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Lowell (1-1) at Griffith (2-0) |
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Week
3 - Football Game of the Week Preview |
Lowell (1-1) at Griffith (2-0) |
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8-30-2006
When:
Friday, September 1, 2006
Where: Griffith High School, 600 South Wiggs, Griffith, IN.
Tickets: $5 - (for everybody).
Kickoff:
7:00 p.m.
Radio-TV: WWCA
(1270 AM), www.rrsn.com and WTMK (88.5 FM)
will carry this game live. WWCA, the Region Sports Network, will almost
certainly (although they had not announced that Monday) replay the game at 9:00
a.m. Saturday as well.
Weather: Finally, a break. Kickoff temperatures should be in the upper 60s with low humidity. The first two weeks have been played in weather that was only enjoyed by mosquitoes.
Parking:
Griffith High School does not have anywhere near enough parking for a game
matching a Top-5 team against a defending state champion. Few schools
do. To park in the small lot just west of the school building you are
going to need to get there about 6:00 p.m. Otherwise you will walk through
the neighborhood around the high school, which on a 65-degree night with the
band playing and children everywhere isn't the worst thing that will happen to
you this weekend. Try to avoid blocking driveways and behave yourself in
the neighborhood. People who live around Griffith High School are used to
Friday football, but that doesn't mean they'll just sit back if you feel the
need to dance on their lawn.
Rivalry: This is one of
Northwest Indiana's premier rivalries. Other than Plymouth and Warsaw (75
years), Clark and Whiting (72 years), Lowell and Griffith (71 years) is the
longest continuous rivalry in Northern Indiana. When Griffith started a
varsity football team in 1935, records show that the first three teams they
played were Crown Point, Hobart and Lowell. Griffith has never had a
varsity football season in which they did not play Lowell and the two schools
have met 73 times (Griffith leads 47-23-3). Griffith and Lowell was the
season opener from 1942 to 1948.
This is a rare singular rivalry because these towns are not neighbors. Obviously, Griffith is nowhere near Lowell and while the towns are very similar, this isn't a border war or a public-private dust up, this is a pure football rivalry. I don't know of any connection between these two schools as far as personnel, family ties or former students at one being coaches at the other.
There
really isn't a lot of feeling between these two schools in any other sport with
the possible exception of wrestling. And that wrestling juice is created
from football results. Both Lowell and Griffith have had state champ
wrestlers and state championship football teams in the last decade.
Of the schools that Griffith really wants badly to beat in football, Lowell is
far down the list, probably because of that dead period that Lowell had from
1968 to 1992 where they didn't even have a winning season. For many years,
it was no big deal to beat Lowell. Griffith beat Lowell 17 years in a row
from 1976 to 1993, but while the Panthers have a big edge all time, this series
is dead even (4-4) over the last seven years. Sometimes the games are dead
even. Griffith won 21-20 in 2004 while Lowell won 21-20 in 2002.
Coaches Russ Radtke (1992) and Kirk Kennedy (1991), who came to their schools about the same time, both want to run the ball and control the clock and both are very stubborn about it. The difference in the last 15 years between Lowell and Griffith used to be that the Panthers broke through that one time in 1997 and won the school's only state crown. Lowell had reached the semistate level in 1994 and 1999 only to be turned away. Then, Lowell broke through and won the 2005 4A state crown and now there's really no difference.
Griffith's 1997 state title was a powerful achievement. After losing 21-6 at Hobart, Griffith, which is 424-267-16 all-time, won 12 of the next 13 games by 14 points or more. The only team other than Hobart that played the Panthers close in 1997 was Lowell, a 20-13 loser. But the 1997 Panthers were probably not Russ Radtke's best team.
Young folks forget that Radtke brought North Judson to great prominence in the 1970s and 80s. In 1985, as hard as this may be to believe, Judson shut out everyone during the regular season, beating nine foes 373-0, a feat no one in this part of the state has approached in the two decades since that time. What happened? Judson committed three turnovers and lost 29-22 to up-and-coming power Jimtown in a Class 1A regional championship game on Nov. 15, 1985. In that game, David Haugh, who is now a writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, caught 11 passes for 151 yards. His quarterback? Kirk Manns, who went on to score in double figures per game in basketball for Michigan State University. One of Jimtown's TDs was a 94-yard return of a missed North Judson field goal. (Ask coach Russ about that one.) The game, played on a bad field in Elkhart, is one of the modern day classics of Indiana high school football.
One year later, an undefeated Judson team went back to Jimtown and won 14-10. The '86 Judson team went 13-0 and shut out six opponents before a 29-21 loss to South Putnam in the state title game. To this day, North Judson has never won a state title, nor have they ever played Griffith.
