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Merrillville (7-4) at5A No. 4 Crown Point (11-0) |
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Week
12 - Class 5A, Sectional 1 Final Football Preview|
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Merrillville (7-4) at5A No. 4 Crown Point (11-0) |
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11-2-2006
When:
Friday, November 3, 2006
Where: at
Crown Point High School, 1500 South Main ST, Crown Point, IN.
Tickets: $6 - (for everyone).
Kick-off: 7:00 p.m. (CDT)
TV/Radio/Internet: WWLO (89.1) FM, www.Indiana-Sports.com and www.USA-365.com, WHLP (89.9) FM.
WEATHER: Upper-30s, dry field. We've been very unlucky. Temperatures in the 50s and 60s early in the week but they dip into the 30s and 40s by Friday at 7 p.m. After last week's game-long drizzle, Nov. 3 will be the coldest night of the season.
PARKING: With most region teams eliminated, this will be the only game in south Lake County Friday night. The 5,000-seat stadium at CP suggests that there will be room for everybody. 30-degree temperatures suggests that lots of people will stay home. But there may not be. $$$Get there early.
THE SERIES: This is one of NW Indiana's most entertaining rivalries and it is almost dead even. Crown Point has defeated Merrillville in each of the last five regular seasons, but Merrillville has eliminated CP in the sectional in each of the past two years. This series is almost even. Merrillville leads 30-29-1.
The RIVALRY: Nobody outside of Portage and Chesterton wanted to see anyone but Crown Point and Merrillville meet for the 5A Sectional one title. It's like wanting to see the Chicago Bears play the Indianapolis Colts. CP has defeated Merrillville in the last five regular season games (2002-2006), but the Pirates have eliminated Crown Point in each of the last two state tournaments. These neighbor schools are arch-rivals in all sports. CP defeated Merrillville 5-2 last June for the sectional baseball crown and it was Merrillville that topped Crown Point in the semistate wrestling last February. When CP basketball reached the semistate in 1998, the team they beat to win the sectional was Merrillville. While CP is the much older school, Merrillville has had more athletic success. The Pirates have been state finalists in football, boys basketball and baseball while only Crown Point's Lady Bulldog basketball teams have ever reach the state finals.
As many know, you can live in the north end of Crown Point and be in Merrillville school district. I'm sure members of the Crown Point coaching staff grit their teeth a little when they watch Notre Dame football on TV and hear Indiana all-state running back James Aldridge is announced as being from Crown Point, Indiana. Aldridge, a transfer from out of state, gained 3,500 yards total his junior and senior seasons in high school. But he gained them for Merrillville high school. There's not a lot of hostility though.
Merrillville QB Josh Raspopovich and Crown Point state finalist sophomore swimmer Molly Raspopovich (7th in the state in the backstroke as a freshman), are cousins. CP principal Ryan Pitcock used to be a coach at Merrillville. Merrillville JV basketball coach Stephanie Nelson graduated from CP. There are several circumstances like that.
Some NW Indiana rivalries like Hobart-Lowell and Andrean-Griffith are confined to football. CP-Merrillville, like Highland and Munster, Lowell and KV, Whiting and Clark, Portage and Valparaiso are true rivalries. Where neighbor schools battle it out in the same league in every sport. In football, this is the biggest of them all. Crown Point, after joining the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) in 1993, has taken the long road to success, but two undefeated regular seasons and rosters of over 100 varsity players indicate they are there.
Merrillville is still spawning Division I players like 2006 grads Dexter Larimore and James Aldridge. The new wave includes sophomore leading tackler Dionte Day (5-8, 190), potential-laden backup QB Dilapo MacCarthy (6-5, 190) and all-state kicker Ryan Stokes (5-7, 145) and a half dozen 230-pound reserve linemen in the sophomore class alone. But that's only half the story. Not everybody believes that Crown Point, Merrillville and Lake Central can get bigger than they now are. I don't know real estate. But the area southeast of Merrillville high is still under-developed. And if you drive west out of the Crown Point square for a half mile, you come to open land that's virtually empty. We may have less of an overall building plan than we do in Iraq, but there are so many homes still going up in South Lake County that it's scary. I would guess (and I can't know) that Lake Central will get to near 3,500 students while Merrillville and Crown Point will top out at 2,500-3,000.
