Week 15 H.S. Football Review

Week 15 Indiana High School Football Review

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

November 30, 2005

The Class 1A Pick: Sheridan 31, Knightstown 21

INDIANAPOLIS - Sheridan didn't dominate the undefeated Knightstown squad but they were the better team, winning a seventh state championship. Freshman QB Nick Zachary rushed for 121 yards and two TDs. Sheridan will return as the No. 1 team in 1A and a prohibitive favorite for the 2006 title.

The Final: Sheridan (13-2) 21, Knightstown (14-7) 7

The Class 2A Pick: Jimtown 28, North Posey 7

INDIANAPOLIS - This game also went as expected. Jimtown dominated as expected over a North Posey team which was attempting to give the school football and baseball tiles in the same school year. Then 2A No. 2 Jimmies won a third state crown in the last nine years with a 21-point fourth quarter. North Posey was held to only 41 yards rushing. North Posey scored first but Jimtown scored on an interception and a punt return. The top-ranked Jimtown defense collected five turnovers to win going away.

The Final: Jimtown (14-1) 35, North Posey (12-3) 7

The Class 3A Pick: Bishop Chatard 35, Northwood 9

INDIANAPOLIS - The first big surprise of the finals. Chatard, which defeated Heritage Hills in overtime in the semifinals, was lifeless and extremely conservative against Northwood. The underdog Panthers scored a second quarter TD and held on as Chatard stubbornly tried to break 2,000-yard rusher Joe Holland through what amounted to a 10-man Northwood front. Class 3A No. 4 Chatard made a late switch at QB but it was too late as Northwood survived a scoreless second half to win their first state title in six tries. Northwood had previously lost twice in the title game to Chatard, which was 7-0 in state title games.

The Final: Northwood (9-6) 7, Bishop Chatard (12-3) 0

The Class 4A Pick: Roncalli (12-2) 28, Lowell (10-4) 16

INDIANAPOLIS - The feature game of the finals (Roncalli's senior class tried to be come the first class in sate history to collect four state titles) turned into one of the greatest upsets in state history. Trailing 27-14 with 11 minutes to play, Lowell converted a 4th-and-2 play by less than six inches and mounted a dramatic rally. Touchdowns by star players Jeff Clemens and Scott Gray even the score and sophomore kicker David Lang booted the game winning extra point with 5 1/2 minutes to play. A blocked extra point by quarterback Jimmy Ritter denied Roncalli the 28th point. the defending state champion Rebels. A bigger and strong team was denied an 86-yard kickoff return that would have won the game 24-27 on a clipping call. Lowell, which had never won a title in any team sport, out gained Roncalli, an eight-time state champion, 334-270. Lowell, with 50 players on the roster and seven players playing both offense and defense, beat Roncalli, with 100 players on the roster and only two two-way player, in time of possession 26:29 to 21:31. When all aspect of this game are considered, this is probably the greatest come-from-behind championship game upset of all time.

The Final: Lowell (11-4) 28, Roncalli (12-3) 27

The Class 5A Pick: Warren Central (13-1) 51, Hamilton Southeastern (11-3) 21

INDIANAPOLIS - Warren Central justified their pre-season rank as the No. 4 team in the nation by dominating the Indiana state playoffs. WC outscored six playoff foes 328-68 and they led Hamilton SE 21-0 in the first quarter of this no-contest game. Warren Central now takes up the challenge that Roncalli confronted this year. To have the first senior class to win titles in all four years in school. Warren Central returns a 200-yard rusher in fullback Darren Evans (6-1, 208) and imposing physical players in receiver Adrian Robinson (6-5, 223) and free safety Adrian Finch (6-2, 210). With an enrollment of 3,983 and a total of five state titles, WC may almost single-handedly bring on the advent of Class 6A.

The Final: Warren Central (14-1) 55, Hamilton Southeastern (11-4) 20

WEEK 15 (2005) PIX recap

WEEK 15: 3 of 5, 60.0%

WEEK 14: 8 of 10, 80%

WEEK 13: 11 of 20, 65.0%

WEEK 12: 14 of 18, 77.7%

WEEK 11: 13 of 16, 81.3%

WEEK 10: 21 of 27, 77.7%

WEEK 9: 7 of 11, 63.6%

WEEK 8: 9 of 12, 75.0%

WEEK 7: 10 of 12, 83.3%

WEEK 6: 9 OF 13, 69.2%

WEEK 5: 10 OF 14, 71.4%

WEEK 4: 9 OF 12, 75.0%

WEEK 3: 7 of 13, 53.8%

WEEK 2: 11 of 15, 73.3%

WEEK 1: 16 of 20, 80%

9-WEEK REGULAR SEASON: 88 of 122, 72.1%

(Final) PLAYOFFS: 70 of 96, 72.9%
2005 Season: 158 of 218, 72.4%

2004 Overall: 156 of 216, 72.2%

WEEK 15 RECAP

Week 15 Recap: Two big upsets closed out the state tournament although Northwood over Chatard was not that stunning. Northwood had not had a losing season since 1972 and Chatard came into the final allowing over 15 points a game and scoring just 26. Lowell over Roncalli is the caliber of upset that won't be seen again any time soon. The number of schools that have never won a state title in any sport is very small. And it will become more and more difficult (Warren Central notwithstanding) for teams to win consecutive titles due to consolidations and the upgrade in facilities at a lot of the older schools. Jimtown, Sheridan and Warren Central winning are the 'natural order' of things. They have 15 titles between them.

