 |
Concord (8-3) at 4A No. 7 Lowell (10-1) |
 |
Week
12 - Football Game of the Week Preview|
|
Concord (8-3) at 4A No. 7 Lowell (10-1) |
|
A
USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
11-05-2009
When:
6:30 p.m., CST on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009
--
NOTE THE EARLY STARTING TIME--
Where: Lowell high school - Lowell high is 3 miles west of I-65 on Route
2
TV/Radio/Internet: WWCA (1270) AM, WTMK (88.5) FM (live play-by-play);
Updates: WLPR(89.1) FM in NW Indiana
NOTE: The Region Sports Network - WWCA (1270) will replay the
Lowell-Concord game Saturday morning at 9 a.m.
Highlights: Lakeshore TV football recap show, 10:30 - 11 p.m.
Comcast Cable Ch. 17; Highlights on the South Bend area 10 p.m. news, 10:20 on
WSBT (Ch. 22 TV) and WNDU (Ch. 16) TV.
Tickets: $5
Tickets area available 7-9 p.m. Thursday night at Lowell and you might want to
buy them then. Concord will bring a good crowd and with clear weather and
a highly entertaining game predicted, the season's largest crowd is expected.
The gates at Lowell will open at 5:00 p.m.
Enrollment: Concord - 4A, 1,345; LOWELL - 4A enrollment -
1,224
To the winner: Concord would host Hobart or play at Morton on Nov.
13 in the 4A regional final. Lowell plays the regional championship game
on the road under any and all circumstances.
Weather: Cross your fingers here because the forecast is very
good. Predicted temperatures for Friday are in the upper-50s. Since
the kickoff is well after dark now, the temperature at kickoff should be between
50 and 55 degrees. We'll be in the upper 40s by the start of the second
half. Since Concord is going to throw the ball 20-30 times, this will be a
long game. Why cross your fingers? After five consecutive rainy
Fridays, no rain is predicted at any time this Friday.
Parking: The parking situation at Lowell should be good.
Concord will bring fans, but because they are coming a very long distance (100
miles), there may be a fan bus and there will certainly be car loads of people.
Concord can't bring everybody they want because this game begins at 7:30 Concord
time and you'd have to leave at 5 p.m. to get to Lowell. Some will
certainly stay home and listen on the radio because of the distance involved.
It's my experience that when people are going to a game that's nearby they might
drive by themselves. But when you are traveling 100 miles, folks tend to
come by the carload or by the busload. Also, there's not going to be a lot
of people from Lake County (outside Lowell) at this game. Merrillville, Andrean
and Hobart are all at home. I don't expect the parking lot to be
overloaded with cars from east Elkhart for those reasons.
The
HISTORY:
FAST FOOTBALL FACT:
In all three of the Concord-Lowell games, the road team has won. Concord
lost 31-21 at home to Lowell on Nov 2, 2007. The Minutemen defeated Lowell
33-14 in Lowell on Nov. 14, 2006 and Lowell won 30-23 at Concord on Nov. 11,
2005.
ELKHART: Concord is one of 16 townships in Elkhart County similar
to Morgan and Washington Township in Porter County. I'm guessing it's
named after Concord, Massachusetts much like Lowell is named after Lowell,
Massachusetts. "Minutemen" (Concord's nickname) were young men during the
revolutionary war in the late 1700s who supposedly could be ready for battle "in
a minute" if the British were coming to places like Concord.
Concord, Indiana is not that different than much of Lowell.
It's
a little more suburban like Schererville, but the inner city parts of Elkhart
are west of Concord. Concord's recent success has come from coach Tim
Dawson's college style spread offense, which uses three receivers on almost
every play. While that attack doesn't fit NW Indiana weather, it does fit
the personnel that Concord gets at what is largely a basketball school.
Concord has 11 sectional basketball titles and they had basketball long before
they began the football program in 1960. The present five-year stretch of
47 wins and 14 losses is not the best five-year run in the 50-year history of
Concord high school football. They were 43-11 from 1980-1984.
