them is Antoine Brown, a transfer from Merrillville. If the Pirates can keep Brown (1,837 yards, 29 TDs) from going over 2,000 Friday night, they could bother QB Jake Huston enough to stay close. The team speed of the Pirates may exceed that of Portage but Portage has nine seniors on defense. How can Merrillville beat the Indians if they can't score on them?