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Merrillville (2-0) at Crown Point (1-1) |
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Week
3 - Football Game of the Week Preview|
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Merrillville (2-0) at Crown Point (1-1) |
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08-30-2007
When:
Friday, August 31, 2007
Where: 1500 S. Main, Crown Point, IN (about 1-mile south of the downtown square)
Tickets:
$5
TV/Radio/Internet:
WWCA (1270) AM, WEFM (95.9) FM, WWLO (89.1) AM,
www.RRSN.com
and www.USA-365.com.
Weather: Upper 60s, clear skies, dry. Clear skies means the temperature will drop significantly during the game. It could be in the low 60s or even upper 50s by 9:00 p.m.
Parking: The invasion of the big purple
school to the north means a lot of fans will
be out behind the new CPHS Friday evening. Get there early because the school parking
lot will fill up. With good weather
expected, a capacity crowd is expected to
watch the Bulldogs take on the undefeated
Pirates.
The Series: Arguably, the best in
Northwest Indiana. This will be the 62nd
meeting of Merrillville and Crown Point and
it's all even at 30-30-1.
Crown Point has won the last two meetings,
but Merrillville has won 2-of-the-last-3
playoff meetings. CP has won two of the
last three DAC titles, but Merrillville has
won 2-of-the-last 3 sectional titles. This is the battle ground for Northwest
Indiana high school sports competition in
the 21st century.
Crown Point and Merrillville are both growing like the list of Washington DC scandals. Both schools unofficially are over 2,400 and headed for 3,000. I don't now if there can physically be three 3,000-teen high schools (including Lake Central, which is already at 3,000) within a circle that is five miles wide, but we are headed in that direction. Because of that, athletics has soared in the last 20 years.
Merrillville has been to the state finals in gymnastics, baseball, basketball and softball in that period and football has been stopped at the semistate twice. Crown Point, probably because of the lack of the influx of black student-athletes, did not keep up in the 90s, but has accelerated in this decade like no other school. CP's non-team sports like gymnastics, cross country, tennis and track have reached the semistate since the year 2000 and now baseball has followed twice.
Crown Point football has the No. 1 won-loss record since the start of the 2005 season. They are 24-3 and under-rated at home. During that time, Merrillville has gone 20-8 and has sent two starting players (James Aldridge - Notre Dame; Dexter Larimore - Ohio State) and a dozen more to Division 1 schools.
If Merrillville and CP are neighbors, why haven't they met more than 62 times in 61 years? Because Merrillville and Crown Point both left the Calumet Conference (1949-1969) and joined the Lake Suburban Conference in 1970 and then Merrillville left for the newer Duneland Athletic Conference in 1975. CP did not follow Merrillville to the DAC until 1993, leaving them as nonconference foes for 19 years. Merrillville was the first champion of the Calumet Conference in 1949 in just their third year of varsity football. Crown Point, one of the original NW Indiana high schools dating back to the 19th Century, has played football since well before World War I.
CP joining the DAC lifted the football rivalry into prime time. It's not quite accurate to say that the exodus of people from North Lake County south of Ridge Road made LC, Merrillville and CP became sports powers. All three schools had strong runs in girls sports in the late 80s and early 90s. But it's hard to be major rivals unless you are in the same league. And now, with those three schools all locked into playing each other in games that matter (LC joined the DAC in 2003) during the regular season and in the sectional, the rivalries have reached a peak.
Add to that the Merrillville-CP situation that coaches Chip Pettit (hired 7 years ago) and Zac Wells (hired two years ago) played for the school they now coach (Pettit is a 1992 graduate, Wells a 1993 graduate) and faced each other in the early 90s, and the whole thing seems circular and unique. The size of the schools and the coaching tie-in probably makes this the top rivalry in all of Northwest Indiana and, while the season has only just begun, these CP-Merrillville game weeks are gifts to the players and followers of each school.
Junior varsity: Crown Point at
Merrillville - Saturday, Sept. 1, 10:00 a.m.
Freshmen: Merrillville at Crown Point -
Thursday, Sept . 6 - 6:00 p.m.
