The RENEGADE 2009 NW Indiana High School Top-10, Week-7 Football Poll


A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-29-2009

 

 

MERRILLVILLE (10-02-2009) Okay, so let's see if I've got this straight in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC).  On September 11th Chesterton defeated LaPorte, which seems odd because LaPorte had already defeated Valparaiso on September 4 and Valparaiso beat Chesterton on September 18.  Now, Merrillville has already beaten Michigan City, which has already beaten Valparaiso.  But Merrillville plays Valparaiso this week so they'd better watch out.

 

Oh.  Okay.  That's simple enough.
 

Unlike the Northwest Crossroads Conference, where Lowell (6-0) is the undefeated leader and the Greater South Shore Conference where Wheeler (6-0) is the unquestioned frontrunner, the DAC is a mess that only Merrillville can clean up.  The Pirates might just do that if they win their final three games.  But the way things are going, I wouldn't bet too much on that happening.

 

State-wide, Lowell's eyes will be on Marshall County this week as Concord and Plymouth (both 6-0), both rivals of Lowell in 4A Sectional 10, go head-to-head at Plymouth.  Also Michigan City and LaPorte may take a minute late Friday to look for the score of the Penn-Mishawaka game.  I believe that Penn has defeated Mishawaka 30 years in a row.  But I've got a feeling that this is the year that the Cavemen (6-0) beat the Kingsmen (6-0) in their annual 5A match up.  Both of those schools are in 5A Sectional 2 with MC and LaPorte.  Down in Indianapolis, two giants of Hoosier high school football, defending state champ Carmel (5-1) and Warren Central (5-1) go head-to-head at Carmel.

Let's look at some mid-season grades for our Top-10, looking at once at where they are and where they figured to be in early August.
 

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

 

MERRILLVILLE:  Merrillville ran over LaPorte 31-0 for the Pirates fifth consecutive win.  Merrillville had 26 first downs and junior halfback Denzel Pierce scored TDs of 27, 48 and 67 yards while Mike Enghofer kicked a 37-yard field goal in the rain.  We all love Lowell, but anyone who does not have Merrillville ranked number one is not taking their poll seriously.  Valparaiso (3-3) may pose a serious test to Merrillville's DAC leadership this Friday, but if the Vikings don't defeat them, who will?

GRADE: A (minus) I didn't think they had to get beat by Warren by five TDs.  Maybe they had to lose, but not by that margin.  Still, the strategy of facing a state superpower in the season opener seems to be working for the Pirates for the second year in a row.
2.)  4A Lowell (6-0)
 2008 (13-1), 2007 (13-2), 2006 (7-6), 2005 (11-4), 2004 (9-4)
 

LOWELL: The Devils posted a second consecutive shutout, 35-0 in the rain at Hobart.  Brandon Grubbe ran for 200 yards and he's passed the 4,300 yards mark in pursuit of the 5000-plus totals of 1990s Whiting legends Paul Strabavy and Mike Barsich.  Lowell has three shutouts on defense, but they need a test and it may not come from injury-shorthanded Hammond high (4-2) this week.  Lowell has won 21 regular season games in a row, but they have to know that sectional rivals Plymouth and Concord are also unbeaten and the Devils have to get ready to take on either or both next month.

GRADE: A (minus) The Devils have done everything that's been asked of them on the scoreboard, but the pass defense is a bit of a worry with passing squads Munster (4-2) and Andean (4-2) left on the schedule.  You've got to love the speed of their defense and the development of QB Ray Skamay, but Lowell is 6-0 and I think they expected to be.

 


3.)  5A Valparaiso (3-3)

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

 

VALPARAISO:  Let's be honest.  WE could continue to pretend that Valpo isn't very good because of their .500 record or we can look at the last two weeks when they've run over Chesterton and Crown Point.  But we've got to be real here.  Michael Perkins and Nick Thompson both rushed for nearly 200 yards in the 52-21 win at CP.  Both seem headed for 1,000-yard seasons.  And word is that senior QB Zack Livovich (6-5, 215) returns after missing five games this week.  They may get running back Issac Bullock and lineman Matt Wagner back before the regular season ends as well.  As much as I like Andrean, I don't see Andrean (which scrimmaged Valpo in August) defeating Valparaiso in a regular season game.  The Vikings can't win the DAC outright, but they can keep Merrillville from winning it this Friday.

 

Grade: B - The Vikings have had injury problems and they have rebounded.  But they have more skill position players than anybody else in NW Indiana.
 


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

 

MERRILLVILLE:  This may be a little high for Andrean, but the losses are to 5A s Munster (4-2) and Merrillville (5-1) on the road.  QB Richard Schmidt has thrown 13 TD passes in six games and the defense has allowed just 15 points a game against a schedule that includes three 5A schools.  The 59ers let the game at Munster slip away and, while 2A Bishop Noll (4-2) might not be a quality victim and speedy WR Demetri Blanco is probably out until the ninth week at the earliest, Andrean has not been overmatched by anyone all year and that's a warning to all other 3A foes in northern Indiana.

