Week 12 - Football Game of the Week Preview

Class 5A, Sectional 1 Championship Preview: Crown Point (8-3) at Merrillville (8-3)

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

11-02-2011

Demaree Stadium's football scoreboard at Merrillville High School.

Senior lineman Paul Carey (#64) (6-2, 206) plays both ways, at right tackle on offense and at defensive end. (Photos by Mark Smith)

When:  Friday, November 4, 2011

Where:  Merrillville High School's Demaree Stadium, 276 E. 68th Place, Merrillville, IN 46410 (2 blocks east of Broadway on 68th Place).

TV/Radio/Internet: WLTH (1420) AM, WEFM (95.9) FM, live updates of all local scores all night on WLPR (89.1) FM. Live Internet audio stream on www.USA-365.com.

TICKETS: $6 (regular sectional price).

ENROLLMENT: CP 2,532; MERRILLVILLE 2,300.

WEATHER: Cold. After a cold, wet week, the rain is supposed to stop in time for this matchup. Low 50s during the day and low 40s by the second half. Cold enough to affect the passing game and keep the crowd down somewhat. It's harsh, but hey, it's November.

PARKING: Merrillville is the best place for a big game. They have a seemingly endless parking lot and now there are multiple ways to get in and out. The CP people will be directed to behind the visitors' grandstand but all parking is relatively close to the field. The Merrillville parking lot is so large it has rarely ever been full. If you don't show up, lack of parking wont be the reason why.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Merrillville would win a ninth sectional title and advance to play on the road at Penn or Carroll. For Crown Point, this would be the Bulldogs fourth sectional championship. They would play a regional championship game at Penn. But they would host Carroll. Crown Point has never met either school in football.

HISTORY: Merrillville leads the series 35-32 with wins 38-14 at Merrillville in 2009, 24-21 at Merrillville in 2010 and 21-20 in Crown Point this season.

MERRILLVILLE - Merrillville and CP border each other, but teens who live at the far north end of CP are in the Merrillville school district. Crown Point has a lot of rivals. Lots of Lake Central students have Crown Point mailing addresses. CP and Boone Grove kids are neighbors in the Lakes of the Four Seasons area, while CP and Hanover Central kids are neighbors in Cedar Lake. Crown Point and Lowell are two of the oldest high schools in this part of the state and are the two original South Lake County high schools.

The CP-Merrillville rivalry has stepped beyond those two, especially in football. Follow me here. Of the last five times CP and Merrillville have met in the post-season, Merrillville has won four. Of the last 10 times CP and Merrillville have met in the regular season, CP is 7-3. The suggestion there is that the Pirates have better talent overall or that CP is always (as they will be Friday) the underdog, the position high school boys and coaches prefer to be in.

CP and Merrillville have an interesting dynamic. CP is stronger in baseball. Merrillville has been the victor recently in boys and girls basketball. Football is the middle ground where either could win and that's why the games attract so much attention.

But to say that one side or another wants 'revenge' or they duel in a grudge match, doesn't fit. Too much of a caricature. Too extreme. When CP won the wrestling state title in 2009, beating Merrillville along the way, I didn't sense much bitterness on the Merrillville side. When Merrillville won the DAC and reached the girls state finals two years ago, it didn't seem like it was something that burned deeply into the souls of CP girls.

I cannot speak to how much respect each school has for each other in all 20 sports, but this is a rivalry without malice.

Crown Point Bulldogs (8-3)
Coach Chip Pettit (71-50, 10 years)
2010: 8-4 2009: 3-7, 2008: 3-7
Sectional titles: 1998, 1991, 2006
Regional title: 1991
Lost 2010 5A sectional 1 championship game 16-6 at Valparaiso

Aug. 19 (W) 27-6 at Lowell (5-5)
Aug. 26 (W) 45-6 Hobart (3-8)
Sept. 2 (L) 20-21 Merrillville (8-3)
Sept. 9 (L) 7-26 at Lake Central (8-2)
Sept 16 (W) 42-0 at Portage (4-6)
Sept. 23 (L) 14-21 Valparaiso (5-6)
Sept. 30 (W) 42-0 LaPorte (3-7)
Oct. 7 (W) 28-6 at Chesterton (5-6)
Oct. 14 (W) 24-7 Michigan City (1-9)