10 Thoughts on the NW Indiana Season

1.) There is not yet a 'changing of the guard' with Crown Point and Morton moving up the ladder as far as football programs is concerned. CP (11-1) and Morton (8-4) did well but the trick will be to put strong seasons back-to-back. Morton was 11-2 in 2002 and followed it with two losing seasons. CP was 8-3 in 2002 but 5-5 in 2003 and 4-7 in 2004. As far as CP is concerned, they return most of their offense and should contend for a second consecutive DAC title. Morton appears to need major rebuilding before they can confront Griffith and Andrean again.

As for one time powers Munster (3-7), Highland (5-6), Lake Central (2-8) and Portage (2-8), if you think they're down, wait. The same logic holds true for them as for the up-and-comers. It's very hard to believe that Portage, for one, will not have a winning season in 2006. Let's wait for more than one year before you see what you have.

2.) The fact that two Lake Athletic Conference teams have won state titles in back-to-back years is misleading. With the Gary teams noncompetitive, the LAC is virtually guaranteed to have one team reach the regional in 3A and 4A every year. There can also be an LAC team in the 1A and 2A playoffs. While the eight-team Duneland Conference has only 5A schools and can only reach the finals in the biggest class, the LAC has 16 teams. 5% of the state (16 of 311 teams) is in the LAC. The league should have a state contender every season. Truthfully, the downfall of 9-0 (regular season) teams Whiting and Griffith is that they play in the LAC, which does not consistently challenge them.

3.) No Indianapolis Catholic school (Chatard and Roncalli have a combined 15 titles) won a state title in 2005. But the public school-Catholic school debate will be renewed in 2006. Bishop Chatard returns the core of its offense and defense from a 12-3 team this year and they will be No. 1 at the start of next year. Chatard had only 22 seniors among 90 players on the roster. They reached the state finals in a 'down' year. Reportedly, the core of the Chatard defense, sophomores Mike Dum (6-1, 170), John Dury (6-0, 190), Jeff Vaughn (6-4, 270), Alex Hill (6-3, 210), Kyle Dietrick (5-10, 185) and Darren Hightower (6-4, 204) went entire seasons without being scored on in grade school. As sophomores in 2005 at Chatard, Dum had 173 tackles, Dury had 107 and Dietrick had 95 in the first 14 Chatard games. 2006 Chatard also returns junior halfback Joe Holland (331 carries, 2,252 yards, 30 TDs) and junior fullback Tyler Kleinschmidt (93 carries, 732 yards). Quarterback Matt Lubbers was a very limited passer but he graduates and the boy coming behind him, sophomore Rob Doyle, is not.

3A teams had their chance the last two years (Chatard won titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003) and Andrean and Northwood stepped up. 3A teams facing Chatard have a very large hill to climb in 2006.

4.) Merrillville opened the 2005 football season with games against East Chicago and Highland, two schools that will not play them in 2006. Very few teams truthfully want to play Merrillville but two new teams certainly will in August of 2006. The question is: Which two? It's not (and it probably shouldn't be) Griffith, Andrean or Lowell.

5.) DAC champion Crown Point is probably going to make more than one position change before next season. The Bulldogs lost to Merrillville, in part, because of the size of their defense, especially at defensive end. There were other factors (including some luck) involved, but CP will not ignore the one mismatch that was obvious. The Pirates won the 5A sectional 1 championship game because they loaded up one side of the line with Brandon Jordan (6-4, 270) and Dexter Larimore (6-3, 275) and ran at CP's 200-pound ends and outside linebackers. CP coach Chip Pettit said before the 2005 season that one or two CP offensive linemen might be moved to defense for the 2006 season.

6.) State champion Lowell has more returning in 2006 than it may first appear. Josh Kuiper, who made a key interception in the state title game, played QB early in the season and is probably a better passer than state champion Jimmy Ritter. Long snapper Jon Cap (6-1, 165) is also a QB and a quality thrower.

