The RENEGADE 2009 NW Indiana High School Top-10, Week-6 Football Poll

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-21-2009

MERRILLVILLE (9-25-2009) Merrillville, Portage, Lowell and Andrean justified the top of the poll, but it's the bottom that will grab some interest. Can you rank Morton in the Top-10 after their last second win over undefeated Munster? I didn't have Munster ranked that highly because of who they've played, but Morton has played tougher teams like Lowell (5-0) and Griffith (2-3), which Munster has not yet seen. Now that they have the same records you'd have to move Morton past Munster. But polls shouldn't be ALL about your record and who you've played. They are also about how good you are right now. Morton suffered at least two significant injuries in the 14-13 win over Munster including their place kicker. How good will they be this week against arch rival Hammond (4-1)?

Allow me to illustrate the ranking problem. Valparaiso is 2-3. But they've played four games without their starting quarterback, Zack Livovich, an all-conference player. You can't ignore the fact that, as soon as he comes back and is 100%, the Vikings can ashcan all that 'Wildcat' nonsense and go back to being a solid big school team. Rankings are designed to tell you who'd beat who. And certainly Valpo, with Livovich, would beat Morton, minus two or three key players. You must respect that.

State wide, Penn's No. 1 ranking is a little marshmallow. The Kingsmen barely survived South Bend Clay 28-21. Clay is a good 4A team, but nothing like anyone else in the 5A Top-10. How'd Penn get to be number one? Three really good teams: Carmel, Warren Central and Center Grove all lose to other really good teams. I don't even think Penn believes they are the top 5A team in the state.

And 3A Andrean, which has lost to 5A teams Merrillville (4-1) and Munster (4-1) isn't even in the state Top-10 despite three other solid wins and high prospects coming into the year? I keep saying this. Andrean will be the last team standing from the six county area (Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Starke and Newton) in November.

1.) 5A Merrillville (4-1)
2008 (8-5), 2007 (12-2), 2006 (7-5), 2005 (11-3), 2004 (6-5)

MERRILLVILLE: Merrillville rejected the upset bid of undefeated Michigan City 25-13 as Denzell Pierce scored a TD for the fourth week in a row. The Pirates gave up 300 yards to MC but they outscored the Wolves 21-3 in the second half. Merrillville has defeated MC (4-1), Portage (3-2) and Andrean (3-2) and all four wins for the Pirates are by 10 points or more. Another test comes in week six against LaPorte (4-1). Anyone who's given the Pirates the 2009 DAC title has not looked at the remainder of their schedule.

2.) 4A Lowell (5-0)
2008 (13-1), 2007 (13-2), 2006 (7-6), 2005 (11-4), 2004 (9-4)

LOWELL: The Devils posted a shutout in a 42-0 win over Highland. Halfback Brandon Grubbe scored two TDs while Cole Midgett added two more including a 60-yard punt return. Lowell has enough speed to return a kick for a TD every other week but somehow it doesn't happen. Midgett also was 6-foot-6 on extra points, an improvement. Lowell has won 20 regular season games and they seem comfortable in what kind of team they are on offense now. A couple of their injured backups are back in action now and the Devils may be stronger than they were two weeks ago. With that said, they didn't move up in the poll because of what they did against Highland.

3.) 5A Portage (3-2)
2008 (6-4), 2007 (5-5), 2006 (6-5), 2005 (2-8), 2004 (8-4)

PORTAGE: Portage outran Crown Point 43-22 as they scored five TDs of 40 yards or more. QB Zack Huston is over 600 yards rushing while star halfback Jake Dixon is near 500 yards on the ground. But Portage has defensive problems. They have speed, but they were pushed around at times by CP. It was 30-22 with 4 minutes to play. The Indians have given up 1200 yards rushing in five games and I'm worried that you can't correct the inability to stop the run in the middle of the year. They're very good and Huston and Dixon are TD makers. But the Indians need run stoppers this week when they match option offenses with Chesterton (3-2).

