Week 10 - Football Game of the Week Preview

Class 4A  Sectional 9 Quarterfinal Lowell (5-4) at Roosevelt (3-5)

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

10-20-2005

When: Friday, October 21, 2005

Where:  Roosevelt High School, 730 W. 25th ST, Gary, IN.

Tickets:  $5 (Believe me. Thousands of seats are available. There will be 200 people from Lowell and 20 people from Gary)

Kickoff:    7:00 p.m.
Radio-TV:  None, and to be honest, you won't read much about this game in the newspaper Saturday.

Weather:  A little rough for fans.  Lower-50s, upper 40s, light rain is expected.
PARKING:   Plenty.  Roosevelt fans prefer basketball.

RIVALRY:   None. The only meeting of Lowell and Roosevelt was a 22-12 win for Lowell on Oct. 25, 2002, a surprisingly close game that indicated that the Devils weren't going much further; they lost to Morton the next week.  2002 was the last time that Lowell did not win a sectional title.  When this eight-team sectional was formed by enrollment figures in 2003, it became obvious that Lowell would be a contender for the title every year and that thought grew as Munster and Highland declined.  To be paired with Lowell and Hobart in football was seen as a nightmare for Roosevelt, which badly needs to be 3A in the next football classification.

In the long run, Roosevelt has a much better chance to beat Andrean, Griffith and the Hammond schools than they do Lowell, Hobart, Munster and Highland.  Here's what could happen in 2007.  Roosevelt, which  is well under 1,000 students now, drops to Class 3A and East Chicago drops from 5A into 4A sectional nine to replace them.  Michigan City slides into 5A Sectional one or Munster, which is one of the largest 4As state wide, goes up to 5A ( a nightmare for them).

There is an outside  possibility that two or all three of the largest Gary high schools, Roosevelt, West Side and Lew Wallace, drop to 3A while East Chicago drops down to 4A and sectional nine gets a bye. (Beyond Plymouth, there are no 4A schools between KV and Lafayette or between Hobart and South Bend).

But Roosevelt has bigger longevity problems than athletics.  With Horace Mann closing two years ago, the massive drop of enrollment in Gary was made much more vivid.  Gary schools are old and run down. This week's West Side-Lew Wallace game had to be moved from West Side to Wallace due to undisclosed physical problems at West Side, and they don't mean injuries to the boys.  All four remaining Gary schools are run down and vastly in need of repair or replacement.  Logic says that Wirt, the smallest school will close and consolidate with Gary Roosevelt in a new building near Broadway Ave. (No such new school is being planned that I know of.)  There is a reason that enrollment is soaring in Merrillville. There is a reason there are now several black kids at previously all-white Portage. Those are kids who used to go to Gary schools, but their parents can't justify sending them to aging, worn down city schools when there's lots of room, far better facilities and semi-welcoming (much more so than 20 years ago) neighborhoods in the suburbs.

What I'm trying to say is that Roosevelt won't exist much longer in its present form. There's a chance that, through consolidation, Roosevelt will become a much bigger school.  There is also a chance that Gary Roosevelt may not exist at all in the next decade. Gary  Roosevelt has played football since the 1920s, but all-black schools were not allowed into the IHSAA until 1942. The game between Lowell and Roosevelt this week will almost certainly be the last one, unless they draw each other next year in the first round.  Because Gary Roosevelt is not going to be around for long in Class 4A Indiana football or perhaps even in existence as a school at all. 

Freshmen game:  Highland at LOWELL  (regular season finale)  Thurs, Oct. 20 - 6 p.m.

Class 4A Lowell 

Coach: Kirk Kennedy (109-59, 15 years)

Enrollment: 1,150 

Sectional titles: (5) 1992, 94, 99, 2003, 2004 

Regional titles: (2) 1994, 99 

2004 record: 9-4 

Lost the regional championship game at home 28-21 to eventual state Class 4A runner-up Wawasee. 

Lowell Red Devils (5-4, 4-3)
8-19 (L) 6-16 Crown Point  (9-0)
8-26 (W)61-14 at Calumet (4-5)
9-2   (L) 0-21 Griffith (9-0)
9-9  (L) 13-32 at Morton  (6-3)
9-16 (L) 0-7 ANDREAN (8-1)
9-23 (W) 41-7 HAMMOND (0-9)
9-30 (W) 48-7 at Munster (3-6)
10-7 (W) 14-7 at Hobart (4-5)
10-14 (W) 41-14 Highland (4-5)

4A Sectional nine
10-21 (F) at Gary Roosevelt (3-5)
10-28 (F) vs Munster (3-6)  or  Kankakee Valley (6-3)
11-4 (Fri) Hobart (4-5)


Class 4A Roosevelt
Coach: Kennedy Hannah  (24-52 - 8th year)
Enrollment: 995
2004 record: 4-5
Northwest Conference titles: (8)  last - 2004
Sectional titles (0)
Lost the 4A Sectional nine quarterfinal game to Gary West Side 12-0

