Week 14 - Football Game of the Week Preview

Class 4A Semistate Championship

Ft. Wayne South (11-2)

at Lowell (9-4)

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

11-16-2005

When: Friday, November 18, 2005

Where: Lowell High School, Route 2, Lowell, IN

Tickets: $7. (Note the increase in ticket price for the semistate)

Kickoff: 7:00 p.m., CST.
Radio-TV: WHLP (89.9) FM, tape delay; WWCA (1270) AM -live and Saturday (tape) 9 a.m.; Internet: http://hssp.cc (live)

WWCA (1270) AM and WHLP (89.9) will carry the game live and WJOB (1230) AM will carry the game on tape delay. WWCA may rerun the game Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The entire remainder of the state will be an hour ahead of Lake County so Lowell will know in the third period whether they could be facing Jasper or Roncalli in the state final.

WEATHER: Here's a potential problem. This forecast may change as we approach game time but the call is for light rain and snow Friday. The boys can obviously play in the the rain, but the bus from Fort Wayne and all of the fans from Fort Wayne have to get to Lowell in the snow and rain. This is another reason why regional and semistate games need to be played on Saturday when the people have all day to get to the site. Both teams depend on a speed rushing attack so the rain will hurt both teams. It could also be new. In NW Indiana, certainly, there has not been a truly bad weather night all year. The long range forecast calls for game-time temperatures in the mid-30s and rain or snow showers.

PARKING: From reading the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette newspaper, South is notorious for not bringing many fans to 'away' games. They had never won more than nine games in any season until now. Do not be surprised if the fan turnout for South is a little light. The fan turnout from Lowell might not be so great either because it's been a tough weather week in NW Indiana.

Everyone connected with Lowell will want to come to this game but the old man winter may turn many away. At best, it will be very cold. I believe there will be plenty of parking available especially with the game on radio. Okay now, don't tell anybody I said to do this but here's what you do: If you can't find lots of warm friends to sit with, a decent option might be to stay in the car during the first half and come out for the third quarter. You might even be able to get in for free at halftime and Lowell doesn't care, because all ticket money goes to the IHSAA. Lowell and Southside both run the ball 90% of the time so the second half should take about 45 minutes.

You can suck it up and sit out in 35-degree weather for 45 minutes to see if Lowell can reach the state finals, can't you?

RIVALRY: Absolutely none. Even though these two schools have individual history that goes back before the Depression, this will be the first recorded meeting of Lowell and Fort Wayne South. I can't find Lowell playing any team from the Fort Wayne area since Lowell defeated Bishop Luers 33-14 on Oct. 7, 1960. The last game that Fort Wayne South played in Lake County was a 27-14 loss to Hobart on Nov. 4, 1972. South and Morton had a six game series in the late 50s and early 60s although South never won. Fort Wayne South, a predominantly black school, did play Gary Froebel and Hammond Tech in the 40s and 50s before all-black schools were allowed into the IHSAA.

Neither team has ever been to the state finals and neither has a long standing history of football excellence. South is one of six public schools in Fort Wayne (Snider, Elmhurst, Wayne, Northrup, Southside and Northside) that play in the nine team Summit Athletic Conference (SAC) with Bishop Dwenger, Bishop Luers and Concordia Lutheran. Fort Wayne is the second largest public school district in the state of Indiana (Indianapolis, the Indiana Public School system is the largest).

For the record, Fort Wayne, one of the oldest settlements in the midwest, is named for revolutionary war hero General Anthony Wayne who was sent by President George Washington to battle the Indians (including Chief Winamac, for whom the town of Winamac is named) in the late 1700s. Wayne built a fort as an outpost in what was then Indiana territory to sustain government troops who suffered many losses to the Miamitown Indians (for whom Miami county is named) in the 1700s. Indiana means 'land of the Indians.'

Fort Wayne was built and named after General Wayne in 1794, starting as a military launching point, then a trading post and later a town surrounding where the fort originally stood at Berry and Clay Street in what is now downtown Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne was a major stop in the 1800s for mail, travel and the No. 1 supply route from the east to what was then Fort Dearborn. You may know that Fort Dearborn is the original name for Chicago. Just about everything in the midwest used to be a trail, a path or a fort.