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

MERRILLVILLE: Andrean never punted in a 48-25 win over Hobart. It was 28-25 in the third quarter, but the Niners pulled away behind QB Richard Schmidt. Andrean has lost wide receiver Demitri Blanco to injury for the next couple of weeks but it didn't slow them against the Brickies. The Niners now have two losing teams in KV (1-4) and Highland (1-4) before they close the regular season against Griffith (2-3) and Lowell (5-0). Again, I see Jimtown (5-0) and Lakeland (5-0) in 3A sectional 18. But look at 3A in this part of the state and who do you KNOW will beat Andrean? Who will have played the schedule Andean has played? Andrean (3-2) vs. West Lafayette in the semistate?

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

LaPORTE: It's not hard to pick LaPorte games. When they are on the road against a tough team that can run the ball. Pick them to lose. When they are at home against almost anybody, pick them to win. The Slicers poured 400 yards on Lake Central in a 49-13 win last week. LaPorte's Nick Latchford now has 10 TDs and I still don't know who he is. LaPorte averages 35 points a game and averages giving up 22.

The Slicers hit the road now for games at Merrillville (Sept. 25) and Crown Point (Oct.2). They could be in for a rougher two weeks than Purdue is.

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

MICHIGAN CITY: Okay, we can be honest. Michigan City was supposed to lose to Merrillville. You know it and they know it. MC committed 12 penalties and fumbled twice in front of a crowd of about 5,000, one of MC's biggest ever. It doesn't mean they aren't good. It means MC wasn't ready for this kind of stage yet. Look, their goal was not to beat Merrillville at all costs. Michigan City's goal was to win a lot. And they have four winnable games left on the schedule if they aren't too 'crushed' because they lost to the Pirates. One reminder. MC is in 5A Sectional 2 with Penn (5-0), Mishawaka (4-1) and LaPorte (4-1). Not in 5A Sectional One with Merrillville.

7.) 5A Chesterton (3-2)
2008 (9-3), 2007 (6-4), 2006 (5-6), 2005 (3-8), 2004 (5-5)

CHESTERTON: Chesterton lost 35-23 to Valparaiso, something that would not have been a surprise at the start of the year, but in some alternative level of confused thinking, was termed an upset. The Trojans gave up 350 yards rushing to Valparaiso even when Valpo was using the 'Wildcat' formation and Chesterton KNEW Valpo was running the ball. The Trojans gained 300 total yards, so apparently, there's nothing wrong with the air attack. Nick and Jon Watson combined for all three TDs. Chesterton's option offense should have fun this week at Portage where the Indians can't stop the run. Will 5 TDs be enough?

8.) 5A Valparaiso (2-3)

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

VALPARAISO: Valpo rose up and smacked down neighbor Chesterton 35-23 as Michael Perkins scored three TDs and Valpo was 5-for-5 passing from QB Paul Andrie. Perkins gained 231 yards on 17 carries, more than he had gained in his first four games combined. I'm not sure how confident Valpo is right now and, with injured QB Zack Livovich, they aren't that good. The fact that they're using the 'Flintstone-era' Wildcat attack indicates they are less of a team without Livovich. But word is he may be back in the next week or two. Crown Point wouldn't mind if Livovich took his time coming back. At least until after this Friday.

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

HAMMOND: Morton drove 94 yards in the final minute and a half to edge Munster 14-13, and while that does not make them better than Munster, the schedule does. The Governors were very competitive with Lowell (5-0) and they shut out Griffith. I don't know the physical condition of some of their players. Apparently it was a rough injury week. The crazy alternating quarterback concept is just not something I'd do, but it's working so far. Hey, when we're faced with Governors like Palin, Blagojevich and Mitch Daniels, I'll vote for the Governors from Morton. Morton has Hammond, West Side, Hobart and Gavit left. They could go 8-1.

10.) 5A Munster (4-1)
2008 (7-4) , 2007 (3-7), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (3-7)

MUNSTER: Munster lost on a last second pass 14-13 at Morton (4-1), but truthfully, the Mustangs shouldn't have beaten Andrean in week four so 4-1 is about where they should be. The Mustangs had 230 yards rushing, but QB Mark Strbjak threw three interceptions. The Mustangs give a solid effort every time out, but I don't think they rate with the teams ahead of them in this poll.

I've waited all year for Munster to play Griffith, Hobart and Lowell on consecutive Fridays and here it is. I just don't know about this team, but I will in three weeks.