Gary Roosevelt  Panthers (3-5)
(L) 8-41  at Michigan City (5-4)
(L) 6-48  at Valparaiso  (5-4)   
(L) 6-20  East Chicago (3-6)
Sept. 9 - bye
(W)  44-6   Wirt  (2-7)   
(W)  30-0  Lew Wallace (1-8)
(W)  50-26  at (Chicago)
St. Francis. DeSales (3-6)
(L) 0-20 Gary West Side (4-5)
(L) 6-61 at Cathedral (8-1)

Class 4A Sectional 9
10-21 (F) at  LOWELL (5-4)
10-28 (F) at Munster (3-6) or Kankakee Valley (6-3)
11-4 (F) vs. Hobart

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LOWELL  (5-4) at Gary Roosevelt (3-5)
Lowell: Offense (24.9), Defense (13.8)

Gary Roosevelt: Offense (18.8), Defense (28.5)
Sagarin Computer:  Lowell by 21

GARY - In the interest of accuracy, I must mention that Gary Roosevelt has never won a state tournament football game.  They are 0-21.

But 'the Velt' lost to Lowell just 22-12 three years ago. So the Devils, who are not an offensive powerhouse, have to take this game seriously.  Running back Michael Lunn (6-0, 210) has seven TDs and two-way star Timmy Hopson has eight quarterback sacks on defense, plus 64 carries for 463 yards on offense.

Let's not pretend here.  Roosevelt's roll-out passing game is an adventure, but they always have speed and any perimeter play can go the distance. Both lines are weak. Roosevelt was held to two yards rushing by rival Gary West Side on Oct. 7.  The Panthers also gave up 462 yards rushing last Friday at Class 4A No. 2 Indianapolis Cathedral in a 61-6 shellacking.  They are coming off two serious butt-kickings and may not be in too good a mental frame of mind.

The lack of expectations here means that Roosevelt can do anything. Reverses. Halfback passes. Trick kickoff returns. Flea flickers, laterals and passes.  Roosevelt has absolutely nothing to lose. And if 20 points beats Lowell, Roosevelt can score 20 points.  The Panthers traditionally favor speed over strength, so they can score and there's no reason for them not to call ANY play against Lowell.

It is likely that Roosevelt has not scouted Lowell and they know only what they've heard.  Believe it or not, that's how Gary schools do things against schools outside Gary. Which means they'll stack the line against Scott Gray and dare Lowell to throw the ball over the top.
     
So, while the Devils want to establish the run, as always, the opportunity will be there for Jimmy Ritter to throw the ball over the top to Jeff Clemens (6-2, 185), something that is not available against league rivals.

I expect Roosevelt to be physical for a half, and if they can avoid mistakes, they can stay close. The problem here is they are notoriously weak on special teams while punt blocking and kick returning is a major Lowell strength.  You can almost bet that Lowell will block a punt for a TD or return a kick for a TD early in this game. The Devils have probably spent all week looking for holes in Roosevelt's punt blocking formation.

Gary schools tend to overrun plays so you may see Lowell run some misdirection plays with Clemens or Steffan Peck.  I've been waiting all year for a naked bootleg with QB Jimmy Ritter, who has decent speed.

The Panthers have a lot of two-way players, so Lowell wants to wear them down with off tackle runs and build the lead to the point where they can use back up players.  The Red Devils' junior varsity and freshman seasons will have ended so you may see some new Lowell players making varsity debuts late in this game.  It is also important to get junior QB Josh Kuiper on the field and let him throw the ball in case he is needed in the weeks to come.

One of the advantages of going deep into the playoffs is that you get extra weeks of practice for young players and big game experience for your veterans.  Jeff Clemens, for example, will be playing in his 11th state playoff game Friday, far more than most of the players he will go against in the next few weeks.  Sophomores Steffan Peck and Jeff Barker will be making their first playoff starts, but by the time they are seniors, they may have 10.

That's one reason why experienced playoff teams seem to get breaks early and late in state tournament games.  They are going against players who are in the post-season for the first time.

The perfect sectional draw is usually a Gary school in Gary in the quarterfinals because it serves you up a tired down 'basketball school' team late in the year after they've been beaten on for two months.  Roosevelt will gang tackle Gray in the early moments, so a play that uses him as a decoy will go for a TD. It is supposed to rain and the Panthers have some fumble problems.  A turnover will enable Lowell to double the lead early.

A special teams' TD will make it 20-0 and Roosevelt will not be as competitive after that. I see another 200-yard Friday for Scott Gray and three more TDs for Jeff Clemens. Everybody should play and Lowell should move one step closer to the sectional final game.

There's about 35 points difference between these teams. If Lowell understands this is a playoff game that they must mentally prepare for long before the kickoff, the results will take care of themselves.

LOWELL 56,  Gary Roosevelt 18

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Revised: October 20, 2005 .