But Lowell runs the ball and record-setting HB Scott Gray graduates. OK. Fullback Steffan Peck (5-6, 165) obviously is not really a fullback. He's a halfback and a good one. Danny Remboski (5-11, 180) looked very good in brief appearances after he recovered from a broken hand. Junior wrestler Max Znika (6-0, 161) gained 219 yards on 41 carries and he is capable of stepping into a starting role. Peck has good enough hands to be moved to wide receiver, a position that runs the ball often at Lowell. Four offensive linemen graduate, but Mike Staniewicz (6-5, 253) will return and he has the body to be bigger and stronger. Sophomore defensive lineman Kaleb Layman (5-9, 160) and Jeff Barker (6-4, 178) played regularly in 2005 and can't help but get a lot bigger. Kicker David Lang (5-10, 195), who has 40-yard FG range already, may move into the offensive line.

Lowell loses seven or eight starters on each side of the bal including certain all NW-Indiana players Ryan King, Jed Travis, Chris Lampa, Jeff Clemens and Scott Gray. But remember, Lowell lost all NW-Indiana players Toby Goetz, Randy Lukasik and Larin Childress after the 2004 season. On the state finals roster, Lowell had 19 seniors, 11 juniors and 28 sophomores. All except the top 19 boys went through the 15 games and 15 weeks of practices.

Look for Lowell to certainly have better than a 5-4 regular season in 2006.

7.) The 'Region solidarity' thing is largely a myth. Very few people from Griffith came to Indianapolis to cheer for rival Lowell and I wouldn't expect them to. I didn't see anybody from Chatard cheering for Roncalli in the RCA Dome on Nov. 26 after Chatard lost to Northwood 7-0. Those are rivals and you just don't cheer for your rivals. Griffith is a barnstorming, trash-talking, intimidating (at least they think they are) style of team. For them to cheer for a rival seven days after their elimination would be totally out of character.

High school athletes are taught that everyone is against them. Nobody believes in them. Nobody likes them. Nobody respects them. Everybody's out to get them. You got to prove the 'critics' wrong. It's not true, but that's what coaches everywhere use to motivate and the boys buy into it. It's farfetched for someone who is convinced of a perspective that paranoid and self-centered to turn around the next week and be happy for another team winning. That's just not going to happen.

8.) The state of the art 21st century passing attacks didn't get anybody to the state finals. The only squad that was remotely a passing team was 2A North Posey and they got hammered 35-7 by run-oriented Jimtown. As great as it is to throw the ball indoors, it's hard to throw your way there because the regional and semistate games are played in mid-November in NW Indiana. It may be (and probably is) different for Central and Southern Indiana schools who play in distinctly different weather, but up-and-coming passing squads like Chesterton must take note of what happens to the passing game in 35-degree weather. Whiting's loss to West Central, Concord's loss to Lowell and LaPorte's loss to Elkhart Memorial are examples of teams with 2,000-yard passers who didn't survive the winds of November. You have to be capable of running the ball 75% of the time and winning against a good defense.

9.) The lack of TV coverage was unfortunate for NW Indiana football fans who have no video memory of the Andrean-Griffith game, the Merrillville-Crown Point sectional championship or the dramatic Fort Wayne South-Lowell game, all of which would have been certain TV tape-delay offerings. The Friday night highlight show on Channel 56 was well-received and it makes the Thursday night shows fairly obsolete. But people want to see the games and coverage in NW Indiana will be sub-par until some TV outlet brings back the game of the week.

Radio did very well in 2005. Three outlets (WJOB, The Regional Radio Sports Network and the Region Sports Network) all produced full Friday evenings of prep football related programming and the RSN also did well with Friday afternoon pre-game live talks with area coaches. The RSN also replays games Saturday mornings and that replay is well-received. Other than convince local high schools to do some Saturday games so coverage can be expanded, radio is doing all they can.

There are also three live games on the Internet every week and that means all former NW Indiana residents can hear their old high school play on line. I'm not sure that even the folks who do the games understand how great that is for homesick Hoosiers sitting in Someplace Else, South Dakota.

10.) The claim that somehow football is more popular, better in quality or more prestigious than basketball in Indiana continues to take a hit. As long as athletic directors and coaches refuse to allow play on Saturdays, football will be a limited game. Can you imagine Indiana high school basketball not playing on a day because colleges play on that same day? Me neither. While Indiana football sends a couple of running backs to Notre Dame, Indiana has the No. 1 player in the nation two years in a row (Lawrence North's Greg Oden and North Central's Eric Gordon). Star players from Indiana high schools are usually as overrated as Michael Vick.

Gary and Hammond schools (with the exception of Morton) hardly participate in the football tourney while most are key players in the basketball playoffs. Most of the small school Porter County Conference (PCC) has tradition-rich, highly fan friendly basketball programs and no football at all. East Chicago is a state power in boys and girls basketball and an also ran in football.

Indiana high school basketball gets national coverage on ESPN (2 Lawrence North games again this year) while the only time Indiana football gets on national TV is when there's a shooting in the stands. The football season begins before school when hardly anyone cares while basketball is the only major team sport that exists totally within the school year. People who hate class basketball, don't mind class football because, well, it's football. There's an Indiana state football championship game played at 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.

That should tell you all you need to know about Indiana prep football.