I'll say it again. These three schools can get into the Warren Central, Carmel, Center Grove class in the next decade. All three have the numbers and all but LC have the facilities. There was a time when North Lake County ruled in high school football and had state credentials. But with the rise of CP, the strength of Merrillville (and willingness to schedule somebody like Warren Central next year) and the inevitable comeback and construction of new facilities at Lake Central), the mandate to take it down state in the big school bracket falls to those 3 growing schools. And the Merrillville-Crown Point games will be showcase games for NW Indiana football.
5A Merrillville (7-4)
Coach: Zac Wells (1st year) 7-4
Enrollment: 2,211
2005 record: 11-3*
Sectional titles: (5) 2005
Regional titles: (3) 2005
Semistate titles: (0)
State titles: (1) 1976
*Lost 5A Northern Semistate 17-7 to Hamilton
Southeastern
Merrillville Pirates (7-4)
(W) 39-3 East Chicago (2-8)
(W) 26-0 at Highland (3-8)
(L) 2-17 Crown Point (11-0)
(W) 28-3 at Portage (6-5)
(W) 21-12 Michigan City (1-9)
(L) 14-41 at LaPorte (8-3)
(L) 23-41 Valparaiso (3-7)
(W) 42-28 Lake Central (4-6)
(L) 13-22 at Chesterton (5-6)
5A Sectional 1 playoffs
(W) 31-0 East Chicago (2-8)
(W) 39-22 at Chesterton (5-6)
11-3 (F) at Crown Point (11-0)
5A Regional championship
11-10 (F) Penn (10-2)
5A CROWN POINT (11-0)
Coach: Chip Pettit (37-26 5 seasons)
Enrollment: 2,298
2005 record: 11-1
Sectional titles: (2) 1988, 1991
Regional titles: (1) 1988
Lost Sectional 1 championship 16-13 at
eventual regional champion Merrillville.
Crown Point Bulldogs
(W) 17-0 Lowell (6-5)
(W) 34-20 at Hobart (10-1)
(W) 17-2 MERRILLVILLE (7-4)
(W) 31-14 LAKE CENTRAL (4-6)
(W) 17-10 at PORTAGE (6-5)
(W) 35-21 at VALPO (3-6)
(W) 42-41 at LaPORTE (7-3)
(W) 41-21 CHESTERTON (5-6)
(W) 45-13 at MICHIGAN CITY (1-9)
5A Sectional 1 playoffs
(W) 49-0 at LAKE CENTRAL (4-6)
(W) 14-13 (OT) vs. Portage (6-5)
11-3 (F) vs. Merrillville (7-4)
5A Regional Championship
11-10 (F) vs. Penn (10-2)
JON SERTICH - senior - Crown Point - RB
1,) 8-16-6 vs. Lowell : 23 carries, 116
yards, 0 TDs,
2.) 8-23-6 at Hobart: 12 carries, 110
yards, 0 TDs
3.) 9-1-6 at Merrillville: 18 carries, 67
yards, 1 TD
4.) 9-8-6 vs. Lake Central: 16 carries, 67
yards, 0 TDs
5.) 9-15-6 vs. Portage: 22 carries, 172
yards, 1 TD
6.) 9-22-6 at Valparaiso: 22 carries, 178
yards, 1 TD
7.) 9-29-6 at LaPorte: 18 carries, 250
yards, 2 TD
8.) 10-6-6 vs. Chesterton: 14 carries,
91 yards
9.) 10-13-6 at Michigan City: 9 carries, 83
yards, 2 TDs
10.) 10-20-6 at Lake Central: 11 carries,
74 yards TD
11.) 10-27-6 vs. Portage; 19 carries, 88
yards, TD
2006: 184 carries, 1,280 yards, 9 TDs,
12 rec, 116 yards, 3 TDs
2005: 135 carries, 805 yards, 6 TDs,
14 rec, 153 yards, 1 TD
2004: 119 carries, 695 yards, 5 TDs,
11 rec, 127 yards, 1 TD
Career Totals: 438 carries, 2,780 yards,
20 TDs; 37 receptions, 396 yards, 5 TDs
Crown Point 1,000-yard rushers
1. (1997) Brian Parker 258 carries,
1,702 yards, 24 TDs
2. (1987) John Young 215 carries,
1,480 yards, 19 TDs
3. (2006) JON SERTICH 184 carries, 1,280
yards, 9 TDs
4. (1995) Geremy Milner 226 carries, 1,059
yards, 10 TDs
5. (2005) Donny Keiser 150 carries, 1,046
yards, 14 TDs
6. (1989) Mark Minch 178 carries,
1,013 yards., 14 TDs
CROWN POINT
(11-03-2006)
I love the Post-Tribune, but they had a
top-10 poll last week that didn't have
Merrillville anywhere to be found, which
qualifies them for the Donald Rumsfeld
