Week 2 Picks:  2006 NW Indiana High School Football

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

August 24, 2006

WEEK (1) ONE RECAP:  No major surprises here except for the margin of victory in the Penn-Valpo game.  Munster looks to be stronger than they have been the last two or three seasons and Kankakee Valley apparently just wasn't ready.  Judson gave up 252 yards and 14 first downs but they still won.  A lot of folks bought into the Chesterton hype. They may yet be good, but you've got to finish.  You can never tell anything about Morton until they stop playing Hammond schools.  LC's one point come-from-behind win is major for them, but it hid the fact that they gave up 275 totals yards and 16 first downs.  Crown Point won even though they had a bad game and Andrean won what should be an inspiring game for them.

BIGGEST WINNER - WEEK ONE:  New Prairie.  To beat your neighbor and big school rival is a great start.  The Cougars again appear to have the offensive line to control games.  When you get 48 carries, 269 yards and 6 TDs in one game against a DAC team that know you can't throw (only 4 pass attempts), you can most definitely run the football.

WEEK 1 (2006) PIX recap

WEEK 1: 9 of 13 = 69.1%

2005 (final) OVERALL:  170 of 233 = 72.9%

Northwest Indiana
WEEK 2 (TWO) PICKS, 8-25-2006

(8-25-2006)  School is finally open and most boys actually go to class before the second game of the season.  But the intense heat will ride the boys again in late August.  Near 90 degrees for Friday, August 25.  Anybody who tells you it doesn't matter needs to come down to the sidelines and feel how warm it is at sea level.  A lot of QBs (Blake Mascarello - CP, Alex Beierwalter - Chesterton) had problems throwing the ball in the high humidity and that may not change this Friday.  In the interest of accuracy, all-stater Bobby Cira of Concord was 10 of 21 for 259 yards and PJ Gbur of Lake Central was 19 of 27 for 268 yards.  But the conditions are still a factor and if will affect the outcomes.

The Gary teachers' strike is on and that means all four Gary schools cannot play.  West Side and Lew Wallace play Illinois foes so those games will just be forgotten.  But Wirt was to play Munster and Roosevelt to play Valparaiso.  If the strike is still on Friday, word is that Valparaiso will play Munster for the first time in 18 years.  Munster played Valparaiso every season from 1974 to 1988 and lost just eight of 15.  The big game state wide is No. 2 Penn and No. 5 Ben Davis.  And I don't know if Class 8A No. 6 (Wilmette, Illinois) Maine South knows exactly what they're getting when they signed up to Host 5A Indiana No. 1 Warren Central Friday.  Long run weather forecasts show that the temperatures might slip below the dangerous level by Sept. 1.  What about this week?  Get out there and suffer like the rest of us. 

Others will pick the lopsided slaughters like Lowell-Calumet or East Chicago-Lake Central but I will let those two games pass. Let the winners win, the losers drink lots of water and we'll see you all in September.

River Forest 28, Lake Station 27

LAKE STATION -  What they affectionately call the 'Hillbilly Super Bowl' takes place Friday at Lake Station between two schools that should always be in the same league.  Both team were crushed by other 1A schools in week one and the River Forest coach, Dave Blevins said his team quit in the miserable conditions in a 41-8 loss to Whiting.  Lake Station got beat 36-8 at Monon against North White, but they are also better than that.  RF and QB Michael Perkins are better than they showed, but they're going to have to outscore Lake Station.  I'd pay to see this one.

Kankakee Valley 23, Rensselaer 20

DeMOTTE  - KV was very disappointing last week completing 1-of-7 passes in a 38-9 loss at Munster. Rensselaer laughed off North Newton 61-0 .   But this is not the same Rensselaer squad that beat KV 37-2 last season and this is the same KV team. The Kougars were overmatched against a surprising Munster squad. If KV is not injured, they'll pull off the upset here.

Knox 24, North Judson 21

NORTH JUDSON - Knox, which was 3-7 last year (and 0-10 in 2004) hammered Winamac 40-0 last week as QB Cody Binkley completed 10-of-21 passes for 231 yards.  Judson gave up 252 yards against Glenn, but won anyway 17-7.  Judson consistently beats Knox, but in good weather, it will be very hard this time.  I don't know if Judson is ready for this new school of hard Knox.

Wheeler 30, North Newton 6

MOROCCO - The Spartans got taken out back and whipped 61-0 last week by Rensselaer while Wheeler was smoked out 41-18 at Highland.  I think Wheeler just got off to a bad start while North Newton is starting to resemble the White Sox and Red Sox who go down when the first hard wind blows.  This won't be close.

