Week
14 Picks: NW Indiana High School Football
Week
14 Picks: NW Indiana High School Football
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by Mark Smith
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WEEK 13 in Review: Wrong - 7; Right - 13 |
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| The Pick | The Result |
| Clinton Central 24, South Putnam 21 | South Putnam 53-20 |
| Indian Creek 41, Southridge 21 | Southridge 39-20 |
| Seeger 22, Scecina 20 | Scecina 28-14 |
| St. Joe 27, Concordia 22 | Concordia 40-14 |
| Griffith 26, Clay 24 | Clay 26-6 |
| Penn 28, Valparaiso 7 | Valparaiso 16-15 |
| Perry Central 35, Park Tudor 21 | Perry Central 52-0 |
| Pioneer 30, Eastern Hancock 14 | Pioneer 53-0 |
| Southwood 27, LaVille 7 | Southwood 34-0 |
| Bishop Dwenger 35, Muncie Central 17 | Bishop Dwenger 22-6 |
| Roncalli 30, East Central 6 | Roncalli 17-10 (OT) |
| Jasper 28, Zionsville 24 | Jasper 28-14 |
| Center Grove 20, New Albany 16 | Center Grove 35-12 |
| Snider 38, Jefferson 28 | Snider 62-13 |
| Ben Davis 31, Warren Central 28 | Ben Davis 35-28 |
| North Judson 24, Eastbrook 0 | North Judson 26-0 |
| Bishop Luers 35, Central Noble 7 | Bishop Luers 24-7 |
| ANDREAN 29, Twin Lakes 10 | ANDREAN 29-20 |
| Heritage Hills 28, Batesville 20 | Heritage Hills 41-0 |
| Bishop Chatard 33, Hamilton Heights 7 | Bishop Chatard 14-0 |
WEEK Thirteen (13) ANALYSIS: Griffith gained 200 rushing yards in the first half and missed chances to win. Southridge's power dominated Indian Creek's passing on a bad weather night.
Concordia over St. Joe in the mud
and snow is a surprise because the Cadets are a passing team. I should've known
about Scecina, an Indianapolis private school (a source of prep power), against
Seeger and, lets be honest, Valparaiso was lucky to beat Penn.
The big 3 in 3A (ANDREAN, Chatard and Heritage Hills) moved on, as did North
Judson and Bishop Luers in 2A. LaVille and Eastern Hancock won the games
they wanted to win (the sectional finals) in 1A and then bowed out as expected.
Regular season (9 weeks) 85
of 109, 77.9%
WEEK 13: 14 of 20 = 70%
Playoffs: 65 of 91, 71.4%
Total (13 weeks) 150 of 200, 75.0%
1A - Southwood (11-1) 28, Pioneer (13-0) 21
This would be an upset but all reports on Southwood are very positive.
1A - Perry Central (12-1) 33, South Putnam (11-2) 14
Perry Central is dominant in 1A, 26-2 the last two years.
2A - (Indianapolis) Scecina (9-3) 28, Southridge (11-2)
Scecina has played a tougher schedule including Chatard (28-0 the last 2 years).
2A - Bishop Luers (10-3) 42, North Judson (13-0) 7
There are indications that North Judson is somewhat of a paper tiger, beating up on lesser competition in their area. If the weather is dry, Luers, from Fort Wayne's powerful Summit Athletic Conference, will dominate them at home.
3A - Bishop Chatard (13-0) 27, Heritage Hills (13-0) 21
The biggest game in the state. Last year, both teams were also 13-0 and Chatard won 34-14 in Indianapolis. Heritage Hills has pointed to this game for a year and they are at home. But Chatard's speed on defense, a solid running game and vast playoff experience will overcome Heritage Hills' strong defense, emotion and home field advantage.
3A - ANDREAN (13-0) 49, Concordia (9-4) 33
An old-fashioned track meet. Is everyone aware of what Concordia does? In four playoff games they have not been held under 30 points. But Andrean's elite skill position players will overcome everything the Cadets can throw (and I do mean throw) at them.
4A - Bishop Dwenger (12-1) 20, South Bend Clay (11-2) 6
Clay is really a 5A school but so is Dwenger. This is a referendum on Fort Wayne football vs. South Bend Football and Fort Wayne will always win that on strength of schedule.
4A - (Indianapolis) Roncalli (8-4) 35, Jasper (10-2) 28
Jasper (23-3 over the last 2 years) has a better team but Roncalli plays a tougher schedule and hosts this game. Roncalli, a very big team, has never been to the state finals. Teams that have never reached the finals, playing at home against teams coming from some distance in the semistate, usually win.
5A - (Fort Wayne) Snider (12-0) 27, Valparaiso (12-1) 20
Snider has waited for this game for 12 months. Valpo keys on Penn, who they beat last week. Snider is not as big and strong as Valpo but they intercepted the state's leading passer, Jeff's Mike Vlahogeorge four times last week. Here's a great game for true Indiana prep football fans. The undisputed champions of northern Indiana's two toughest conferences.
5A - (Indianapolis) Ben Davis (10-3) 27, Center Grove (12-1) 24
The six-time state champs hit the road (although Center Grove is only in suburban Indianapolis). Center Grove beat Ben Davis 17-16 eight weeks ago and it will be hard for the Giants to forget that. This game could easily go either way. 5A and 1A are the only brackets with four top-10 teams left.
There was no TV from WYIN Channel 56 last week and it is assumed there will be none this week. Cable Channel 3 will carry the Concordia game at Andrean. WEFM (95.9) will carry the Valpo game at Snider and I hope someone carries the North Judson game at Bishop Luers in Fort Wayne in this area but North Judson gets ignored every year. Channel 56 will almost certainly carry the live broadcast state finals games of any team that reaches the finals. Channel 3 may also tape-delay Andrean if (when) they reach the 3A finals against Chatard or Heritage Hills. You can find out which game will be on Channel 3 and WJOB (1230) AM by listening to the Chris and Chris show week nights at 5 p.m. on 1230 (AM) WJOB. Chris Ramirez calls the games on Channel 3 and Chris Lanin is one of the voices of northwest Indiana football on WJOB.
The Times and Post-Tribune will
have extensive previews this Friday (Nov. 22) on the three teams left in the
playoffs. Both Fort Wayne newspapers (who are jointly owned) will have
previews of Luers, Snider, Dwenger and Concordia this week that can be accessed,
although Concordia is somewhat of a minor player in Fort Wayne. Heritage
Hills is in the middle of nowhere and it's hard to find a paper that covers
them. The Indianapolis Star will preview Chatard, Scecina, Ben Davis and
Roncalli all this week, although their coverage is sometimes disappointing.