reality award. There is absolutely no way
there are 10 teams in NW Indiana that could
beat Merrillville on the Pirates' worst
day. Part of the Pirates' instability this
season (if 7-4 is unstable) has to do with
Josh Raspopovich (6-4, 195), the senior
rookie quarterback who was injured in August
and probably didn't recover totally until
late September.
The tall senior has completed 104 of 230
passes for 1,758 yards, 14 touchdowns and 16
interceptions.
In his first year as a varsity QB, he's been good and bad. He did not start in the 17-2 loss to Crown Point in September, but he did play the second half and he briefly sparked the offense. Raspopovich is not a runner and he's susceptible to a good pass rush. But his arm is strong and the Pirates hope ride on his ability to stretch the defense. In the first meeting, the Pirates did something odd in the defensive line. They sat big nose tackle Stanley Jennings (6-0, 270) and undersize tackle Brad Kurczynski (6-0, 190) on both sides of the center. It's hard to take care of both.
Dionte Day (5-6, 190) was so good at tackling that he played in the 2005 playoffs as a freshman. With his size, he appeared to have some troubles in pass coverage early on, but he has 90 tackles and is another Pirate who's tough to block. Junior Jarret Rucker (5-11, 225) is a strong defensive end as is senior Johnny Jackson (6-0, 195). Merrillville's defense is better than their record. Defensive back Jason Talbert ran two interceptions back for touchdowns against Chesterton last week. The Pirates have given up almost 1,600 yards passing, but they also have 20 pass interceptions this season. This is a winning defense that simply hasn't been supported.
The Pirates have allowed 17 points a game,
but the Pirate offense has made 29
turnovers. It's a miracle that the
Merrillville stoppers are still hanging in
there. Not only that, but the Pirate
defenders have scored four touchdowns and a
safety. They lack a pass rush at times, but
do not assume Merrillville is inept
defensively.
The big killer for Merrillville has been the
injuries to Raspopovich and HB Eric Williams
(5-8, 175), who was expected to be the
leading rusher. Other than the LaPorte game
where Williams gained 112 yards and two TDs
on seven carries, results have been spotty.
Darren Handley (5-6, 155) is a big play
possibility at wide receiver. He's scored
six TDs. Clay Cooper (5-10, 175) also has a
couple of 70-yard TDs, but Merrillville has
no consistent offense. The Pirates average
25 points a game, which really isn't enough
to win against top teams. Soccer star Ryan Stokes has four field
goals and he's good from 45 yards out. The Pirates would very much like to have the
game come down to a Stokes' field goal attempt.
Crown Point got pushed around by Portage
last week, but they still average 31 points a
game. The Indians got a strong rush on
junior QB Blake Mascarello (107-180, 1,656
yards, 20 TDs, 5 INTs) and held him to
3-of-11 passing. Halfback Jon Sertich (184
carries, 1,280 yards) scored the key
game-tying TD in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs' offensive line has five
juniors and they looked inexperienced against
Portage and Merrillville will not be much
easier. But this is a good offensive line
averaging 240 pounds per man and they will
be challenged to win the championship game
by controlling the ball. Before last
week, CP had scored 40 points in four consecutive games, a feat unprecedented in
Crown Point football history.