The point is that Fort Wayne is old. Older then Lowell and Lowell goes back to the 1800s. But I don't know of Fort Wayne South winning any state titles in any other sport, either. These two high schools have been around since buffalo roamed and it's very hard to find anyone that has longer histories that do not include any state finals visits than Lowell and Fort Wayne South. How can you play football for almost 100 years and never get to the state title game?

These teams are almost like the Chicago White Sox playing the Houston Astros in the World Series. One team hadn't been there for 100 years and one hadn't ever been there. But one of those long droughts has to end Friday night.

33rd IHSAA State Football Tournament

Semistate championship games - Friday, November 18, 2005

Class 5A:
Hamilton Southeastern (10-3) at #9 MERRILLVILLE (11-2)
#8 Avon (12-1) at #3 Warren Central (12-1)
Class 4A:
Ft. Wayne South (10-2) at LOWELL (8-4)
#6 (Indianapolis) Roncalli (11-2) at #8 Jasper (12-1)
Class 3A:
#1 Griffith (13-0) at NorthWood (7-6)
#2 Heritage Hills (12-1) at #4 Bishop Chatard (11-2)
Class 2A:
#2 at Jimtown (12-1) at #1 Lewis Cass (13-0)
#10 Speedway (11-2) at North Posey (11-2)
Class 1A:
#7 Sheridan (11-2) at #9 Adams Central (12-1)
#2 Perry Central (13-0) at #8 Knightstown (13-0)

4A (Fort Wayne) Southside

Coach: Matt Land (28-19 - 4 years)
Regional Title: 2005 (1st ever)
Sectional Titles: 2005, 1999
Enrollment: 1541

4A (Fort Wayne) South Archers (11-2)
* Aug 19 (W)   29-13 (FW) NORTHROP (3-7)
* Aug 26 (W) 35-6 (FW) WAYNE (2-8)
* Sep 02 (W) 31-7 at Bishop Luers (8-5)
* Sep 09 (W) 31-0 at (FW) Concordia (6-6)
* Sep 16 (L) 14-35     BISHOP DWENGER (10-2)
* Sep 23 (W) 60-6    (FW) ELMHURST (0-10)
* Sep 30 (L) 14-21 at (FW) Snider   (12-1)
* Oct 07 (W) 42-0   (FW) NORTH SIDE (3-7)
* Oct 14 (W) 14-6 at (FW) Harding (5-6)

4A Sectional 12
Oct 21 (W) 34-3 (FW) NORTH SIDE (3-7)
Oct 28 (W) 42-7 at Bellmont (4-7)
Nov 05 (W) 23-13 at Bishop Dwenger   (10-2)
4A Regional
Nov 11 (W) 24-17   DELTA (11-2)
4A Semistate
11-18 (Fri) at LOWELL (9-4)

4A State Championship
11-26 (Sat) vs. Jasper (12-1) or (Indianapolis) Roncalli (11-2)
at RCA Dome - Indianapolis - 3:30 EST

Class 4A Lowell

Coach: Kirk Kennedy (113-59, 15 years)
Enrollment: 1,150
Sectional titles: (5) 1992, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005
Regional titles: (3) 1994, 1999, 2005
2004 record: 9-4
Lost the regional championship game at home 28-21 to state Class 4A runner-up Wawasee.

Lowell Red Devils (9-4)
8-19 (L) 6-16 5A No. 2 Crown Point (11-1)
8-26 (W) 61-14 at 3A Calumet (4-6)
9-2 (L) 0-21 3A No. 1 Griffith (13-0)
9-9 (L) 13-32 at 3A Morton (8-4)
9-16 (L) 0-7 3A No. 4 ANDREAN (8-2)
9-23 (W) 41-7 3A HAMMOND (1-10)
9-30 (W) 48-7 at 4A Munster (3-7)
10-7 (W) 14-7 at 4A Hobart (6-6)
10-14 (W) 41-14 4A Highland (4-6)

4A Sectional nine
10-21 (W) 41-7 at Roosevelt (3-6)
10-28 (W) 41-6 vs Kankakee Valley (7-4)
11-4 (W) 32-6 Hobart (6-6)
4A Regional
11-11 (W) 30-23 at Concord (9-3)
4A Semistate
11-18 (Fri) vs. (FW) South (11-2)
4A State Championship
11-27 (Sat) vs. Jasper (12-1) or (Indianapolis) Roncalli (11-2)
at RCA Dome - Indianapolis - 3:30 EST

Prime time Players

Lowell QB Jimmy Ritter (6-1, 171) 73-131, 920 yards, 5 TDs, 8 INTs

Jimmy Ritter is playing his best at the right time. he hit 6-of-7 passes in last week's 7-point win at Concord and his running ability has become a threat. He is a big threat on 3rd-and-1 to sneak the ball for a first down. South plays in a run-dominated conference so big pass play might be available. Ritter must know where Russell Dedeaux (5-11, 180) is, The Senior DB has six interceptions.

