Week 11 Picks:  2003 NW Indiana High School Football

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

WEEK TEN (10) ANALYSIS:  LaPorte led 10-0 at Elkhart Memorial before it all fell apart. A shoulder injury to state top scorer Andrew Patton had a lot to do with Wheeler's demise. I cannot explain how 0-9 Riley beat Adams. Lake Station and Michigan City almost pulled off significant upsets. Four Gary schools went down in class before this season but it didn't help. Gary was 0-for-5 in the first round of the playoffs. Portage over CP by less than expected and Hobart by 2 over Highland (although it took some help from the refs) were the picks of the week.

2002 Regular season (9 weeks) 85 of 109,  77.9%
2002 Playoffs:   78 of 106,  73.5%
Final 2002 (15 weeks) 163 of 215, 75.9%

2003 (Week one) 8 of 12, 66.7%
2003 (Week two) 9 of 12, 75%
2003 (Week three)  6 of 12,  50%
2003 (Week four) 12 of 12, 100%
2003 (Week five) 9 of 12, 75%
2003  (Week six) 7 of 11, 63.6%

2003 (Week seven) 6 of 10, 60%
2003 (Week eight) 8 of 10, 80%
2003 Week nine)  8 of 10, 80%
2003 (Week 10)  20 of 24, 83.3%
2003 Season: 93 of 125,  74.4%

WEEK ELEVEN (11): Oct. 31, 2003

Traditionally, the sectional and regional championships are the most difficult games to pick. So, it shouldn't be hard to pick 14 games this week. There are still a lot of soft teams in the running in week 11 and we've got to weed out the undeserving. 

State wide, the 1A bracket gets a big shakeup when Seeger (10-0) and Pioneer (10-0) go head to head. In 2A, powerhouse Harding must do or die against unbeaten Lewis Cass (10-0). In 5A, the big matches are next week. Carmel at Lafayette Jefferson and Penn at Elkhart Memorial. No one will stop Bishop Chatard or Twin Lakes this week in 3A. In 4A, the big game is in Lake County: Munster (8-2) and their rematch with Lowell (9-1).

1A  Sectional 33

West Central (7-3) 28, South Newton (6-4) 7
West Central has scored 298 points in 10 games. South Newton, which gave up 300 yards to South Central (1-9) last week, can't hang with that.

LaVille (7-3) 35, Whiting (4-6) 14
LaVille has lost to Lewis Cass (10-0), Jimtown (9-1) and New Prairie (8-2). They smoked River Forest with 417 yards rushing last week. Whiting, even at home, is overmatched here. The Oilers barely beat winless Lake Station 30-26.

2A  Sectional 25

Winamac (4-6) 20, Rensselaer (6-4) 12
The six teams that Winamac has lost to have a combined record of 43-17. Rensselaer may have been lucky to upset Wheeler, which had played a bad schedule. Winamac has played a very difficult schedule. Here is the night's biggest upset.

North Judson (6-4) 35, Bishop Noll (8-2) 12
The awful Lake Athletic Conference schedule takes down another victim as North Judson comes in on a hot streak and with more power than Noll has seen. Remember, the Jays invented the option Noll got from Griffith when Russ Radtke coached there in the 80s.

3A  Sectional 17

ANDREAN (10-0) 42, Morton (4-6) 14
Morton can't stop the run and Andrean is just coasting to get ready for the big match against Griffith on Nov. 7. Morton has beaten 0-10 Hammond twice in the last two weeks. They simply can't be ready for the 59ers.

Griffith (6-4) 56, Gavit (7-3) 18
Gavit has just played an awful schedule. They have seven wins over losing teams and losses to suspect Wheeler and Bishop Noll. Griffith crushed Clark 56-0 the way a championship team does in playoff competition.  Gavit can't do anything to stop the Panthers.

4A  Sectional 9

Hobart (4-6) 28, Kankakee Valley (4-6) 7
Neither school has beaten anyone with a winning record, but Hobart plays in a tougher league. The Brickies' offensive line will dominate this game.

LOWELL (9-1) 21, Munster (8-2) 17
A pivotal game in the 4A playoffs. Both teams coasted last week. Munster has to forget about running the ball and attack Lowell's secondary. Lowell simply wants 50 carries for Chuck Thompson, Justin Henley and Toby Goetz. No one has really overwhelmed the Devils defense all year.  But with Munster at home and a large crowd expected, this is the game of the week.

4A  Sectional 10

Plymouth (7-3) 20, DeKalb (4-6) 14
Plymouth has played a very tough schedule but they really sucked against South Bend Washington. The Rockies, thought to be a regional championship contender, fumbled six times and almost gave away the game against a low-rent Washington (3-7) team.  Plymouth's 7-3 win should shock them back to life enough to take out a DeKalb squad they should beat.

East Noble (10-0) 28, Wawasee (7-3) 20
The mystery team of Class 4A. East Noble, the 2000 state champion, plays most of their games over in Noble County near the Ohio state line. Who knows what they've got? The Knights were impressive blasting Concord 35-0 but Wawasee has a high-powered offense and the Warriors will be at home.

5A  Sectional 2

Elkhart Memorial (10-0) 35, Riley (1-9) 0
Memorial has allowed 58 points all year and surely they'll be looking ahead to Penn in week 11. I know Riley won by 14 last week, but it must've  been a fluke. If Riley scores at all, I'll be shocked.

Penn (9-1) 42, Elkhart Central (7-3) 7
Everybody says this isn't a great Penn team but they've only lost to Ben Davis by one point and they led that game by 10. Last week, the Kingsmen led only 17-13 going to the fourth quarter of a 31-13 win over Clay. But Central was lucky to beat Mishawaka last week and Penn killed Mishawaka.

5A  Sectional 1

Portage (9-1) 35, Valparaiso (5-5) 21
Portage hasn't been held under 21 points all season and it won't happen on this night. The Indians have some injured players on defense so Valparaiso's junior-dominated squad will score and play tough but it won't be enough.

MERRILLVILLE (6-4) 20, Chesterton (7-3) 10
Merrillville beat Chesterton two weeks ago and there's a parallel here. In 2002, Crown Point beat Chesterton in week 8 and again in week 10. Here's a Merrillville team that totally shut down Chesterton in week nine and gets them 2 weeks later in Merrillville. Chesterton may not be quick enough to do anything about Merrillville's defense.

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Revised: June 08, 2004 .