Even though Lowell won the state title in 2005, Griffith beat them 21-0, scoring first on a tipped pass that David Alexander carried 60 yards for a score. There was a moment on Nov. 22, 2005 when it appeared that Lowell and Griffith would be playing back-to-back in the RCA dome one week later. The only score announced at Lowell during the semistate game with Fort Wayne South was Griffith's 10-0 early lead over Northwood. As Lowell fell behind 14-0, the out of town scores ceased to matter. So when Lowell rallied to win, for a moment, some thought that Lowell and Griffith had both advanced.
It would have been fitting. The two quintessential 'region' football teams, squads that value quickness and toughness over size, squads that look for 'Davids' to slay Goliaths. I wouldn't call this a friendly rivalry, but there is a lot of respect. Griffith fans who bad mouth Andrean and Morton, seem to see Lowell as a fellow traveler, probably because Lowell is 4A and can't meet the Panthers in the playoffs. Lowell and Griffith boys meet at all age levels and these schools have always been league rivals in the Calumet Conference, the Lake Suburban Conference and now the Lake Athletic Conference. Lowell and Griffith most definitely know that even a decisive victory in this series will be a very physical contest. All other NW Indiana rivalries are based on differences. This one is based on similarities. Lowell and Griffith are two of a kind.
Class 4A Lowell (1-1)
Enrollment:
1,150 - Class 4A
Coach: Kirk Kennedy (116-60, 16 years)
Sectional titles: (5) 1992, 1994, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005
Regional titles: (3) 1994, 1999, 2005
2005 record: 11-4, Won first state title with a 28-27 win over eight-time
champ Roncalli
2006 LOWELL Red Devils
Coach: Kirk Kennedy, 116-60 in 16th year at school
Aug. 18 (L) 0-17 at (5A) Crown Point (2-0)
Aug. 25 (W) 63-6 (3A) Calumet (0-2)
Sep. 1 (F) at (3A) Griffith (2-0)
Sep. 8 (F) (3A) Morton (2-0)
Sep. 15 (F) at (3A) Andrean (2-0)
Sep. 22 (F) at (3A) Hammond (0-2)
Sep. 29 (F) (4A) Munster (2-0)
Oct. 6 (F) (4A) Hobart (1-1)
Oct. 13 (F) at (4A) Highland (1-1)
2005 Lowell Red Devils (11-4)
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 (12-1)
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 (W) 16-14 (FW) South (11-3)
4A State Championship
11-27 (W) 28-27 at Indianapolis Roncalli (12-3)
Class 3A Griffith (2-0)
Enrollment: 902 - Class 3A
Head Coach: Russ Radtke (124-41, 14 years)
Championships
SECTIONALS (12)
REGIONALS (4) 1991, 1994, 1997, 2005
Lost 3A Semistate 17-10 at Northwood
2006 Griffith Panthers
Coach: Russ Radtke (124-91, 14 years, 243-96, 30 years overall)
8-18
(W) 61-8 Lew Wallace (0-2)
8-25 (W) 35-34 (OT) Chesterton (0-2)
9-1 (Fri) Lowell (1-1)
9-8 (Fri) at Munster (2-0)
9-15 (Fri) at Morton (2-0)
9-22 (Fri) Highland (1-1)
9-29 (Fri) at Hammond (0-2)
10-6 (Fri) Andrean (2-0)
10-13 (Fri) Hobart (1-1)
2005
Griffith Panthers (13-1)
Aug. 19 (W) 50-13 (SB) Riley
(2-8)
Aug. 26 (W) 56-7 at Chesterton (3-8)
Sep. 2 (W) 21-0 at Lowell (11-4)
Sep. 9 (W) 63-0 Munster (3-7)
Sep. 16 (W) 58-13 Morton (8-4)
Sep. 23 (W) 71-0 at Highland (4-6)
Sep. 30 (W) 64-0 Hammond (1-9)
Oct. 7 (W) 42-21 at Andrean (8-2)
Oct. 14 (W) 35-10 at Hobart (6-6)
3A Sectional 17
Oct. 21 (W) 64-7 at Clark (3-7)
Oct. 28 (W) 63-0 Gavit (3-8)
Nov. 4 (W) 24-21 (OT) Morton (8-4)
3A Regional
Nov. 11 (W) 43-14 at Hamilton Heights (8-5)
3A Semistate
Nov. 18 (L) 10-17 at Northwood (9-6)
Sagarin
computer ratings: Lowell by 1
GRIFFITH
(9-1-2006) - The spread is what it is probably because the Crown Point team
Lowell lost to by 17 is better than the Chesterton team Griffith couldn't beat
in regulation time. The Panthers' defensive prowess did not show up
against the Trojans and they were lucky to win 35-34 on a blocked extra point by
star defensive end Ben Geffert.