Lowell HB Scott Gray (5-8, 175) 289-2,055 yards, 26 TDs

Gray and the Lowell line will face the ultimate test here. South has a tough run defense in a run-oriented league with great rushing teams like Snider (12-1) and Bishop Dwenger (10-2). Linebacker Dan Nolan (5-10, 185) has 10-7 tackles and he'll key on Gray. The Lowell sprinter needs for South to buy the threat of his run between the tackles and then bounce plays outside. It is amazing how Gray can break long runs late in a game where he's played both ways. But Scott is usually the fastest player in the field. There's no guarantee that will be the case Friday.

Lowell (WR-KR) Jeff Clemens (6-2, 190) 44 catches, 645 yards; 48 carries, 351 yards, 105 tackles,
7 interceptions, 30 punts (35.0 avg.)

Clemens may be the most versatile player in the entire Lake Athletic Conference and he has to make big plays in what might be the biggest home game in school history. Jeff hurt a shin bone last week and he may not have been 100% in practice. But Clemens will be used to misdirect the South defense, which is based on foot speed. Defensively, South must throw the ball a little early because the lack of a major passing threat turns Clemens loose to attack ball-carriers and he is easily the hardest hitter in NW Indiana.

Lowell (C-LB) Ryan King (5-11, 202) 119 tackles

King will be called on to stop the run and South has run for 3,600 yards in 13 games. King knows the lightning come from senior QB Quinton Scott (5-10, 190), who ran for 878 yards and passed for 816 (yards) through 12 games. This game may be very physical because Southside just doesn't throw the ball that effectively or that much (110 passes in 12 games). They will pitch it out and run for the border. King has to be there.

Lowell (PK) David Lang (5-10, 195) 41 of 51 XPs (3 FGs in 6 attempts)

This will be a low-scoring game and it could come down to a big kick on a wet field. Lang has made three field goals in his last two games. The Lowell sophomore also kicks off and he has to angle the ball into corners to help coverage because Southside has speed. There will be excitement if Lowell scores but it will be short-lived if Lang kicks the ball down the middle of the field to someone like Deontrai Campbell.

South (QB) Quinton Scott (5-10, 185) 135 carries, 878 yards, 48-of-110, 816 yards, 11 TDs, 9 INTs; 56 tackles, 7 QB sacks

Scott has to establish himself as a threat to run and then get the ball to Deontrai Campbell (5-10, 185) on the pitch or the pass (12 receptions for 222 yards). Scott cant fumble the ball or South loses but if he can roll outside the defensive ends, Lowell defenders wont be able to know whether he'll run or throw because he can do both.. The seven sacks for a 185 pound player on defense indicates a lot of speed. Scott was just 2-of-7 passing in the regional win over Delta and he threw an interception that was run back for a TD.

South (HB) Deontrai Campbell (5-10, 185) 159 carries, 1,236 yards, 13 TDs; 12 catches, 222 yards

As an 8.2 yards per carry average might suggest, Campbell is a break away runner. The junior runs back kicks and punts but that wont matter if Lowell can make him cut back. The Devils are quick but they'll find out early just how quick they are and Campbell will be the one to show them. Campbell has 159 carries on a team that has thrown just 137 times. That tells you what they want to do.

South (HB) Derek Evans (5-10, 170) 47 carries, 425 yards, 5 TDs; 7 catches, 136 yards, 2 TDs

Look at the average per carry and catch. It looks like South starts halfbacks at almost every skill position and here's another speed racer. Lowell cant let anybody beak tackles because, if its Evans, that will the last they see of him on that play.

South (HB) Robert Murphy (5-9 200) 125 carries, 608 yards, 4 TDs, 12 catches, 96 yards

Murphy clearly is the short yardage back and the safety valve receiver. He is not a breakaway runner but they may not ask him to be. Look at it this way. In 13 games, Southside has run the ball 545 times. Murphy and Deontrai Campbell have run the ball 284 of those 545 times.