Concord and Lowell used to be regional rivals and that seemed fair because of the distance involved. But, with the IHSAA's controversial decision to put Lowell in faraway Sectional 10 three years ago, Concord and Lowell are sectional rivals. It seems this game Friday (plus the matchup with Plymouth two weeks ago) is coming too soon in the post-season.
Concord couldn't have been happy when Lowell was moved into their sectional. But I'll guess they're very happy that Lowell has eliminated 4A No. 6 Plymouth (9-1) and 4A No. 9 Washington (8-2) for them. Now, all the Minutemen have to do is defeat 4A No. 7 Lowell and 30% of the Top-10 will be gone.
Lowell's 20-game sectional winning streak
10-24-2003 (W) 58-21 Lew Wallace
10-31-2003 (W) 21-7 at Munster
11-7-2003 (W) 34-3 Hobart
10-22-2004 (W) 57-12 at Lew Wallace
10-29-2004 (W) 13-10 Hobart
11-5-2004 (W) 48-7 at Highland
10-21-2005 (W) 41-6 at Gary Roosevelt
10-28-2005 (W) 41-6 Kankakee Valley
11-4-2005 (W) 32-6 Hobart
10-20-2006 (W) 24-6 Kankakee Valley
10-27-2006 (W) 58-6 Gary Roosevelt
11-3-2006 (W) 31-28 at Hobart
10-19-2007 (W) 54-13 Logansport
10-26-2007 (W) 14-8 at Plymouth
11-2-2007 (W) 31-21 at Concord
10-24-2008 (W) 24-7 at (SB) Washington
10-31-2008 (W) 20-14 (OT) Plymouth
11-7-2008 (W) 49-20 (SB) Clay
10-23-2009 (W) 14-6 at Plymouth
10-30-2009 (W) 24-7 (SB) Washington
11-6-2009 (W) vs. Concord (8-3)
4A
Concord (8-3)
Coach: Coach: Tim Dawson (134-96) 21st season
Enrollment: 1,425
2008 record: 8-2*
Sectional titles (5)1979, 89, 94, 2005 and 2006
Regional titles: (3)1984, 1998, 2006
Semi state titles: (3) 1984, 1998, 2006
*lost
4A Sect.10 quarterfinal 25-24 at Plymouth on 10-24-2009
Concord Minutemen (8-3)
8-21 (W) 34-28 @ East Noble (8-3)
8-28 (W) 40-28 Elkhart Memorial (7-4)
9-4 (W) 26-21 Northwood (7-4)
9-11 (W) 42-10 @ Wawasee (2-8)
9-18 (W) 28-21 @ Goshen (2-8)
9-25 (W) 34-13 Jimtown (10-1)
10-2 (L) 27-41 @ Plymouth (9-1)
10-9 (L) 23-24 Northridge (6-5)
10-16 (L) 0-24 Warsaw (6-5)
Class 4A Sectional (10)
10-23 (F) 45-13 @ Logansport (6-4)
10-30 (F) 42-8 (SB) Riley (3-8)
11-5 (F) at LOWELL (10-1) 6:30 CDT
37th
Indiana State Football Tournament
Northern Sectional Championship games
CLASS 5A
Sectional 1: Portage [6-5] at MERRILLVILLE [10-1] WEFM (95.9) FM
Sectional 2: Penn [10-1] at Mishawaka [10-1]
Sectional 3: (FW) Snider [9-2] at Warsaw [7-4]
Sectional 4: Hamilton Southeastern [10-1] at Carmel [10-1]
CLASS 4A
Sectional 9:Morton [10-1] at Hobart [4-7] WGVE (88.7) FM, WZVN (107.1) FM
Sectional 10: Concord [8-3] at LOWELL [10-1] WWCA (1270) AM, WTMK (88.5) FM
Sectional 11: Columbia City [4-7] at Bishop Dwenger [11-0]
Sectional 12: (FW) Wayne [7-4] at Delta [11-0]
CLASS 3A
Sectional 17: Culver Academy [9-2] at ANDREAN [8-3]
Sectional 18: Jimtown [10-1] at NorthWood [7-4]
Sectional 19: Eastbrook [11-0] at Bellmont [8-3]
Sectional 20: Frankfort [7-4] at West Lafayette [11-0]
CLASS 2A
Sectional 25: Wheeler [11-0] at Rensselaer [9-2]
Sectional 26: Bremen [3-8] at Fairfield [9-2]