Geffert is the hammer on the Panther defense. At 6-5 and 255 pounds, Geffert is a future Division I college player and you need to double team him on pass plays or he will hurt your quarterback. He has to be careful not to take himself out of plays by being over-eager to penetrate. Lowell won't throw 20 times, so the game will be won at the line of scrimmage, not in the Devils' backfield. Quickly Friday, Lowell's Mike Staniewicz (6-7, 256) will confront Geffert in a run blocking situation. It's a major confrontation.
Griffith also has an all-state kicker in senior Nate Vaughn who was 71 of 73 on extra points last year with a 39.8 punting average and a 54.1 yard kickoff rate. He is a big weapon because the only way to stop Griffith's option is to make them go the length of the field. Vaughn can also win a game with a field goal from 40-45 yards in.
The Panthers also have a multi-purpose player in speedy David Alexander (6-3, 170), who ran for four TDs last week against Chesterton. Griffith runs what is truthfully a four-way option with three potential runners, plus the QB Corey Nash (5-11, 175). It's not that Griffith absolutely can't throw. They are mediocre, but not terrible passing the ball. It's just that the Panthers' offense is based on repeatedly running the very deceptive option 10 times in a row until they break one for a big gain. With the speedy Alexander in the backfield, every time they stop the pounding for a pass, they are doing the opposition a favor.
If Griffith throws 10 passes, they are losing. This Griffith squad is strong defensively with Nate Lehman (6-3, 215) and Eric Ritter (5-11, 215). The line is anchored by Jake Gazarkiwicz (5-11, 270). The Panthers have 19 seniors and they are physically strong. Griffith is not an especially fast team, although Alexander is a TD threat in the open field.
Lowell got a confidence building 63-6 win over Calumet and they'll need the confidence Friday. Both Steffan Peck (5-6, 165) and Max Znika (5-10, 171) gained 100 yards against Calumet and the Devils totaled 530 yards on the ground. Tight end Jeff Barker (6-5, 187) caught his first TD pass from senior quarterback Josh Kuiper and the Devils got everyone into the game.
There's no way of rating Lowell's offensive line. The Devil blockers were ineffective against 5A Crown Point and dominating against 3A Calumet. Lowell doesn't need its linemen to blast the defender to the ground. Red Devil backs like Peck will hit the hole very quickly behind a big lead blocker like junior fullback Danny Remboski (5-11, 193) and they rely on the back to consistently get short gains and keep the clock running. Unlike Griffith, Lowell isn't trying to run 10 plays and break an 80-yard run. The Devils want the defense on the field for 15 plays and eight minutes.
Lowell wants to win field position battles with kicker Doug Lang, a veteran of the state title team who has made 13 extra points in a row. The Red Devils consider the defense the heart of the team with defensive ends Barker and Joe Carlson (6-2, 185), Peck, TJ Lukasik (5-7, 165) and Lukas Palmer in the secondary and linebackers that include Kuiper (6-0, 187) and Kaleb Layman (5-10, 188).
The Devils' weapons on the perimeter are unknown. They fumbled too much to get going against Crown Point and the Lowell running game was more than enough against Calumet. We may find out Friday how talented the Lowell offense is.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN: Prep watchers focus on what a team lost as opposed to what they have. After 13-1 and 11-4 seasons in 2005, Griffith's returning players are better know that Lowell's. That doesn't mean they are better players. This game is a lot more difficult to figure than it, at first, appears. Griffith didn't face a quality team in week one and should have lost in week two against a 5A school. Lowell did lose to a 5A school in week one and didn't face a quality foe in week two. They've lived parallel lives.
After digging a 14-0 hole last week, the Panthers will make it a priority to be emotional and aggressive at the opening kickoff. The Panthers will come out strong and Doug Ashenbaugh and QB Corey Nash will score early TDs after long drives around a Lowell fumble. Lowell will not be able to move the line of Griffith early on and a short pass to Steffan Peck will put the Devils in position for a late second quarter score.
But a Nate Vaughn field goal will make it 17-7 at halftime. Lowell's best drive will come in the third quarter (as it often does) and a TD pass from Kuiper to Jeff Barker will cut the lead to 17-14. But Griffith will turn a late third quarter fumble into a short TD by Ashenbaugh and, after a Lowell fumble, David Alexander will break a long TD run.
This game will be simple in retrospect. If Lowell does not fumble, they will win a close game. But Lowell has had a very bad time with fumbling and there's no indication they have cleared that up. Turnovers will be the difference as the Panthers beat Lowell for the second year in a row.