Grade: B (plus)  The Niners haven't faced Griffith (3-3) and Lowell (6-0) yet, but those games are just for fun.  Clark (5-1) is all that stands between Andrean and the sectional title.  But like Lowell, here's a team without that much depth.

 

 

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

 

PORTAGE:  Portage is a difficult team to figure.  Although they out-gained Chesterton 428-241 in yardage, the Indians lost to Chesterton 31-28, a decision that would probably be reversed in a rematch.  With (Chicago) St. Rita (5-0) and Merrillville (5-1) on the list as one of Portage's foes, it's hard to put LaPorte and Chesterton ahead of them.  Jake Dixon scored three more TDs to give him 12 on the season.  You can make the argument that Zach Huston and Jake Dixon are the two best offensive players in the Duneland Conference.

 Grade:  B (minus) They shouldn't have lost to Chesterton.  But other than that, they are where they should be.  The run defense is a little soft, but this is a 'shootout ' team in what is increasingly becoming a shootout, artificial turf league.

 

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

 

LaPORTE:  LaPorte again went down on the road, losing 31-0 at Merrillville.  The Slicers are 3-0 at home and 1-3 away from home and I'm not saying I can explain that any more than I can explain Purdue's clock management against Notre Dame.  This week's game at Crown Point will be telling because CP has allowed a lot of points in recent weeks.  If LaPorte can't beat them, they'll need a very favorable draw to have any shelf life in the playoffs.

 GRADE: B (minus) LaPorte can close with three wins in a row, but only if they overcome this 'we can't win on the road' thing.  The Slicers' offense is potent as always.  But I don't know how strong their defense is, even after six games.
 

 

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

 

CHESTERTON:  Chesterton was lucky to beat Portage 31-28 last Friday because they gave up 426 yards.  Here's another DAC team that plays that Notre Dame defense. All 11 players look good, but put them together and the team gives up 4 TDs EVERY week.  I said this last year.  You can run the ball 95% of the time and win in every class but Class 5A.  I just don't think you can maintain the ball enough to win at the level Chesterton plays at.  There are too many play makers.

GRADE: B -  The Trojans have exceeded expectations.  I didn't think they'd be 4-2 this year and they could easily finish 6-3.  This is a bad weather team and they could excel at sectional time.
 

 

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

MICHIGAN CITY:  Michigan City defeated Lake Central 21-13 to stay one game behind Merrillville in the DAC.  But the Wolves have lost QB Rodney Washington to an undisclosed injury.  The Wolves gave up 230 rushing yards last week after giving up 250 yards to Merrillville.  That's a very bad sign because they have very good rushing teams coming in the next two weeks and if you can't stop the run, you better have Peyton Manning at QB.

GRADE: B (plus) Why no 'A'?  MC is 5-1 but one of the wins is over Roosevelt (1-5) and another is over Lake Central (1-5).  The University of Michigan is undefeated and there are doubts about them, too.  Let's see how they play now that they're favored to win.


 

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

 

HAMMOND:  Morton gained 540 yards in a 35-14 win over Hammond.  The Governors gave up 300 yards to Hammond, but Morton's offense puts the defense on the field a lot and their 'yards against' numbers are a little skewed.  Who is Kaylnn Aaron (6-0, 185) and why is he scoring all these TDs?  Aaron gained 143 yards on seven passes and 127 yards on 15 carries last week in the win over Hammond.  Morton's schedule leaves a little to be desired and they should go 8-1 with the three teams they have left.

 

GRADE: A  (minus) This is the only 'A' so far.  They've beaten Griffith (3-3) and they stopped Munster (4-2) and few would have predicted that.  But the schedule does not help Morton and they need tougher foes in a year when they could realistically (Munster and Lowell are not in Sectional 9) win their sectional.
 


10.)  5A Munster (4-2)
 2008 (7-4) , 2007 (3-7), 2006 (5-5), 2005 (3-7)


MUNSTER: We're still looking for that 10th team.  It isn't Wheeler (6-0) which cannot overcome their schedule and it isn't Crown Point, which has been blown out by Valpo, Lowell and Merrillville and hasn't scored more than 23 points in any game.  I'm very surprised how Munster's offense has melted down against Morton and Griffith.  This is a 5A team and they will draw a far better team in 5A Sectional One than Morton or Griffith.  But they are two plays away from being 6-0.

GRADE: B -  Munster was lucky to beat Andean and unlucky against Morton and Griffith.  It's hard to tell how good they are.  Wins over Highland (1-5) and Noll (4-2) are not quality for a 5A team.  Are they the 10th best team in NW Indiana?  They have to be.  Just like there aren't 25 top college teams, there aren't 10 top Northwest Indiana football teams.

 

 

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Revised: September 29, 2009 .