Class 5A Sectional 1
Oct. 21 (W) 21-10 Munster (5-5)
Oct. 28 (W) 12-10 Valparaiso (5-6)


MERRILLVILLE Pirates (8-3)
Coach: Zach Wells (56-19) 6th year
2010 record: 8-3
Sectional titles: (8) last in 2009
Regional titles: (5) 1976, 1992, 2005, 2007 and 2009
State titles: (1) 1976

*LAST YEAR: Lost 5A sectional 1 semifinal 20-14 to Valparaiso last November.

Aug. 20 (L) 13-64 Warren Central (11-0)
Aug. 26 (L) 12-21 Andrean (9-1)
Sep. 2 (W) 21-20 at CROWN POINT (8-3)
Sep. 9 (L) 16-17 PORTAGE (3-7)
Sep. 16 (W) 38-0 at MICHIGAN CITY (1-9)
Sep. 23 (W) 47-24 LaPORTE (3-7)
Sep. 30 (W) 31-28 @VALPARISO (5-6)
Oct. 7 (W) 27-24 @ LAKE CENTRAL (8-2)
Oct. 14 (W) 35-21 CHESTERTON (5-6)

Class 5A Sectional 1
Oct 21 (W) 30-24 Lake Central (8-2)
Oct. 28 (W) 48-45 (OT) Chesterton (5-6)

MERRILLVILLE (8-3) Update:

MERRILLVILLE (11-4-2011) Merrillville has the top offense in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) led by junior QB Jake Raspopovich (159 of 264, 1,941 yards, 12 TDs, 7 interceptions) and halfback Darryl Peppers (183 carries, 1,049 yard, 13 TDs).
 

The Pirates have scorers all over the field including wide receiver Aaron Dye (43 catches, 666 yards, 7 TDs) and slot receiver Kourtney Berry (39 catches, 383 yards). Added to the mix three games ago is halfback Dylon Collins, a transfer from Bowman Academy who has not been allowed to play (due to a transfer rules dispute with Bowman) all season until last month.
In three games, Collins has carried the ball 37 times for an eye-opening 383 yards, a ridiculous 9.7 yards per carry average.,

Raspopovich (5-11, 165) is a shifty runner in Merrillville's spread offense with 537 yards gained on 147 carries. There's a lot to defense. The Pirates' line is not big, led by right tackle Paul Carey (6-2, 206). But Merrillville is about quickness on offense and they have scored 30 or more points six times in the last seven games.
 

Peppers (5-6, 175) is very difficult to tackle 1-on-1 and Collins (5-10, 190) has sprinter's speed. They are built for their fast home artificial turf. Also on a hot streak is kicker Paul Warren who has six field goals in 10 attempts including three in the victory over Lake Central on Sept. 21. Warren has connected on 34 of 39 extra points.

Defensively, Merrillville has allowed 25.6 points per game but that's very misleading. The Pirates gave up 64 points to Warren Central (11-0) in the season opener and allowed 48 in the overtime win over Chesterton last week. Take away those two games and the Pirates have allowed 18 points a game against big school competition and 2A No. 2 Andrean.
 

But there is a high risk nature to the Pirates defense. They have 13 interceptions including four by corner back William Isabell (6-0, 156) and three by linebacker Michael Dicken (6-2, 202). Isabell, who has broken up 10 passes and 'forced' three fumbles, also has 60 tackles and Dicken has 61.
 

Carey is a two-way player and he leads the Pirates with 85 tackles from his defensive end position. Defensive tackle Kevin Wilkerson (6-0, 212) has 13 tackles for loss and he is credited with 'hurrying' the quarterback 11 times. He's the key man to block.

But Merrillville is an offensive finesse team. They average 368 yards and 19 first downs a game. You don't usually shut them down at home. You have to outscore them.