Class 5A MERRILLVILLE
Coach: Zac Wells (9-5, 2nd year)
Enrollment: 2,400
2006 record: 7-5*
Sectional titles: (5) 1976, 1985, 1992,
2003-04
Regional titles: (3) 1975, 1992, 2005
Semistate titles: (0)
State titles: (1) 1976
*Lost 28-7 at Crown Point in the 2006 5A
Sectional one championship game
Merrillville Pirates (2-0)
8-17 (W) 17-10 Warren Central (0-2)
8-24 (W) 14-6 Griffith (1-1)
8-31 at CROWN POINT (2-0)
9-7 PORTAGE (2-0)
9-14 at MICHIGAN CITY (2-0)
9-21 LaPORTE (1-1)
9-28 at VALPARAISO (1-1)
10-5 at LAKE CENTRAL (2-0)
10-12 CHESTERTON (2-0)
5A Sectional (1) One
Oct. 19: vs. Valparaiso, Portage,
Chesterton, Lake Central, Michigan City,
Munster or CP
Schedule analysis: Merrillville is facing the strongest schedule of all time in NW Indiana. No one that I can find has ever played every big school in their area plus two top-10 teams in nonconference games. In Warren Central (48-4 in the last 4 years), Griffith (34-6 in the last 3 years), Crown Point (23-2 in the last 3 years) and Portage (67-35 in the last 10 years), the Pirates have the toughest start of any team in the state tournament era. Despite the 2-0 record, the jury is still out as to whether they are surviving this schedule or thriving on it.
Class 5A Crown Point (1-1)
Coach: Chip Pettit (43-25, 7th year at CP)
Enrollment: 2,400
2006 record: 12-1*
Sectional titles: (3) 1988, 1991, 2006
Regional titles: (1) 1988
Semistate titles: (0)
State titles: (0)
*Lost 28-21 (OT) at LaPorte in the 2006 5A
northern regional championship game
Crown Point Bulldogs
8-17 (L) 14-23 at Lowell (2-0)
8-24 (W) 22-20 Hobart (1-1)
8-31 (F) Merrillville (2-0)
9-7 (F) at LC (2-0)
9-14 (F) at Portage (2-0)
9-21 (F) Valparaiso (1-1)
9-28 (F) LaPorte (1-1)
10-5 (F) at Chesterton (2-0)
10-12 (F) Michigan City (2-0)
5A Sectional (1) One
Oct. 19: vs. Valparaiso, Portage,
Chesterton, Lake Central, Michigan City,
Munster or Merrillville
Schedule analysis: Crown Point's schedule is tougher than it looks. They open with two Class 4A schools but those two schools are four-time state champ and Northwest Indiana standard-bearer Hobart and four-time sectional champion Lowell. The Bulldogs do not have what you would call a traditionally easy game until the final game of the regular season against Michigan City and, with coach Craig Buzea moving there, that soft date will evaporate. As difficult as this schedule may seem, it is only approaching what CP needs to compete in Class 5A beyond the sectional level. When the IHSAA goes to a Class 6A as they almost certainly will in 2009, CP, which will be a 6A school, will already play three (LC, Portage and Merrillville) 6A schools.
Merrillville (2-0) at CROWN POINT (1-1)
Sagarin ratings: MERRILLVILLE by 21
CROWN
POINT - The Saragin ratings are more accurate later in the year than
they are in the first few weeks. I can almost guarantee that Merrillville
won't beat CP by 24 points since the Pirates haven't even scored 21 points in a
game this year. But a 21-point spread is the predicted margin and it's
based on Merrillville's seven point win over four-time state champion Warren
Central. WC scored 36 points last week against an elite team from Ohio, so
Merrillville holding them to 10 is significant.
The center of the Pirate defense is junior linebacker Dionte Day (5-6, 206), a Mike Singletary who is among the hardest hitters anywhere in NW Indiana in this decade. One highlight of the WC game was Day arriving on the scene and ending Warren Central running plays.
The Pirates are faster than CP. Junior WR Keith Dockery is clocked at 4.53 in the 40-yard dash. Twins Ronneal Williams (6-0, 186) and Roosevelt Williams (6-0, 178) are track team sprinters and big backup WR-DB Robert Dyson (6-2, 200) is listed at 4.54 in the 40. Dockery and the Williams twins are defensive backs and Chris Stokes (5-9, 200) is a hard-hitting outside linebacker.
Jarret Rucker (6-0, 244) and Paul Rosa (6-4, 296) anchors an impressive line and defensive end Aaron Kaczmarksi (6-6, 230) has to be blocked on pass plays.
Junior kicker Ryan Stokes drives most kickoffs into the end zone so you usually have to go 80 yards to score a TD on the Pirates. Other than the fact that they are a little small at the linebacker spots, Merrillville has everything you could ask for on a high school defense.
QB Dilapo Macarthy (I've seen his name spelled Dilapo and Dolapo) is 9 of 22 for 183 yards with no TDs and no interceptions so far. There will be a day when he is a consistently dangerous passer, but he does not throw that much right now. Macarthy (6-6, 190) throws the deep pass very well, but he struggles with the short one. You'd rather have that than the other way around. The big junior is a good runner, so you want to keep him in the pocket and force him to make short, tight throws. If he hits his first three or four passes, look out because he has the height and the arm to break down the secondary.
