The RENEGADE 2009 NW Indiana High School Top-10, Week-14 Football Poll

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-20-2009

MERRILLVILLE (11-20-2009) It's hard to knock this poll when the team ranked one and two are the final two teams standing in the two largest classes. While Valparaiso might be here had they been healthy, the Merrillville Pirates and Lowell Red Devils have reached the semistate for the second year in a row.

Certainly others had chances (and 2A Rensselaer is still playing), but again, the top teams most of the year are the top teams at the end. That's the way I like it and this year, the way I like it is the way it is.

Coaches don't like being called 'losers', but we tell the truth here and when you lose short of the state title, you have lost. It's a tournament and there's only five winners. But there's nothing wrong with losing once you've taken home that sectional championship, so Andrean and Morton are the 'biggest losers' so to speak. Losing is part of the game and I think everybody appreciates that.

Getting back to polls, the state coaches polls are standing strong as well. With only four teams left in each class, four of the top ranked teams (5A Carmel, 4A Cathedral, 3A Bishop Chatard and 1A Lafayette Catholic) are still playing. In 2A, No.1 Ritter is out, but either No. 2 Monrovia (13-0) and No. 3 Paoli (13-0) will reach the title game because they meet Friday.

If you want to see whose really number one, it'll cost you $14 this weekend. That's the price of a ticket to see 5A No.1 Carmel (12-1) at Merrillville Friday and another ticket to see 4a No. 2 Bishop Dwenger (13-0) at Lowell Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.

1.) 5A Merrillville (12-1)
2008 (8-5), 2007 (12-2), 2006 (7-5), 2005 (11-3), 2004 (6-5)

MERRILLVILLE: The Pirates seem to be just hanging on. They scored late to beat Portage 9-3 for the sectional tile and they held on late to beat Mishawaka 28-27 for the regional crown. The expectations here are always so high Merrillville is 33-7 in the last three years but the moment of truth has come. The Pirates need a peak performance when they host top-ranked Carmel Friday for the right to go to the state finals and they need their fans to show up and try to lift them over the No. 1 team.

2.) 4A Lowell (10-1)
2008 (13-1), 2007 (13-2), 2006 (7-6), 2005 (11-4), 2004 (9-4)

LOWELL: The Devils also face 'Judgment Day' Saturday when they take on undefeated Bishop Dwenger in the 4A Northern Semistate. But the Devils seem to be surging. They blasted Concord 60-23 to win the sectional for the seventh straight season and they wiped out Morton 42-0 to win the school's third consecutive regional. Lowell is 65-18 in the last six years and there's no sign that's going to end. But Bishop Dwenger has been the semistate hurdle the last 3 years and they are 62-6 in the last five years. The Devils are trying to become the first NW Indiana team in the 37 years of the state tournament to reach the state finals by defeating four (No. 6 Plymouth, No. 9 Washington, No. 10 Morton and No. 2 Dwenger) Top-10 teams. No matter what happens, these are the 'Good Old Days' of Lowell football.

3.) 3A Andrean (9-4)
2008 (6-7), 2007 (9-4), 2006 (8-3), 2005 (8-2), 2004 (13-2)

MERRILLVILLE: I cannot explain how Andrean lost to Jimtown (12-1) 10-7 in the regional championship after leading 7-0 in the first half of the first quarter on the road. Any explanations are excuses, but the Niners are the better team. I world be amazed if Jimtown wins the semistate game at West Lafayette and reaches the finals. It will be tough for the 59ers to replace QB Richard Schmidt (164 of 280, 2,331 yards, 28 TDs, 9 interceptions) and WR Mike Skinner (54 catches, 988 yards, 10 TDs), not to mention senior Halfback Robert Saltanovitz (177 carries, 1,004 yards, 10 TDs). WR Demetri Blanco (35 catches, 405 yards), top linebacker Danny McKenna (119 tackles) and kicker Danny Wirtz return, but there's going to be a lot of new kids on the block in 2010.

4.) 5A Portage (6-6)
2008 (6-4), 2007 (5-5), 2006 (6-5), 2005 (2-8), 2004 (8-4)

PORTAGE: Portage left the tournament with a loser's honor after a 9-3 loss at regional champion Merrillville (12-1). Jake Dixon (6-1, 180) finished with 24 TDs and he will return with QB Zach Huston to lead the Indians in 2010. Why are they fourth with a 6-6 record? You know why. Strength of schedule. Two games against Merrillville, two games against Chesterton (7-4) and a non-conference game against Chicago superpower St. Rita (9-3). 2009 was a good season for Portage football and 2010 will be better.