One more note. Nothing phases this team. They have rallied in the fourth quarter to win four times. I do not know of any other team ever in NW Indiana that has suffered the worst loss in their history of the school in the season opener and then come back to win their conference. Merrillville has done that so CP wont scare them.

CROWN POINT (8-3) Update:

CROWN POINT (11-04-2011) The Bulldogs have recovered from the loss of their starting QB and their starting halfback to reach the sectional championship game and that can't be diminished. CP folks would tell you that they felt sophomore Jake Jatis (6-4, 190) would be an excellent QB, and a high quality successor to senior Joe Hopman (83 of 155, 1,174 yards, 12 TDs, 4 interceptions), who suffered a shoulder injury on Oct. 21 that ended his season early on opening night of the 38th Indiana state tournament.
 

But I have to admit that I didn't hear anybody saying that Jatis could play and win against winning teams this season. Victories over Munster (5-5) and Valparaiso (5-6) indicate that CP, at least, has a chance this week, despite the loss of Hopman (275 of 527, 4,074 yards, 39 TDs, 27 interceptions in 32 games) for the year.

Jatis (14 of 29, 188 yards, 3 TDs, 0 interceptions) has not thrown an interception yet and that's crucial at this time of the year. It should be noted that he started on the junior varsity all season. JV games are not varsity games but it's not like Jatis has not been playing and does not know CP's offense.
 

CP has a lot of weapons. Senior halfback Jake Lindeman (93 carries, 384 yards, 4 TDs) was hurt at mid-season and he's not close to returning, so sophomore Tristan Peterson (141 carries, 711 yards, 6 TDs) gets the start this Friday. In truth, this isn't like Jatis replacing Hopman (who started 32 games in a row) in the sense that Peterson was not healthy at the start of the season or he'd have been splitting time with Lindeman in August.
 

But I have heard people say for a while now that Peterson (5-11, 160), would be a top back and gain 1,000 yards for the Bulldogs someday. What Peterson has done so far does not seem to be a surprise to those around CP.

The Bulldogs have a lot of good offensive players including receivers Tyler Wells (26 catches, 386 yards, 3 TDs), Zach Plesac (23 catches, 329 yards, 7 TDs), Braxton Rice (17 catches, 307 yards) and Tyler Kral (7 catches, 121 yards).
 

Kicker Brett Bayer is 37 of 38 on extra points and 5-of-8 field goals, including a 44-yarder. For his three-year career, Bayer, who just finished playing on CP's state championship soccer team, has 18 field goals.

The key to this (and all games) night is the offensive line. Can CP's center Michael Young (5-9, 285), guards Eric Huttle (6-0 255) and Stephen Hutchison (6-1, 285) and tackles Sean Jones (6-3, 235) and Blake Pals (6-1, 245) create enough room for CP's skill players to operate against Merrillville's speedy defense?

Nose guard Cameron Tanner (6-1, 260) anchors the defense with 86 tackles and 8-1/2 sacks and his ability to get into the backfield seems to set up everything else. Defensive end Billy Van Cleef (6-3, 195) has seven tackles for a loss and 4-1/2 sacks. Linebacker Jordan Krajci (5-10, 180) leads the Bulldogs with 110 tackles and safety Logan McRae (6-2, 185) had 94 tackles and four interceptions. Sophomore Brendyn McKinnon (6-2, 200) has 65 tackles, seven tackles for loss and he's forced three fumbles. McRae averages 31 yards on 11 kickoff returns.
 

CP's defense has held eight teams to 10 points or less, almost an impossibility in the new-age artificial turf-laden DAC. In truth, two of those teams (Portage and Chesterton) played without their starting QBs, but no one has scored more than 26 points against Crown Point all season and no offense has scored more than three TDs in any one game.
 

One caution: Merrillville gained 446 yards against CP in a 21-20 win back in September at Crown Point. What worked against everyone else, didn't work against Merrillville's spread offense, at least it didn't two months ago.

MERRILLVILLE 21, CROWN POINT 17