by Mark Smith
History: This is the 16th meeting of Chesterton and Crown Point. The Trojans have won the last four games and lead the series 8-7. Chesterton won twice last year, 14-0 in the regular season at Chesterton and 35-7 in the sectional quarterfinal in Chesterton.
Parking:
This is CP's homecoming and Chesterton is expected to bring a good
crowd. You've got to get into the parking lot early or you wont get in at all.
CROWN POINT, Indiana - Chesterton is a big, strong, run-oriented
team with an unofficial 2,025 yards rushing (289.2 per game) in seven games.
Only LaPorte and Valparaiso have come close to stopping the Trojans' rushing
attack. Truthfully, Chesterton should be 5-2. A controversial fumble call
against LaPorte's Jerome Vann saved Chesterton in a 21-20 overtime victory for
the Trojans. Chesterton has a 'bad weather' Lake County offense as was evidenced
last week in a 33-13 victory over Hobart. When 20-30 mile and hour winds limited
the pass attack of the Brickies (2 of 14, 29 yards) , Chesterton rolled to a
27-0 second quarter lead and an easy win.
The
Trojans will run hard with QB Ryan Kelley (5-9, 170), fullback Jim Sosnowski
(5-11, 190) and halfback Nick Johnson (6-1, 205). Kelley is the quick speed back
while Johnson and Sosnowski run with power.
It works because of a big offensive line led by senior tackle Spencer West (6-2,
290), Mark Fekete (6-1, 265) and Rich Rosetti (6-1, 240). They have 100 first
downs, which indicates that they control the football and keep your offense on
the bench. Kicker Steve Joyce is an experienced senior who has field goals of
32, 40, 42 and 44 yards this year. The Trojans have lost only five fumbles in
seven games. They are not hard to read. If you don't fumble and keep picking up
first downs, you'll win most of your games. The defense is suspect.
Portage
QB Adam Hasiak completed 31 of 52 for 414 yards against Chesterton. LaPorte's
Kevin Brandy completed 11 of 20 for 195 yards against the Trojans. Valpo's Jason
Renn hit just 8 of 16 for 79 yards and no TDs in a 17-10 Valpo win in what was
probably the Trojans best defensive effort.
Crown Point survived their very own 'Axis of Evil', consecutive games against
Valparaiso (6-1), Portage (6-1) and at LaPorte (4-3). After winning three games
in the final minute or in overtime this season, the Bulldogs have confidence in
close games.
The face of this game changed when the state tournament draw came out Wednesday afternoon. One Sectional 1 quarterfinal match (10-25-2002) will be an exact rematch of this Friday's game, Chesterton at Crown Point. So, you're not going to see any trick plays from Crown Point this Friday (10-11-2002) because coach Chip Pettit and his staff aren't going to waste them.
Chesterton
is, in theory, playing for a shot at the Duneland Athletic Conference title. If
Portage (6-1, 4-1) upsets Valparaiso (6-1, 5-0) at Valpo Friday, Chesterton can
create a three-way first place tie with one week left. But the Bulldogs are
playing their final regular season game at the old Crown Point high school.
Three years ago, Chesterton closed their old school's field with a 56-28 win
over Crown Point. The Bulldogs would like to return the favor.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN: The physical strength of Chesterton is
formidable but on a dry field and a relatively warm night, the key to the game
will be how the Trojans defend CP's junior QB Matt Cowan (72 of 131, 943 yards,
10 TDs, 2 INTs) throwing to speedy Bobby Rutherford (26 catches - 425 yards, 5
TDs) and tall Sean O'Drobinak (24 catches - 277 yards, 4 TDs). Nick
Johnson, Chesterton's star defensive end, will be in charge of keeping Cowan (82
carries, 379 yards) from running all over the field. Lately, CP senior Chris
Kutanovski (6 catches - 71 yards) has been an alternative wide receiver out of
the backfield. Look again for Crown Point to go to three and four wide receiver
formations to attack the Trojans where they've been weak.
No team has run for more than 200 yards against Crown Point this season. The Trojans haven't completed more than four passes in any game this year and it's going to be difficult for them to run over Crown Point, which should see this as the defining game of their season.
I like Crown Point coming out throwing the football and running Matt Cowan on his own. It's basically what Portage does and they rolled up 40 points and almost 500 yards. The Bulldogs will take an early lead and will force Chesterton out of their 98%-running offense.
Chesterton can get 200-250 yards on the ground with the option but, unlike Valpo and Portage, CP sees some option in the preseason scrimmage against Griffith. Crown Point has some quickness and is very well-suited to face Chesterton. Both games last year were competitive.
This may surprise some, and it may not be the best outcome with a state tournament rematch due in two weeks but Crown Point should lead all the way, control this game on the offensive end and win somewhat decisively.
CROWN POINT 33, Chesterton 24
DOG NOTES: Crown Point has not lost a fumble in each of the last three games after losing seven fumbles in their first four games. The eight teams Crown Point has played (counting Chesterton) have a combined record of 32-24. Crown Point did not get a good state tournament draw. The Bulldogs would have to beat Chesterton, Portage and Valparaiso in order to win 5A Sectional one. Area broadcast media, which failed to recognize that Friday's game was the final CP regular season home game after 48 years and a top DAC match-up (no one is covering the game but newspapers) gets a second chance with the CP-Chesterton rematch on Oct. 25. This is the same draw the Bulldogs and Trojans got last year. Crown Point has 11 interceptions this season with just 15 quarterback sacks.
Crown
Point has allowed just 29 fourth quarter points all year. Of those, 21 were
against East Chicago when the Bulldogs led 49-0 and two points were an
intentional safety against Hobart.