Clay Cooper (6-0, 188) has caught four for 118 yards and he might be the Pirates best receiver, but Demarrio Richardson (5-10, 178) and Ronneal Williams can break short passes for big yards. Williams has carried 18 times for 120 yards and two TDs. The Pirates' offensive line has struggled. They did not have senior Steve Lohse (6-6 320) for the Warren Central game and they have to improve going into DAC play.
Stokes is NW Indiana's top field goal kicker. A top soccer player, Stokes barely missed a 49-yarder against Warren Central (he made a 30-yarder) and he has hit from 50 yards out in practice. The Pirates are 2-0, but they have not played anywhere near their potential on offense. That's what is scary about them.
Crown Point showed significant improvement on offense in week two. The Bulldogs moved offensive linemen Cody Blue and Matt Childress to defense in the off-season and new linemen Jason Hulen (6-2, 265) and Mark Seip (6-0, 245) are first time starters. The O-line could not handle Lowell's speedy defense in the second half in week one, but they pushed through the Hobart front for 230 yards rushing in week two.
In Merrillville, they are going against a speed-based defense like Lowell's again. Tailback Russell Chick (47 carries, 289 yards) has done well and. while none of the fullbacks have gained any yardage, they must be doing some blocking.
QB Blake Mascarello (14 of 31, 189 yards, 0 TDs, 2 interceptions) got past two interceptions to lead his team down the field at the end of both halves last week in the 22-20 win over Hobart. CP had 22 first downs and 348 total yards and that's on the line and the QB. Blake gained 55 yards on five scrambles last week and gained crucial first downs. Mascarello is unlikely to out run members of Merrillville's track team, but he can scramble. CP has completed only three passes to wide receivers (all three to Ron Burton) so far. All others have gone to tight ends and running backs.
The Bulldogs will use two-tight end formations with Joe Maginot (6-3, 220) and
Zach Cecich (6-2, 220) blocking and catching short passes. This should
eventually open things up for Burton (6-2, 180) to get deep down the field.
CP needs a couple of their inexperienced wide receivers to get going and making
catches.
The line is anchored by center Matt Polus (6-2, 255), guard Zach Brumm (6-0,
220) and guard Kurt Wermers (6-5, 270). Junior Michael Lipton is a top
field goal kicker who won last week's game with a 39-yard boot with eight
seconds left. He's good from 40 yards in.
Defensively, CP's secondary showed improvement in week two with juniors Danny Osojnicki (5-10, 170), who made 12 tackles, junior corner Nate Haverstock and junior safety Nick Bruno (5-6, 150), who was in on 10 stops. CP is young on the perimeter and they will be tested a lot this year. The Bulldogs linebackers and line will be strengths. Blue, Childress and Nick Hladek show signs of becoming a strong three-man unit, along with linebackers Nick Cottrell (5-9, 210), Lance LaMere (6-0, 205), Andrew Szymborski (6-0, 190), Tony Conway (5-7, 160) and Anthony Stahl (5-10, 165).
Mike Kozlowksi's debut as CP's new punter has been delayed twice because he was at the Babe Ruth baseball national championships during the first week and CP didn't punt the ball at all against Hobart.
Crown Point did not appear to suffer any injuries in weeks one and two.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
CROWN POINT - The only way this is going to be a high scoring game
is if turnovers are run back for TDs. Merrillville has had a lot of
trouble moving the football. They only have 359 total yards and 10 first
downs in two games.
Crown Point had four scoring drives and no punts last week, but they don't have a fast scoring threat to challenge Merrillville like Griffith and Warren Central did. CP will use that double tight end formation and run Russell Chick 30 times. The Bulldogs want to keep the Pirate defense on the field and wear them down. Chick scores the first TD of the game for a 7-0 lead.
A swing pass to Pirate Ronneal Williams will roll deep into CP territory, but the CP defense holds and a Ryan Stokes field goal cuts the lead to 7-3. Dilapo Macarthy will hit a 40-50 yarder to Clay Cooper early in the third quarter but CP will hold again and a Stokes field goal will make it 7-6.
A long pass to Joe Maginot will move the Bulldogs deep into Pirate territory and a rushing TD by Mike Kozlowski will up the score to 14-6, but a long kickoff return will set up a third Merrillville field goal.
A fumble will give the Pirates a fourth quarter chance for the lead, but the Bulldogs pass rush will force key incompletions and Ryan Stokes will come on for three more. Leading 14-12, CP will kill five or six minutes on the clock with a long drive, capped by a Michael Lipton field goal.
I don't know if CP has the better team and I don't know if the Bulldogs beat Merrillville in November. But Crown Point should win on their home field Friday.
CROWN POINT 17, MERRILLVILLE 12