South (DB) Russell Dedeaux (5-11, 180) 94 tackles, 7 interceptions

This guy clearly cleans everything up. South appears to attack on most plays and Devereaux is obviously left to make the saving tackles. He'll try to stay with Jeff Clemens because he knows that's where the ball's going eventually.

South (DE) Javon Reese (6-3, 195) 60 tackles, 9 sacks

Don't get into a passing situation because this boy apparently becomes difficult to block. Reese must get around Lowell's tackles and blow up plays. He can't get tied up at the line, letting Gray run free into the secondary.

South (LB) Anthony Easley (5-9, 210) 63 tackles, 8 sacks

Clearly, you really can't get into pure passing situations against this team with Reese, Easley and Quinton Scott (7 sacks). Easley will try to turn Gray inside and force QB Jimmy Ritter to try to throw on third down. Eight sacks is a lot in a running league like the SAC.

(Fort Wayne) South (11-2) at LOWELL (9-4)

Lowell: Offense (28.3); Defense (12.7)

Southside: Offense (30.2), Defense (10.3)

Sagarin computer ratings: Fort Wayne South by 3

LOWELL (11-18-2005) - The computer ratings say this is close, but the outcome is hard to predict because of the magnitude of this game and the weather.

The two sets of numbers to remember are 3,626 (South's rushing yardage in 13 games) and 3,359 (Lowell's rushing yardage in 13 games. Contrast that with passing numbers, 999 for South and 1,045 for Lowell.

It is not immediately obvious how South is successful. The listed roster has just four players heavier than 210 pounds. South was just 6-6 last year and only 17-17 over the last three seasons.

But something changed this season. The running game became consistent and the defensive unit became overwhelming. Only Snider (12-1), Bishop Dwenger (10-2) and Delta (11-2), all top-10 teams, have scored more than 13 points on South in any game all season and only Snider has scored more than 21 points.

The vast majority of South players are in the 170-190 pound range and clearly they can run a little bit. Maybe he was just being flattering but the Delta coach, after his team's 13th game of the year, called South the quickest team he'd seen. That's ominous because Muncie (where Delta is located), is a notoriously a speed-blessed area full of basketball players on the football field.

South's entire backfield is over 600 yards rushing with 190-pound senior QB Quinton Scott (150-923 yards), 200-pound senior fullback Robert Murphy (125-608 yards) and 185-pound junior halfback Deontrai Campbell (159-1,236 yards). Newcomer 170-pound sophomore Derek Evans has 425 yards on 47 carries and 185-pound junior Andre LaGrone (6-0, 185) gained 55 yards and a TD on five carries last week in the come-from-behind 24-17 win over Delta. Evans, the backup halfback, did not carry the ball or catch a pass but he returned a blocked punt for the game winning TD.

You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to figure Southside out. When a team comes in from the city with an 11-2 record, a 45% passer and a lot of skill position guys named Deontrai, Andre and Quinton, you can bet that if you let them break a tackle and head downfield, that's the last you're going to see of them. Scott has a 75-yard TD run this year while Campbell has topped out with an 80-yard run.

Lowell probably has spent all week working on run blitzes, designed not to sack the QB but to turn the runners back inside and make the South backs try to change direction on a bad field. South fullback Robert Murphy's longest carry this season is listed at 15 yards so the Devils may want to split the linemen a little further, to contain the quick boys.

The intrigue of playing Southside is, "Just how fast are these big yardage boys and just how strong are they?"

South is certainly wondering the same thing about Lowell. Believe me, they've got the Internet in Fort Wayne and they have probably downloaded everything that's been written or said about Lowell all year.

But even if they haven't, when you know nothing about a team except for the statistical fact that a 5-foot-8, 175-pound boy has gained 2,055 yards on 289 carries, every practice is going to concern him. Lowell has run the ball 529 times and Scott Gray has run 289 of them. When the Archers get off the bus from Allen County, they'll start looking around for No. 6. Linebacker Danny Nolan (5-9, 185) and brother defensive backs Rodney (5-10, 180) and Russell Deadeaux (5-11, 180), who have combined for 300 tackles this season (Nolan has 119), may ignore Lowell's wide receivers until the Devils complete a pass in very cold, wet weather.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN: Unless there's an early turnover at one end of the field, this game is going to be scoreless for awhile. It's possible, but unlikely, that one side will come out and just overwhelm the other. But if you have a trick play, something you haven't shown in recent games, you might want to set it up and use it on the first series to try to jump up 7-0. Defenders must not get too hung up in what they've seen on tape in the first series or two. Coaches like to come up with something freaky in the first few minutes to try to jump on the other side in a big game.

