Portage reverts to old ways, dominates Bulldogs in 40-3 Sectional semifinal win
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Friday, Nov. 1, 2002  - 28 degrees in Portage

Scoring Summary:

1st Q: PORTAGE  (7-0) Mark Fleming, 12-yard pass (9th TD, 7th TD catch)
from Adam Hasiak (23rd TD).  Mike Hutchins kick.
2nd Q: CROWN POINT (7-3)Chris Kutanovski, 30-yard field goal (3rd FG).
PORTAGE (14-3) Adam Hasiak, 10-yard run. (7th TD)   Kick blocked.
PORTAGE (20-3) Frank Knez, 22-yard pass (4th TD catch) from Hasiak  (24th TD pass). Mike Hutchins kick.
PORTAGE (26-3) Mark Fleming, 31-yard run (10th TD, 3rd TD run).  Kick blocked.

3rd Q: PORTAGE (33-3) Adam Hasiak, 1-yard run. (8th TD) Hutchins kick.
PORTAGE   (40-3)   Steve Vaught, 13-yard run (6th TD, 1st TD run) Mike Hutchins kick.

PORTAGE (11-1-2002) At the start of the season, if Crown Point had gone to play at Portage and Portage had won 40-3, nobody would've been too surprised since Portage was 7-3 last year and Crown Point was 1-9. It's funny how a few wins can change your perspective.

Crown Point and Portage both reverted to pre-2002 form Friday and the Indians advanced easily with a big Sectional One semifinal win. Scoring on the first possession and dominating from the second quarter on, Portage made Crown Point look a lot worse than they are, rolling up 412 yards.

Don't get me wrong. Portage very much deserved to win this game. They outgained CP 412-281 in a game where turnovers were not an issue (both sides had only one). This was one team rolling up and down the field and into the end zone while the other team just rolled up and down the field.

After Portage drove 77 yards for the opening TD, a 12-yad pass from senior QB Adam Hasiak to fullback- Mark Fleming, Dan Paulsen intercepted an option pass on a trick play on CP's first possession. Chris Kutanovski's 30-yard field goal cut the lead to 7-3 at the top of the second quarter but Portage blew them out after that, scoring three times in the second quarter.

The Indians had to take notice of The Times newspaper saying that CP seemed destined to play Valparaiso for the sectional championship. "Destined'  was a little strong when Portage is 88-29 over the last decade.  The Indians had lost 2-of-3 coming into the playoffs while CP had won three in a row but CP hadn't won a road playoff game in seven years.  There had been rumors of all kinds of internal trouble at Portage but, either they cleared the air, or the rumors were as bogus as CP's supposed 'destiny'.

Portage, playing without halfback Paul Reed (118 carries - 515 yards) didn't need him. They ran over the CP defensive front and held Crown Point to only 50 yards rushing.  CP quarterback Matt Cowan, operating behind good pass blocking, completed 20 of 40 passes for an unofficial 231 yards but he never completed one to the end zone. The Indians were without two defensive backs, Chuckie Severs and Mark Sedoris, both of whom who were injured, and that may have helped CP lift their air totals.

Crown Point seemed to feel pressure on the brightly lit field in 30-degree weather. The game wasn't as embarrassing as the final score was but when Mark Fleming ran 31 yards for a score late in the second quarter to make it 26-3, the game was realistically over. Crown Point hasn't beaten Portage in recent years, losing 11 of the last 12 meetings. And to fall by 37 points to an injury-riddled squad (although Portage has always had team depth) will diminish this season. The Bulldogs did not actually win anything significant this year. They did not win the DAC (although they did place second) and they did not even reach the sectional championship game.

To go 8-3 with no trophy does not mean very much in the overall scheme of things. But truthfully, CP was 6-3-2. They went to overtime twice and those games are really ties. CP clearly started something but they just as clearly did not finish it. Portage and Valparaiso have dominated the DAC for a decade and block Crown Point's path in the sectional every season.

There's no magic answer to beating the the two big hitters of the DAC but CP can't consider themselves where they want to be until they are even with the Indians and Vikings. It's funny how a few wins can change your perspective.

DOG NOTES: You knew things weren't going well for CP on the first series when an overthrown pass tipped off the hands of FB Mark Fleming directly to TE Steve Vaught.  But this wasn't a lucky victory. Potage ran for 266 yards, the most against the Bulldogs this season. Mark Fleming gained 143 yards on 18 carries.

The Cable Channel 3 television crew had a hard time with the blowout game. The announcers confused the CP and the Portage roster all night, calling CP boys by the names of the Portage boy with the same number and vice versa.  They misidentified CP's Bobby Rutherford making a hard hit (they said it was Chris Sprehe).  Jamie Perko and Chris Ramirez, admitted Lake Athletic Conference guys who had done LAC games most of the season, simply had not seen Portage and CP in two months and weren't that familiar with them. Perko clearly also had not seen the earlier televised CP-Portage saying that Portage ran a no-huddle offense all year. They only ran it occasionally. Perko did not know that Dave Swenson, a right guard for the last two games, was not an offensive lineman. Both announcers know and care much more about the LAC schools than they do about the DAC. They spoke a lot of the LAC Class 4A matchups and very little about upcoming Valpo-Portage and Valpo-Penn games. They exhibited a common flaw among local broadcasters. Lack of preparation.

Crown Point fan support was outstanding, considering the bitter weather. Over 500 fans rolled down Route 6 for the big game.  Crown Point's boys were escorted to I-65 by local police and fire vehicles at 4:30 p.m. last Friday.  Parents and fans lined the driveway which led the boys from the school building to the team buses.

It was nice and it was sweet but, to be honest, it's not the kind of thing fans of a winning program do for a sectional semifinal game against a team that finished behind them in the standings. What this year did for Crown Point was to get the newness of winning out of their system.