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Chesterton (6-3) at Crown Point (3-6) |
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Week 10 - Football Game of the Week Preview
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Chesterton (6-3) at Crown Point (3-6) |
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10-21-2009
When: 7:00 p.m.
CDT,
Friday, October 23, 2009
Where:
1500 S. Main, Crown Point, IN
TV/Radio/Internet: No live over-the-air radio. Radio updates on WLPR (89.1) FM.
Live Internet coverage on www.USA-365.com. Highlights on Lakeshore Public Television (Comcast Cable Ch. 17) at 10:30 p.m.
If they WIN: CROWN POINT would host
Portage or play at East Chicago. Chesterton would host Portage or East
Chicago... in the 5A Sectional One semifinals.
Numbers: Crown Point: Class 5A,
enrollment 2,446; Chesterton - 5A enrollment - 1,931
Tickets: $5 Lots of tickets will be available. I have noticed that once
the regular season ends, some who regularly attend home
games either forget there's a game, don't know or simply
stay away because the weather is bad. So, attendance may be
down this Friday at Crown Point. Tickets are available. You
can get them at CPHS or Chesterton, but, trust me, tickets
will be available at the gate. You can show up at 6:45
p.m. and
buy a ticket.
Weather: As I'm writing, it's 70 degrees and sunny. The birds are singing and the kids are playing. But its all
a cruel illusion. The bottom drops out of the weather AGAIN
just in time for the Friday football game. Temperatures
should be in the low 50s Friday with a 50% chance of rain. You need all the coats and umbrellas you can find. It
may
even seem warm early Friday, but the forecast is for things
to go downhill late Friday.
With the artificial turf removing the mud factor, the cool
weather will be again, good for the boys but bad for those
of us watching.
Parking: No problems on this night. Due to the
weather and the records of the two teams there won't be
anything approaching a sellout crowd. There's plenty of
room for you and your car and you should be able to park
near the field, wait through any rain, and shuffle on in
just before the kickoff. Again, if you show up late, St.
Matthias Church (they charge one dollar) just west of the
school has plenty of room and you only have about a 100-yard
walk to the stadium. Two weeks ago: It wasn't
pretty. Chesterton defeated Crown Point 14-3 in a game that
was memorable only for the fact that CP did not gain one
first down. I do not remember a CP game in 20 years where
they did not gain at least one first down.
Crown Point leads the series 14-12.
FAST FOOTBALL FACT: Chesterton is the Chicago Cubs. In
37 years of the football state tournament, Chesterton has
never won a sectional championship.
CHESTERTON: Chesterton High School has been around
since the early part of the 20th century, but they didn't
have varsity football on a consistent basis until 1960. The
Trojans played in the Porter County Conference (PCC)
basketball tournament until 1958 when they had grown too
large for the other PCC schools.
Chesterton is a 130-year-old town of about 11,000 that began
as a railroad stop on the way to Chicago, which oddly, was
originally named Calumet. A French fur trader named Joseph Bailly was the first white man to settle in Chesterton. The
present day Bailly Elementary School in Chesterton is named
in his honor and his original home is preserved at the
Lakeshore Dunes National Lakeshore. The Dunes National Park
is what Chesterton is best known for, but Chesterton is in
the old Calumet River Basin area and Indians hunted and
fished there going back to the mid-1600s.
In all the years I've been going there I have never met
anyone who knows why Chesterton is called Chesterton. Who
was Chester?
Why did they named the town after him?
The most common response I've received is: Who cares?
Chesterton became a bedroom community for Gary Steelworkers
in the middle of the 20th Century and the high school became
a charter member of the appropriately named Duneland
Athletic
Conference in 1970.
But they have won only two DAC titles, an undisputed
championship in 2000 and a half-share of the title in 1971. Chesterton was the second of the present eight DAC
schools to undergo its 21st Century makeover as the school
moved into a modern new building ten years ago. Merrillville
renovated in the early 90s and Crown Point moved into a new
building in the fall of 2003.
If you have been to CPHS and CHS, you'll notice a lot of similarities. Former CP athletic director Jerry Caravana visited the new Chesterton high school when he was working with the builders of the new CPHS. If you look closely at Hobart high school, you'll see some aspects of Merrillville, Chesterton and Crown Point in the new building there.
While some schools change leagues, Chesterton is the original "Duneland" school and they'll always be in the Duneland Conference. The problem for them is that Chesterton doesn't appear to be growing as a high school, while Crown Point, Lake Central and Merrillville obviously are. And until the Trojans win the first sectional football title, they'll always be somewhat of a sentimental favorite. They probably see Crown Point as a stepping stone this Friday.
