Week 2 Picks:  2009 NW Indiana High School Football

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

August 25, 2009


 

'Mr. Picker' WEEK ONE (1), 2009 Football Picks in Review:

Wrong - 6; Right - 11 = 64.7%
The Pick The Result
Gavit 28, Calumet 12    *WRONG... Calumet 38-32 (OT)
Rensselaer 21, Kankakee Valley 7    Rensselaer  34-7
River Forest 42, Bowman Academy 28    *WRONG... Bowman   20-8
Clark 40, Whiting 21    Clark 28-21
Wheeler 27, Highland 20    Wheeler 42-7
Hammond 26, East Chicago 24    Hammond  32-12
South Newton 35, North Newton 20    South Newton 43-27
South Central 28, LaVille 14    *WRONG... LaVille 17-13
North White 16, Lake Station 12    North White 55-0
ANDREAN 42, Bishop Noll 20    ANDREAN 63-0
LaPorte 38, New Prairie 28    LaPorte 41-16
Griffith 35, Morton 26    *WRONG... Morton 20-0
LOWELL 17, CROWN POINT 9    LOWELL 19-0
Lake Central 27, Munster 20    *WRONG... Munster 27-10
Portage 35, Marian 14    Portage  26-0
Valparaiso 24, Penn 16    *WRONG... Penn 21-0
Warren Central 28, MERRILLVILLE 16   Warren Central 49-16


WEEK (1) ONE ANALYSIS:  As usual, week one was hard to predict.  Calumet probably shouldn't have beaten Gavit, but Clark won on a late pass interception.  Bowman Academy had to win sometime and maybe, so did Morton against Griffith.  The biggest surprise is that Valparaiso did not even score on Penn.  They have far too much offense for that to happen.  South Central led 13-3 in the fourth quarter and lost 17-13.  How can you know when there's nothing to go on?  In Concord's 34-28 win over East Noble, the teams combined for 900 total yards, not counting two East Noble kickoff returns of 85 and 92 yards.  Lafayette Jefferson lost 41-0 to Zionsville, the first time that Jeff has been shut out in 13 years.

 

Worst pick of the week.  Lake Central over Munster.  There was not that much to indicate that would happen and it didn't.  The best pick of the week?  Probably South Newton over North Newton by 16 (they won by 15) and Hammond over an East Chicago team that beat them 28-0 last year.

 

Mr. Picker (Through the Years)

 2008 (final) OVERALL:  145 of 193 = 75.1%
 2007 (final) OVERALL:  143 of 188 = 76.0%
 2006 (final) OVERALL:  166 of 217 = 76.4%
 2005 (final) OVERALL:  170 of 233 = 72.9%

Northwest Indiana WEEK-TWO (2) PICKS, 08-28-2008
 

The second week brings some new match ups and some surprising 0-1 squads.  Lew Wallace against Longwood Academy was canceled, but West Side plays Roosevelt in Gary.  I'm going to leave out Munster vs. Bishop Noll, which lost by 63 in week one.  I'm also going to leave River Forest at Eau Claire, Wisconsin alone.  That can't go well.  I don't think its fair to pick Chesterton against New Prairie or Lake Central against East Chicago.  Those are mismatches. 

 

TF North plays at Bowman Academy Saturday at 6:00 p.m.  Bowman reportedly is playing home games on the artificial turf at Morton.  The feature game this week sends Chicago Catholic power St. Rita to Portage for a 6:00 p.m. Saturday game.

 


Clark (1-0) at Calumet (1-0)

GARY (8-28-2009) Despite 10 penalties, Calumet still rolled up 335 yards last week but I think Clark has more to offer on offense.  The Pioneers won 28-21, but were out-gained 287-193 last week.  Clark didn't play well and still won.

 

Clark 34, Calumet 20



Highland (0-1) at Hammond (1-0)

 

HAMMOND (8-28-2009) Hammond rolled over East Chicago last week while Highland lost their 12th in a row. the Trojans, a larger 4A school, should be more physical than Hammond but they aren't right now.

 

Hammond 28, Highland 16

 

 

South Bend Washington (1-0) at Michigan City (1-0)

 

MICHIGAN CITY (8-21-2009) Here's a real test for MC, which is said to be improved.  Washington has a lot of speed and they won 44-12 over Clay in week one.  Michigan City should dominate them.  I'd be surprised if they don't.

