Class 3A, Sectional 17 Championship: Andrean dominates New Prairie 42-14
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Friday, Nov. 8, 2002  - 62 degrees, dry in Merrillville

Scoring Summary:

1st Q: ANDREAN (7-0)  Roco Marcinak, 3-yard run.   Mark Edwards kick.
51-yard drive, 8 plays after the opening kickoff, including a 33-yard pass from Brett Goins to Aaron Babb.  8:38 left.
ANDREAN (14-0)  Rob Caldwell, 2-yard run. Mark Edwards kick. 41 yards in 6 plays after Thomas Haggard fumbled the kickoff to Andrean' s Aaron Babb at the New Prairie 41. 6:29 left.
ANDREAN (21-0) Tommy Finn, 11-yard pass from Brett Goins.  Mark Edwards kick.  43 yard drive, 11 plays including a 32-yard pass from Brett Goins to Nick Stockwell.
2nd Q: ANDREAN (28-0)  Derrell Tinner, 1-yard run.   Mark Edwards kick.
5 yards, 3 plays after Roco Marcinak stole the ball from New Prairie QB Jacob Koziel. 10:34 left.
3rd Q: ANDREAN (35-0)  Roco Marcinak. 5-yard run.   Mark Edwards kick.
42 yards, 7 plays after New Prairie gained only 2 yards on 4th-and 3 at their own 40.  6:34 left.
ANDREAN (42-0) Eric Vojvodich, 17-yard pass from Brett Goins. Mark Edwards kick. 64 yards drive, 6 plays including a 35-yard pass from Brett Goins to Chris Mackin.  1:32 left.
4th Q: NEW PRAIRIE (42-7)   Tyler Roberts, 7-yard run. Kyle Kownacki kick.  5:28 left. 80-yard drive, 10 plays.
NEW PRAIRIE (42-14)  James Schwingendorf, 1-yard run.  4:20 left. 20-yard drive, 3 plays after Aaron O'Banion recovered Derrell Tinner's fumble on the kickoff at the 59er 20-yard line.

MERRILLVILLE (11-8-2002) You almost wish it was a tougher game.
The great success Andrean has had the last six years leaves them as hungry for competition as they are for wins. The 59ers' 42-14 victory over New Prairie for their second consecutive sectional championship came so easily to the home team that many of us on the sidelines started looking ahead after one quarter.

"The goal is to move on to the next week and have no one get hurt," said a  matter-of-fact speaking coach Wally McCormack afterwards.  "Andrean has had so much success the past couple of years that some of the fans, kids and other people take it for granted how tough it is to win a sectional or regional. The only expectations that really matter are the ones we put on ourselves."

True, but there's no hiding the fact that the defending sectional, regional and northern semistate champions looked like state contenders again, rolling over a game - but outclassed squad from LaPorte County.

Senior quarterback Brett Goins (7-of-13, 153 yards) tossed spiral after spiral into a warm November night, leading his team to four touchdowns in the first 14 minutes of the game, blowing out the ground-oriented Cougars (8-3), who fell in the 3A Sectional 17 title game for the second consecutive year.

Andrean led 42-0 and was substituting freely when New Prairie scored twice late in the fourth quarter to get a little something for the long ride home. Understand that LaPorte, a 1st division team from the powerhouse Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC), only beat New Prairie 20-0. LaVille, which horsewhipped Whiting 28-0 for the 1A Sectional title last week, lost to New Prairie 42-7. New Prairie hadn't allowed more than 20 points in any game all season...  until they met Andrean.

The Cougars tried an onside kick to start the game but it didn't go the  required 10 yards. Immediately faced with a 4th-and-1 at the New Prairie 42, Roco Marcinak (6 carries, 23 yards, 2 TDs) powered ahead for four yards and a first down.

From that point on the 59ers dominated like they were Republicans and it was the mid-term election. Goins, who has still been intercepted only three times all year, threw a high-arching 33-yard pass to senior Aaron Babb at the New Prairie 6-yard-line.  Marcinak, who returned to action last week after cracking a rib against Lowell on Oct. 18, followed right guard Mark Bohling (5-10, 185) and right tackle Ernie Adams (6-2, 215) into the end zone and the rout was on.

The unusually warm November weather was a boost for the 59ers, who have the top passing game in northwest Indiana. Down 28-0, the Cougars were out of the game more so than most teams. In the second quarter, New Prairie mounted an all-run, 22-play, 59-yard drive that ended when kicker Kyle Kownacki missed a 28-yard field goal.  But even if they'd made the kick or scored a touchdown, the 10:32 consumed on that drive put the visitors out of the game.