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| Austin Atherton (1) looks for help from Peter Parks (40) on his 75-yard kickoff return at Chesterton on Oct. 9. The Trojans won 14-3 two weeks ago and the rematch is Friday night at Crown Point at 7:00 p.m. (Photo by Mark Smith) |
5A Chesterton (6-3)
Coach: John Snyder (54-43) 9th year
Enrollment: 1,875
2008 record: 9-3*
Sectional titles (0)
Regional titles: (0)
*Lost 5A sectional one championship game 14-7 to
Merrillville in 2008
Chesterton Trojans (6-3)
all games begin at 7:00 p.m.
8-21 (W) 44-0 Lew Wallace (1-7)
8-28 (W) 28-0 at New Prairie (5-4)
9-4 (L) 21-31 at Michigan City (6-3)
9-11 (L) 38-14 LaPorte (6-3)
9-18 (L) 23-35 Valparaiso (5-4)
9-25 (W) 31-28 at Portage (5-4)
10-2 (W) 40-7 Lake Central (1-8)
10-9 (W) 14-3 Crown Point (3-6)
10-16 (L) 21-28 at MERRILLVILLE (8-1)
Class 5A Sectional (1) One
Oct. 23 (F) at CROWN POINT (3-6) 7 p.m.
Oct. 30 (F) home vs. Portage (5-4) or East Chicago (3-6)
CROWN POINT (3-6)
Coach: Chip Pettit - 52-38, 8 seasons)
Enrollment: 2,426
2008 record: 3-7
Sectional titles (3) 1998, 1991, 2006
Regional titles: (1) 1991
Lost sectional quarterfinal game 42-6 at Merrillville in
2008
Crown Point Bulldogs (3-6)
Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) games in CAPS - all games
begin at 7:00 p.m.
8-21 (L) 0-19 at Lowell (8-1)
8-28 (W) 14-7 Hobart (2-7)
9-4 (L) 14-38 MERRILLVILLE (8-1)
9-11 (W) 23-21 at LAKE CENTRAL (1-8)
9-18 (L) 22-43 at PORTAGE (5-4)
9-25 (L) 21-52 VALPARAISO (5-4)
10-2 (W) 27-17 LaPORTE (6-3)
10-9 (L) 3-14 at CHESTERTON (6-3)
10-16 (L) 3-35 MICHIGAN CITY (5-4)
Class 5A Sectional (1) One
Oct. 23 (F) Chesterton (6-3)
Oct. 30 (F) Portage (4-5)
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME:
1. Get revenge on the mud people
Sounds like a horror film.
But the Chesterton-Crown Point game played on Oct. 9th was
played on a field that was sabotaged by two days of
rain. The Bulldogs did not handle it well and they gained
just 23 total yards. It was embarrassing. Then the IHSAA
draw sent CP a "do over." A chance to make the memory of
that soggy, messy night go away. The Bulldogs drew the team
that muddied them up and they get to play on their own
familiar mud-free artificial turf here in Lake County.
Second chances are great.
2. Make sure Jon is not the one
The Trojans' option offense usually ends up with the ball in the hands of junior quarterback Jon Watson (6-2, 175) who has run 154 times for 805 yards and 15 TDs. Watson is a decent passer, but you want him to throw because that gives your team the ball back sooner.
It's a false choice, because the Trojans only throw the ball about eight times a game. Chesterton does not have the speed to get outside on the Bulldog defense. Stuff the fullback and tackle Jon Watson on every play (easier said than done) and go from there.
The Bottom Line...
CROWN POINT: The Bulldogs take an early lead on a TD pass from Joe Hopman to Austin Atherton and Hopman should gain good yards on his own as the Trojans will key on halfback Mason Popovich. Watson will have success through the air, but CP will limit the ground game.
The key to the game will be influencing Chesterton to throw the ball, increasing the possessions and lengthening the game. If the Bulldogs can get 12 possessions, they can win. If the Trojans hold the ball and CP only gets it seven or eight times, they have little chance.
I'm looking at Brian Holloway returning a kick for a TD and Travis Woosley catching a TD pass in the second half as the Bulldogs pull ahead a second time. Greg Nowak will score from the fullback position, but CP is able to run the ball late and kill the clock for their best win of the year.
The confidence for CP will come from playing the same team the second time. They know exactly what they can and can't do. The Bulldogs showed very little two weeks ago, but under much better conditions, there's no question Crown Point will be more productive on offense. Chesterton is the better team, but it appeared to me that CP was able to defense the Trojans well two weeks ago.
CP can protect the passer against Chesterton and that will be the difference here. The game two weeks ago was not a fair judgement on Crown Point and all the pressure is on the Trojans, who are expected to win. It will be an upset.
CROWN POINT 31, Chesterton
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