This game (and the 5A match between Merrillville and Hamilton Southeastern) may set football back 20 years. Despite giving up 23 points last week, Lowell has a powerful defense. They are very difficult to run on consistently. South held Dwenger's 30 points a game offense to just 13 in the sectional title game and they held Delta's 28 points per game offense to 188 yards last week.

This semistate game could easily be a scoreless tie through one quarter or one half in 35-degree weather and light rain or snow. As is the case in the National Football League, the most important games are played in the worst possible weather. Neither team throws the ball well and both will get very conservative due to the pressure of the game and the inclement weather.

South kicker Jonothan McCoy (4 of 8 field goals) will miss an early field goal attempt in the second quarter and it will be the third period before a fumbled punt sets up a short Lowell drive and a short run by Scott Gray for a 7-0 lead. Any lead will incite the home crowd into thinking that victory was at hand. South will get rattled and another fumble will set up a field goal by Lowell's David Lang for a 10-0 lead.

South trailed 17-3 at the start of the fourth quarter against Delta so 10-0 will not scare them. I think a reverse to Evans or a screen pass to Murphy breaks into the clear and the lead is down to 10-7 in the fourth period. After a tense exchange of possessions, an interception by Clemens will go all the way for a 16-7 lead. McCoy will chip through a field goal to make it a one possession game but Lowell will then be in position to run the clock out as they did at Concord last week.

South is a bigger school than Lowell and they play in a tougher league. But Lowell is a slightly bigger team and the wet field will neutralize what might be South's edge in speed. The home field, weather and the situation all favor Lowell. It is very tough to win the semistate game on the road. It's very tough emotionally to prepare for a semistate, period, if you've never been there. Semistate football is the cruelest level of Indiana prep sports. For four weeks, you've been heroes at your school but this is judgment day. Semistate winners become immortal in their town and the losers are seen largely through the looking glass of that semifinal loss. The semistate at home takes it to a whole other level.

Boys tend to see the home field as sacred and the chance to win the ultimate game (anyone who thinks the state title game is bigger than the semifinal game that gets you there doesn't understand competition) on hallowed ground tends to lift them to a higher level.

There are 50-year-old guys on the sidelines who truly believe that if they only had to play 48 minutes to get to the state finals that they could still get out there and do it. There are hundreds of players long since ineligible by age, who grew up in Lowell and would give up half of all they own for the chance to play on their home field Friday night. Many will be listening on the radio or on the Internet Friday. Believe me, if you grew up in town, you know when your old high school is one game away from the state finals in football.

Lowell boys may look down the sidelines and up in the stands and recognize some of these former boys standing in the rain watching their chance to be the first Lowell football team to qualify for the state championship game. The trick will be to turn the emotion of the situation into a belief, a confidence, a virtual certainty that no matter how bad the conditions, they cannot lose. To use the nervousness they feel as extra juice, an extra step when they need it. That's the secret of success in the post-season. To turn fear of losing into fuel for winning.

Three years ago, Lowell's 2002 freshman football team, led by QB Jimmy Ritter, outscored nine foes 297-48 and went 9-0. Scott Gray carried the ball 126 times for 935 yards. Jeff Clemens gained 567 yards on just 87 carries, Jed Travis, Randy Layman and Eric McGee manned the front wall while Ryan King and Chris Lampa were two of the star linebackers on a defense that gave up only 1,040 yards in nine games and had 22 takeaways.

Lowell kids will read this week about how, when the team was 1-4 this year, that 'nobody' thought they'd be walking out on that field this Friday. That isn't even close to being true. I remember parents I did not recognize four or five years ago telling me that this class would go to the state finals. It now appears that when those 2002 undefeated freshmen walk off the field for the final time as players Friday night, that is exactly where they'll be headed.

LOWELL 16, (Fort Wayne) South 10