Sectional 27: Winchester [9-2] at Bishop Luers [6-5]
Sectional 28: Lewis Cass [8-3] at Northwestern [9-2]
CLASS 1A
Sectional 33: Culver [7-4] at Whiting [7-4]
Sectional 34: Lafayette Catholic [10-0] at Caston [8-3]
Sectional 35: Southern Wells [9-2] at Southwood [6-5]
Sectional 36: Knightstown [8-3] at Northeastern [3-8]
NOTE: If Merrillville, Lowell, Whiting or Andrean win
sectional championships Friday, they are on the road for the regional
championship game under all circumstances.
If Morton or Wheeler win Friday, they are at home for the regional championship
game on November 13. With Rensselaer and Hobart, their home/road status
would depend on who they were playing in the regional.
4A No.
7 LOWELL (10-1)
Coach: Kirk Kennedy (154-68 years) 19 years
Enrollment: 1,224
2008 record: 13-1*
Sectional titles: (9) 1992, 1994, 1999, 2003-2008
Regional titles: (5) 1994, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008
Semi state titles: (2) 2005, 2007
State titles: (1) 2005
*Lost 4A Northern Semi state 38-22 at Bishop Dwenger in 2008
LOWELL
Red Devils (10-1)
Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) games in CAPS - all 7 p.m. kickoffs
8-21 (W) 19-0 Crown Point (3-7)
8-28 (W) 34-25 at Morton (10-1)
9-4 (W) 40-13 at Kankakee Valley (3-7)
9-11 (W) 35-19 GRIFFITH (6-5)
9-18 (W) 42-0 HIGHLAND (1-9)
9-25 (W) 35-0 at HOBART (4-7)
Oct. 2 (W) 63-0 Hammond (7-4)
Oct. 9 (L) 13-15 at MUNSTER (7-3)
Oct. 16 (W) 25-21 ANDREAN (87-3)
Class 4A Sectional 10
Oct. 23 (W) 14-6 at Plymouth (9-1)
Oct. 30 (W) 24-7 South Bend Washington (8-3)
Nov. 6 (F) vs. Concord (8-3)
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME:
1. Concord's going to throw the
ball just like Washington
Maybe not just like Washington.
Concord QB Anthony Yoder is 139 of 263, for 2,383 yards and 31 touchdowns.
Receiver Kyle Gavin (6-2, 175) had 40 catches for 562 yards and halfback LaRon
Smith (5-8, 170) had 21 catches for 467 yards. I can't find a Concord
running back with more than 700 yards in 10 games, but Smith is a main pass
receiver.
If you saw any of Concord's three games
with Lowell, then you know what they do. The offense hasn't changed, just
the names. And to be honest, the names haven't changed either. Anthony
Yoder, who is better than either of Washington's QBs, may be related to David
Yoder, who faced Lowell in 2006 and 2007. I say maybe, because Concord and
Goshen are very near Elkhart County's large Amish community. Seems like
half of all those folks are named Yoder.
Concord will use four wide receivers and
one running back on most plays. The offensive line is led by Adam Cantwell
(6-2, 250) and Eddie Warr (6-3, 275). Yoder (5-11, 155) is quick enough
that you must respect him or the halfback running the football on every play
that is not 2nd-and-long or 3rd and long. That almost forces you to take a
defender out of pass coverage to watch him. That gives Concord four
receivers against six defenders, and obviously, Yoder has done very well against
those odds.