Portage 21, (South Bend) St. Joseph's 14

SOUTH BEND - The hardest game of the week to pick as Portage looked very good in blanking Washington 28-0 in week one while St. Joseph's  got four TDs of 30 yards in length or more to upset 5A Mishawaka 26-19.  St. Joe speedy back Wes Chamblee (5-11, 155)  scored from 48, 76 and 85 yards away.  Portage has to contain him and, eventually, they will.

(South Bend) St. Joseph's 20, Michigan City 16

SOUTH BEND - The new-look Wolves take on Clay, a 28-21 winner over Adams last week.  Clay gave up 313 yards and 225 on the ground.  But Michigan City gave up 20 points to a Roosevelt team that's not strong.  Watch out for Clay freshman Danny Smith (6-2, 180), who caught a 61-yard touchdown pass in the first minute of his first high school football game.

Clark 27, Hammond 20

HAMMOND - The second week of Hammond 'pool play' sees a Hammond team that was competitive after a 1-10 year in 2005 taking on a Clark squad that got smoked out 40-0 by Morton.  Clark needs time to throw the ball and they'll get it against Hammond.  Another high point game due to lack of depth and heat conditions.

Andrean 35, Bishop Noll  14

MERRILLVILLE - Bishop Noll  coasted past Wirt 35-0 in week one, but they only gained a reported 225 yards.  How does that translate against a 59er squad that shut out 5A Chesterton in the second half?  If Chesterton got 35 yards rushing on Andrean, how many yards will Noll gain even with junior Tony Hollingsworth (18 carries, 100 yards last week)?  Folks seem to be waiting for Andrean to fall.  Kinda like the White Sox are waiting for the Tigers to let them win a few.  How's that working for them?

(South Bend) Riley 31, Whiting 16

SOUTH BEND - The 41-8 Whiting win over River Forest was a mirage. Riley gained 273 yards rushing in a 14-12 loss to Park Tudor and lost because they missed two conversions.  Riding in a bus two hours in 90 degree heat and trying to play is like asking your boiled egg to jump off the plate and drive you to school.

Morton 34, Gavit 24

HAMMOND - Morton coasted against Clark and they'll meet only slightly more resistance here.  Gavit can win if they commit to running 1,800-yard (in 2005) halfback Victor Ayala, who gained only 47 yards on 14 carries last week.  But the Glads may not have the line to run here.  You cant beat Morton by challenging them to a passing contest.

Elkhart Central 31, LaPorte 26

LaPORTE - The second toughest game to pick in week two.  LaPorte was outscored 39-6 in the first half against New Prairie, but they won the second half 27-0 so who knows about them?  Elkhart Central gave up a late TD in the final minute to lose to arch-rival Memorial 21-14 in the Elkhart civil war.  Central throws the ball all over the place, but they probably can't stop LaPorte HB Airrence Shark.  Lots of points here, but the Elkhart boys have more experience.

New Prairie 28, (South Bend) Washington 14

SOUTH BEND - Washington took a 28-0 whipping from Portage last week and they'll be let go faster than Tom Cruise if they can't figure out how to handle the 290-pound offensive tackles and slippery veer offense running backs of New Prairie.  Washington has too many good athletes to get shut out again.  But it's very hard to prepare for the Cougars who returned 16 starters from last year's squad.  If you want to jump on a 3A bandwagon this season, it's loading now for the 'Little Team on the Prairie'.

Griffith 41, Chesterton 30

GRIFFITH - Chesterton matches up well against Griffith because they can exploit the Panthers' supposed weakness in the secondary.  But the Trojans can't (or won't) run the ball and they may wear down in the heat.  Chesterton runs the option at lower levels and they won't be lost against Griffith.  But, as the points fly, it will come back to the fact that Griffith can run the ball and Chesterton can't.

Crown Point 38, Hobart 20

HOBART - The Brickies' multiple offense meets the Crown Point defense, which shut out Lowell in week one.  There's also the match up of top wide receivers in Matt Ernest of Crown Point and Bobby James of Hobart.  Both QBs have experience and both sides are loaded at running back.  You can stay home and watch another boring pro exhibition game where the Bears do nothing and whine about it all weekend or you can see real football here.  Hobart is playing without two starters, so the edge goes to the CP defense, after a racehorse first half.

Merrillville 42, Highland 7

MERRILLVILLE - Highland got the whipping stick out on Wheeler last week, but this is not Wheeler.  Merrillville held East Chicago to just 36 total yards and they'll be watching tapes of Highland rolling up the yards all week long.  Merrillville has played without two starters so far and both could be back.  Highland has to run the ball and shorten the game.  But they'll have trouble winning a short game, too.  There's a difference between Highland's Lake Athletic Conference and Merrillville's Duneland Athletic Conference.

Copyright © 2006 USA-365.com and Meyer Multimedia Services, a division of Meyer Broadcasting Corp.  All rights reserved.
Revised: August 25, 2006 .