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No. 4 Lowell (2-0) at Kankakee Valley (0-2) |
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Week
3 - Football Game of the Week Preview|
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No. 4 Lowell (2-0) at Kankakee Valley (0-2) |
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09-02-2009
When:
7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 4, 2009
Where:
Kankakee Valley High School - 3923 State Road 10, Wheatfield, IN.
TV/Radio/Internet:
WTMK (88.5) FM - live; Updates: WLPR(89.1) FM, 89.1 FM;
Highlights: Lakeshore TV football recap show,
10:30 p.m. Comcast Cable Ch. 17
Tickets: $5
Tickets will be available at the gate but not many. Kankakee Valley
has not done well for two years now, but this is their home opener.
JV game: Saturday, Sept. 5 at KV - 10:00 a.m.
Freshmen: Thursday, Sept. 10 at LOWELL - 6:00 p.m.
Numbers: Kankakee Valley, Class 4A, enrollment 1,144; LOWELL -
4A enrollment - 1,224
Weather: Near perfect. No rain. Mid 70s during the day.
Mid 60s by the second half. Football isn't supposed to be played in
the summer, so these fall-like temperatures are very good for the
boys on the field. We're getting near the time when the 90-degree misery and high
humidity will no longer be possible. I don't know of any other
state that plays three weeks of high school football before Labor
Day.
But this year, it stayed cool on Friday nights.
Parking: There isn't that much parking at Kankakee Valley and
Lowell should bring a good crowd. Also, again, its KV's home
opener. I'd get there at 6:30 to make sure I didn't have to walk too
far.
The HISTORY: Lowell leads this series 18-2
FAST FOOTBALL FACT #1: Kankakee Valley is a 1970 consolidation of the old Wheatfield and DeMotte high schools. Lowell never met Wheatfield or DeMotte probably because both schools played what is called 8-man football before 1965. Eight-man football still exists in many states and overseas. There is and was six-man football in some places.
FAST FOOTBALL FACT #2: This is the 40th year of Kankakee Valley football and they have played Rensselaer every year. KV and Rensselaer are the only two high schools in Jasper County. The first KV-Lowell game was won by Lowell 56-0 in 1975.
WHEATFIELD - This can't be called a rivalry until KV wins a few games. No one at KV high school was yet born when the Kougars last defeated Lowell in varsity football. But this is a rivalry because these school districts actually do border each other. Lowell stretches to the south end of Lake County and a few miles of Lake County borders Jasper county to the southeast.
Mark L. DeMotte was a Civil War hero and the first Dean of Law at Valparaiso University in the early 1800s. Wheatfield Township is one of 13 townships in Jasper County and, as far as I can tell, there wasn't a Mr. and Mrs. Wheatfield. The place is called Wheatfield because that's what it was and, in some places, still is. I don't have an exact grasp on where or what exactly the Kankakee valley is. The 90-mile long Kankakee River is said to be the literal border between Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties on the north and Jasper, Starke and Newton counties to the south. In ancient times, the Kankakee River was the natural passage from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.
That, in effect, is Kankakee Valley, I guess. And since that's very close to DeMotte and Wheatfield, that explains the name of the high school. But there is a much older Kankakee high school (it formerly was two schools: Eastridge and Westview) in Kankakee, Illinois and a 4,000-acre Kankakee State Park in Bourbannais, Ill, south of Kankakee. The entire run of the Kankakee River is a historical goldmine. There is significant known (if not totally documented) American Indian history along the Kankakee River going back at least 350 years to the 1600s.
So Jasper County is not a suburb of Chicago. It's country. Down home, ride your pony, boots wearing, crop-harvesting country. A lot more so than Lake County is. There are less than 1,000 people in Wheatfield, Indiana but that's where the KV school building is actually located. When I first moved back to Indiana 25 years ago, I thought that KV would eventually be twice the size it is now. That may yet happen, but it's still a relatively small school and its days of athletic dominance are far in the future.
I don't think any Kankakee Valley team has ever reached the state finals in any sport, but the same could be said of Lowell before this decade. The building of a new middle school (part of a $60 million dollar building project that began this summer) just west of KV indicates that the population of north Jasper County is indeed on the rise. KV will beat up on Lowell in football someday. But it would be a big surprise if "someday" was this Friday.