5.) 5A Chesterton (7-4)
2008 (9-3), 2007 (6-4), 2006 (5-6), 2005 (3-8), 2004 (5-5)

CHESTERTON: The Trojans lost 14-0 in the mud at home to Portage. Chesterton did not score many points (51) the last five weeks. Chesterton returns QB Jon Watson for 2010 as well as place kicker Kyle Schmidt (field goals). They have some younger players with promise, but a quality QB and a state class kicker is a good start. The Trojans aren't ahead of Portage in the final poll because of a very weak non-conference schedule, but they should also excel in 2010.

6.) 5A LaPorte (6-4)
2008 (4-8), 2007 (8-3), 2006 (12-1), 2005 (11-1), 2004 (4-7)

LaPORTE: Wonder what LaPorte folks felt like watching Merrillville's 28-27 win (you know some of them were there) over Mishawaka in the 5A regional championship? The Slicers lost 31-0 to Merrillville (12-1) and 27-14 to Mishawaka (11-1) and that's tough competition. LaPorte also defeated Portage (6-6), a sectional title game finalist. Nick Latchford finished with an official 1,047 yards and 13 TDs on 155 carries and he'll return in 2010. I repeat the strangest statistic in ALL of NW Indiana high school football. LaPorte was 5-0 at home in 2009 and 1-4 on the road. In the last four seasons, the Slicers are 16-7 at home and 7-16 on the road. They know it makes no sense.

7.) 5A Michigan City (6-4)
2008 (4-6), 2007 (2-8), 2006 (1-9), 2005 (6-5), 2004 (4-6)

MICHIGAN CITY: For purposes of the final rankings, though, we include Harmon, who gained 1,264 yards. Forget the last game. MC defeated South Bend Washington (8-3), Chesterton (7-4) and Valparaiso (5-5) and they were very competitive all season until the final game. Big QB Rodney Washington (57 of 114, 960 yards) returns for 2010. MC can be better in 2010, but they'll have to be because the DAC will be very strong in 2010. Why? For one thing, Valparaiso, Portage, Chesterton, Merrillville, CP and Michigan City all return the starting QB in 2010.

8.) 5A Valparaiso (5-5)

2008 (9-2), 2007 (6-5), 2006 (3-6), 2005 (5-5), 2004 (6-5)

VALPARAISO: Not a bad year for Valparaiso when you consider they played the entire year without their starting QB Zack Livovich and a handful of other offensive players missed considerable time. Valpo lost twice to Merrillville (12-1) and once to Penn (10-2), but they rolled over Griffith (6-5), Portage (6-6) and Chesterton (7-4). Senior Michael Perkins finished with 120 carries for 916 yards. Nick Thompson was injured after 72 carries for 572 yards. Soph QB Paul Andrie (40 of 65, 585 yards, 4 TDs) returns for two more seasons. Why are they in the Top-10 at 6-6? The schedule. Why ardent they higher? They were never healthy. You can't rank them on what might have been.

9.) 4A Morton (10-1)
2008 (7-5) 2007 (6-4), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (8-4)

HAMMOND: Morton got smoked out 42-0 by Lowell in front of 5,000 fans in the 4A Regional title game on Friday the 13th. That's no day to be playing with the Devils. The only way they could have won is if Bill Belicheck had been coaching the Devils. It was a landmark year for the Governors who won their first sectional in the 37 years of the state tournament. Morton needs a tougher non-conference schedule and I think they realize that. Chesterton plays Lew Wallace and probably would rather not. Morton-Chesterton would toughen up the Governors. Morton returns TWO QBs for 2010 plus halfback Kalyn Aaron. And if they can sell 1/10 of those 5,000 fans season tickets for next year, they are in good shape.

10.) 5A Munster (7-3)
2008 (7-4) , 2007 (3-7), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (3-7)

MUNSTER: Why is Munster ahead of Wheeler (11-1)? Munster's has wins over Andrean (9-4) and Lowell (12-1) and those wins are strong. The Mustangs also lost 14-13 to Morton (11-2). Munster QB Mark Strbjak (63 of 123, 844 yards, 16 TDs) returns and that's a good start for 2010. Munster may not be 10th in the final poll. Let's see how far the teams Munster defeated go in the post-season. Remember... they did beat Lowell. Fair and square.

On the outside looking in...

2A Wheeler (11-1)
2008 (9-1), 2007 (11-2), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (5-5)

UNION TOWNSHIP: Don't judge this season yet, either. The team that tipped Wheeler 21-18, Rensselaer (11-2) is still going. Wheeler seems to be gaining ground. They ALMOST defeated Rensselaer and they probably could have defeated Fairfield, the regional foe the Rensselaer smoked 35-0. I can't make the schedule for them, but Wheeler against Lowell would draw more fans than a Sarah Palin book signing.