 

Michigan City 42, Washington 21

 

 

Kankakee Valley (0-1) at Wheeler (1-0)

 

VALPARAISO (8-21-2009) I almost didn't pick this game.  KV got smacked down by Rensselaer by four TDs last week while Wheeler crushed Highland.  This is almost a non-pick because everyone selects Wheeler in this game and if KV wins, everybody got it wrong.  The challenge here is to pick the score.

 

Wheeler 30, Kankakee Valley 14

 

 

Rensselaer (1-0) at North Newton (0-1)

 

MOROCCO (8-21-2009) North Newton led 13-6 in the early going before losing 43-27 at South Newton.  They have to be encouraged by that.  Rensselaer had 320 yards rushing on KV and that will continue on this night.

 

Rensselaer 41, North Newton 14

 

 

Gary West Side (0-1) at Gary Roosevelt (0-1)

 

GARY (8-21-2009) I thought West Side was surprisingly good against Hobart in week one with 314 total yards.  I know this is a rivalry, but both teams have short benches and Gary Roosevelt lost by nine TDs at Michigan City.

 

West Side 48, Roosevelt 18

 

 

Griffith (0-1) at Valparaiso (0-1)

 

VALPARAISO (8-21-2009) This is a bad match-up and it's worse than it looks.  Morton was 14 of 30 passing in week one and Valparaiso can do better than that.  Valpo has some offensive line problems, but they may not show up here.  Valpo lost 21-0 to Penn but they held Penn to 217 total yards.  What's Griffith going to do?

 

Valparaiso 35, Griffith 7

 

 

Hobart (1-0) at CROWN POINT (0-1)

 

CROWN POINT (8-21-2009) Tough game because Hobart certainly prepared for this game in the pre-season, ignoring Gary West Side.  Crown Point did not score in week one which always hurts your confidence.  But CP's defense is strong and should set the offense up for a narrow win here.

 

CROWN POINT 20, Hobart 14

 

 

Whiting (0-1) at Gavit (0-1)

 

HAMMOND (8-21-2009) Whiting out-gained Clark last week and should have won, but Gavit did the same thing, losing 38-32 in overtime.  Gavit did not complete a pass last season.  That won't work this Friday.

 

Whiting 35, Gavit 28

 

 

ANDREAN (1-0) at MERRILLVILE (0-1)

 

MERRILLVILLE (8-21-2009) Andrean has been looking forward to this while it's a distraction for the Pirates between Warren Central and Crown Point.  But the 33 point loss to WC means this game becomes a major focus for the home team.  This is the game of the week and Merrillville may go without HB Denzel Pierce.

 

MERRILLVILLE 21, ANDREAN 20

 

 

LOWELL (1-0) at Morton (1-0)

 

HAMMOND (8-21-2009) Morton broke a five-year, 10-game losing run against Griffith with a 20-0 win.  The Governors gained 346 total yards and held Griffith to 57 yards rushing.  Lowell may not have HB Brandon Grubbe and they had major special teams problems in week one.  If there's a major upset this week, here it is.

 

Morton 28, LOWELL 24

 

 

LaPorte (1-0) at Elkhart Central (0-1)

 

EKHART (8-21-2009) You have to score a lot of points here.  LaPorte got 312 yards rushing last week, including 188 on 17 carries by junior rookie Nick Latchford.  Central threw 42 times last week so this will be a long, high-scoring game.

 

LaPorte 44, Elkhart Central 28

 

 

SATURDAY NIGHT: 

 

TF North at Bowman Academy (1-0) at Morton

 

HAMMOND (8-22-2009) Thanks to Morton for letting Bowman, which does not have a home field, have a home.  That won't help them here though, as the Meteors open their season with a team that has a lot of speed.  I don't know if a lot of people know this game is even being played Saturday.

 

TF North 33, Bowman 12

 

 

St. Rita at Portage (1-0)

 

PORTAGE (8-22-2009) Remember, Illinois teams are beginning their season this week.  St. Rita was 10-3 last year and they expect to win.  Portage has to throw the ball better than 2-of-5 for 105 yards last week, because they probably can't run on the St. Rita Mustangs.  Indy folks are proud of the Indy Metro Conference, but I don't know how many games Warren Central would win in the Chicago Catholic League.  It's good to have Saturday night 6:00 p.m. football.

 

St. Rita 28, Portage 21

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