Field conditions will be important
because Yoder has to have room to deliver the ball. He is not big enough
to get the ball deep into the secondary throwing off balance. But he
throws well on the run to his right so the Devils need to force him to his left
when they can.
2. It's all about running the ball
Plymouth ran for 259 yards in a 41-27 win over Concord on Oct. 2 and that's all Lowell needs to know. The Minutemen allowed 233 rushing yards in a 45-13 win over Logansport on Oct. 23. This game is all on Lowell's offensive line and the running backs. If they can do what they've done every game this season, Lowell will scored 28-35 points. Plus, running the ball keeps Anthony Yoder on the sidelines or on defense trying to make tackles.
Some nights the pass is there for Lowell,
since the Devils see so many packed in run defenses. But this is a night
they should largely resist temptation to throw anything but a swing pass to
backs. Concord, which has good size on the defensive line in Warr and
Cantwell (they use a 3-4 defense), is better in the secondary than they are up
front. Lowell cannot afford to throw a half dozen incompletions, which
stop the clock and give Concord more possessions.
The Red Devils have to make Concord
respect the entire field. Washington brought 10 men to the line against
Brandon Grubbe and Lowell couldn't get wide because of the field. The Red
Devil field should be more solid Friday and that should translate into Lowell
getting the ball outside the tackles and turning upfield. The Devils don't
need 70-yard runs. They just want first downs to keep the clock moving.
I've got to think that Ray Skamay, who
may have been hampered by injury last week, is going to get the call frequently
Friday. Concord watched a game tape that showed him not running the ball
once last week. Early on the Minutemen will have to bring extra defenders
to the line of scrimmage because they can't win the battle against Lowell's line
with their normal seven-man front. But if they have success, Concord will
also see the 'full house' backfield with Nate Cleveland (6-4, 215) and Jordan
Juarez (6-0, 197) blocking for Grubbe (6-1, 195). Concord knows that
formation is coming eventually. They will work all week to stop it.
3. This is a championship game
The Plymouth game SEEMED like a
championship contest. This actually IS one. Concord will be looking
at it that way.
This may be the Super Bowl to them.
Lowell has to match the level of emotion that Concord brings to South Lake
County. But they can and they will. This is it. After three
months and 11 games, Lowell has finally reached the finish line. Lowell
athletic director Don Bales has a big trophy up in the press box waiting for the
Devils and the boys have seen it. I think it's Bill Parcells in the NFL
Network commercials where he's shown giving a pep talk to his players and he
says:
"This is why you lift all those
weights!!" He's right.
Lowell has worked all year to be on the
field Friday night with the sectional championship trophy waiting for them
upstairs. When the Devils are on offense against a Concord defense that
has allowed 300 yards rushing to Warsaw, they have the whole world in their
hands.
The Devils take the early lead on their first possession, but Concord rallies with TD passes to Kyle Gavin and LaRon Smith. As the game progresses, Lowell begins to gain yards on the ground and Concord will gamble with extra defenders coming forward to stop Brandon Grubbe, who will find more running room against Concord than he did against Washington last week.
The Devils will score on four consecutive
possessions to lead 34-14 and will hold off a late Concord passing rally.
Anthony Yoder will throw or run for four TDs. The Minutemen have not been
strong against the run against good teams (Warsaw, Plymouth, Logansport), none
of which had a back as big and fast as Grubbe. Lowell has underutilized
Cole Midgett and Ray Skamay as far as running the ball is concerned and that
will change Friday. Concord will be in this game, but they'll need Lowell
to give them a 'short field' allowing them to start in Lowell territory.
Unless the Devils fumble three times, I can't see it happening.
Lowell had the ball for 30 minutes last week and if they do that again, they will score five rushing TDs and win the Devils' seventh consecutive sectional title.
LOWELL 34, Concord 26