4A LOWELL (2-0)
Coach: Kirk Kennedy (148-68 years) 19 years
Enrollment: 1,224
2008 record: 13-1
Sectional titles: (9) 1992, 1994, 1999, 2003-2008
Regional titles: (5) 1994, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008
Semi state titles: (2) 2005, 2007
State titles: (1) 2005
Lost 4A Northern Semi state 38-22 at Bishop Dwenger in 2008
LOWELL Red Devils (2-0)
Northwest Crossroads Conference (NCC) games in CAPS - all 7:00 p.m.
kickoffs
8-21 (W) 19-0 CP (1-1)
8-28 (W) 34-25 at Morton (1-1)
9-4 (F) at KV (0-2)
9-11 (F) GRIFFITH (0-2)
9-18 (F) HIGHLAND (1-1)
9-25 (F) at HOBART (1-1)
Oct. 2 (F) Hammond (1-1)
Oct. 9 (F) at MUNSTER (2-0)
Oct. 16 (F) ANDREAN (1-1)
Class
4A,
Sectional 10
Oct. 23 (F) with Concord, Plymouth, Kankakee Valley,
Logansport, Clay, Riley and (SB) Washington.
4A Kankakee Valley (0-2)
Coach: Mike Peo, 15-18 (4th year)
Enrollment: 1,125
2008 record: 3-7
Sectional titles (2) 1984 and 1985
Regional titles: (0)
Lost a sectional 10 quarterfinal 28-7 at Clay in 2008
2009 schedule
Northwest Crossroads Conference (NWCC) games in CAPS
- all games
begin at 7:00 p.m.
8-21 (L) 7-34 Rensselaer (2-0)
8-28 (L) 8-35 Wheeler (2-0)
9-4 (F) LOWELL (2-0)
9-11 (F) at Hobart (1-1)
9-18 (F) at Griffith (0-2)
9-25 (F) North Judson (2-0)
10-2 (F) at Andrean (1-1)
10-9 (F) Highland (1-1)
10-16 (F) Munster (2-0)
Class 4A Sectional 10
Oct. 23 (F) with Clay, Riley, Washington,
Northridge. Logansport, Concord, Plymouth and LOWELL
KEY FOOTBALL FACTORS
1. Be on the right end of turnovers early
Last week's game was close largely due to a Lowell fumble early
that led to a 13-0 Morton lead. Obviously, you want to avoid fumbles,
but championship squads capitalize on the fact that all ball
carriers can fumble early in the game before they get used to the
speed of play. Teams are worried about the Devils' defense. Lowell
could get a turnover or two if Kougars runners are tip-toeing in the
first period.
But you cant start thinking that there's a game you CANNOT lose.
Two or three fumbles on the road and a top-10 team can lose to the
Brown County Academy for Wayward Girls.
2. Beware of some trick plays
KV is overmatched here so they may come up with gimmicks. Trick
formations. Fake punts. Halfback passes. They have nothing to lose.
Dylan Patrick (5-10, 190) is KV's junior running back who gained
over 1,000 yards last season, but if he starts to run wide and look
suspicious, Lowell better know he can throw the ball down field.
After Morton's Andrew Glidewell tossed three TD passes last week,
everybody is going to think they can throw on the Devils. KV may see this as their biggest game of the year. Certainly the
biggest home game.
3. Take it seriously
Lowell boys know that KV hasn't beaten the Devils since disco. If
they come down on them very hard early, this won't be a long game. But the longer it remains tied, the tougher it will get for the
Devils. Lowell boys should be used to this by now, but with the
possible exception of Crown Point and Hammond, they are everybody's
big game.
The Devils rallied from 13 points behind to defeat Morton 34-25
last week, but that's not something you want to do, it's just a
reaction. You are only guaranteed 10 games (Lowell likes to play 14 or 15)
a year. It's not a lot to ask to take each one very seriously.
The Bottom Line...
It's up to the Devils to decide how long this is a competitive
game. The Kougars have completed just eight passes in two games and
they've gained just 117 yards in the air. The Kougars have to
believe that Dylan Patrick can run for 100 yards on Lowell, but
that's easier said than done. Lowell may be vulnerable to the pass, but KV isn't a throwing
team. The Kougars have been outscored 41-0 in the second half so
far this season and they have punted 11 times. The KV defense has
allowed 500 rushing yards so far. Where does that leave us? Looking
at 3-0 and 0-3.
KV, which could get a sectional rematch with the Devils in October, doesn't really want to play Lowell right now. They're ready for the score to be exactly what it was the last two weeks at the end of Kougar games. The only way this game is close is if Lowell does not show up ready to play.
LOWELL 35, Kankakee Valley 13