The Bulldogs tend to lean on Sertich and wide receiver Matt Ernest (45 catches, 728 yards) when the game is tight and CP has to be careful with that against the Pirates, who have all those interceptions. CP did not have one carry for FB Tommy Parks (77 carries, 385 yards) and they never got a pass to senior WR Ryan Forney (19 catches, 305 yards). The Bulldogs must get more balance than that. But the larger issue is that CP had only 36 plays from scrimmage against Portage. The best way to beat CP is to run the ball successfully and keep their offense on the sidelines.
The intrigue here is that CP's
defensive team speed is their big plus and
Merrillville might have more defensive team
speed. That would indicate a low-scoring
game. But there's those turnovers. Merrillville has 28 turnovers and Crown
Point has just 10. The Bulldogs are very
good at getting conservative during hard
times and moving the ball enough to win.
They did in one point wins over LaPorte and
Portage. It would seem this game boils down to CP
being conservative and waiting for
Merrillville to give them the game with
turnovers.
What will happen:
Sagarin Computer rankings: Crown Point by 20
CROWN POINT - I'm very suspect of this spread. CP did win the earlier game by 15 at Merrillville, but the Pirates surged defensively last week while CP sagged on offense. Merrillville does not have a victory over a team with a record better than 6-5 while Crown Point has defeated all comers. This won't be a 20-point game but it may be a turnover-friendly game on a cold night in front of a big crowd. Why? The game is unpredictable because both QBs are in a title game for the first time. CP's Blake Mascarello did not play in the post-season in 2005 and Merrillville's Raspopovich was a second stringer as well.
CP will again try to ride
senior running backs John Sertich (184
carries, 1,280 yards) and Tommy Parks
(77-385 yards) in this game. Merrillville,
which has not had success running the ball
against lesser teams than CP, figures to
attempt to throw early and often. Junior
Clay Cooper (5-10, 175) and senior Kyle
Morris (5-9, 175) will be the targets
of quick slants as the Pirates match their
team speed against that of the Bulldogs.
Merrillville will also blitz linebackers up
inside the tackles and dare CP to make quick
accurate throws, something they could not do
against Portage. If I'm the Pirates, I blitz
extra linebackers on every play early to
test CP's nerve on a difficult weather
night. The Bulldogs are going to have to get
over themselves early. They certainly have
built this game up in their minds and they
should be nervous early. What's forgotten
is that the Pirates also remember losing
early at home to CP and they also want to
get even.
Mascarello will open the scoring with a long
TD pass to a single-covered Matt Ernest. I
don't think Raspopovich will be able to hook
up early against a CP defense that will
apply the same strategy of making the QB
prove he can make plays. An interception
or fumble will lead to a 10-0 CP lead on a
Michael Lipton field goal before
Merrillville comes back on a pass from QB
Josh Raspopovich to halfback Eric Williams. Somewhere in here,
I expect a flurry of turnovers. It figures
that the Pirates will also score on defense,
probably another Merrillville pass
interception. The Pirates will then go ahead
17-10 on a Greg Stokes field goal.
Trailing by a touchdown, the Bulldogs will
drive the length of the field and tie it up
on a short pass to Tommy Parks. The Pirates
will not be able to run the ball late in the
game, and a Jon Sertich punt return TD will
regain the lead for
Crown Point. Inside linebacker Dionte Day
will force a fumble and another field goal by
Stokes will cut the gap to 24-20.
But the Bulldogs' rushing duo of Parks and Sertich will kill time with rushing first
downs and Lipton will score again in the
late going.
Crown Point's four top play makers -- Ernest, Sertich, Forney and Parks are all seniors with lots of playoff experience. But Merrillville is older in the offensive line. That unit has underachieved and it is not logical that they again (as they did in 2005) pick week 12 to play their best game. CP's 'Big-4' have almost 4,000 yards of total offense. They have not underachieved and it is not logical that they all will struggle in the biggest game of the year.
Merrillville's inability to run and stop the run consistently will be the difference as CP takes its first sectional crown in 15 years.