"We've been smaller than a lot of the teams we play in the offensive line," said McCormack, who watched his boys go up against a larger New Prairie front. "There's a lot of guys who are 190-195 pounds who maybe won't get college scholarships but they're very good high school football players. A lot of this game is attitude and heart and a lot of little guys have that."

The numbers don't describe the game. Andrean outgained New Prairie 292-188. Junior back-up Otis Walton actually led the 59ers with 45 yards on eight carries while Derrell Tinner gained 43 yards on five carries and scored his fifth touchdown.
After the game, there was a mild celebration. The boys held up the sectional trophy but the quickly left the field and resumed normal activity. As much as the coaching staff wants the 59ers to take it one game at a time, everybody else is looking ahead. The public address announcer repeatedly announced the Twin Lakes-Frankfort score, with the knowledge that the winner (Twin Lakes, 29-26) hosts Andrean in the regional championship on Friday, Nov. 15.

"It's nice," McCormack, who was an assistant coach at Chesterton last year, said of his first coaching sectional title.  "I don't know. It's something I haven't really thought about . We were lucky to jump on them early. We'll be excited about this for a few hours and then we'll start looking at tape (of Twin Lakes). "I told the kids before the season began that because of what they did last year (13-2, lost 3-0 in the state title game) that a lot of people are going to say a lot of things about you and give you a lot more attention than you deserve. Your visibility will be very high. You can read about it and get all worked up or you can laugh at it. It's not really frustrating. It's better than being 0-12."

The truth is that McCormack can be forgiven for his 'we're not thinking about going back to the state finals' speeches. He was not at Andrean last season and he is without the memories of the high hopes (13 consecutive wins) that were crushed in a disappointing, almost embarrassing 3-0 loss to Chatard.

There was an 'athletic wrong' committed that day and all Andrean people who were there know it. It's no shame to lose like the 27-24 state finals' loss to Chatard in 1997. That was a great game. But the 3-0 loss was not representative of the talent that this Andrean team has. I would be surprised if there was anyone in the 59er football program who does not feel that this season simply cannot be a success unless and until the 59ers return to the RCA Dome this month and Chatard is again on the other side of the field.  It may not be fair, as coach McCormack says, but it is simply the way it is.   You choose to come to Andrean and football players do not choose to come to Andrean to go 9-3 or lose games 3-0 to teams that you could've beaten.

Judgment day is coming. There is no indication that the 59ers' Nov. 29 'do over' date in Indianapolis is not still on with Chatard. 

NINER NOTES: New Prairie (43 carries, 180 yards) is only the third team to rush for more than 100 yards against Andrean. 1,000-yard rusher Tyler Roberts gained 96 yards on 22 carries. Brett Goins (98 of 154, 1,678 yards, 21 TDs, 3 INTs) threw for a TD for the seventh consecutive week.  Wally McCormack called a long pass from Goins to little-used senior Chris Mackin with the score 35-0 and then turned to his assistants on the sidelines and explained "He's only had one catch his whole career. That's why I'm throwing."

McCormack then called a 17-yard TD toss to Eric Vojvodich, again telling the sideline beforehand, "He just came back from knee surgery and he doesn't have a catch all year."

That's the type of game it was.  Tommy Finn ran two wide receiver reverses for gains of five and 11 yards. File that play away because the 59ers will need it later in the playoffs.

Top-ranked Chatard held on to edge undefeated Danville 27-26 and advance to the state 3A quarterfinals. Danville led 12-7 after three quarters and it was the first sign of weakness for the defending champs after two routs.  Secretly, you wish Andrean could have and survive a test like that.  

Twin Lakes  (10-2) overcame a 14-0 first quarter deficit and a 20-14 deficit after three quarters to beat Frankfort 29-26. Frankfort, which rushed for 313 yards on 61 carries in the loss, fell 10-0 at Andean in a 3A regional last season. Unofficially Derrell Tinner is up to 920 yards on 126 carries. Andrean has now outscored the opposition 186-7 in the first quarter this season and 451-110 overall.

The 59ers are 61-16 over the last six years. This was the 8th sectional championship for Andrean in 13 years. With loss by Whiting, a local TV station may be forced to cover Andrean this week because only Valparaiso, North Judson  and Griffith are still playing locally. Griffith is playing in South Bend. 

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .