Week 3 Picks:  2003 NW Indiana High School Football

A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

WEEK TWO (2) ANALYSIS:
Clark does not have the offensive capability to score 34 points on a 4A school. I'm afraid Hammond will go winless. Look at the schedule.  LaPorte has major offensive problems.  Everybody scores on Elkhart Central. True, Roosevelt and Riley (MC's victims) are both 0-2 but Michigan City did beat them decisively. They're simply better than I thought.  River Forest, Lowell and Highland look very good. I could have jacked up my prediction success ratio by picking certain no-contest wins for Andrean, Merrillville, Portage, Munster and Valparaiso last week, but I think that was fair.

2002 Regular season (9 weeks) 85 of 109,  77.9%
2002 Playoffs:   78 of 106,  73.5%
Final 2002 (15 weeks) 163 of 215, 75.9%
2003 (Week one) 8 of 12, 66.7%

2003 (Week two) 9 0f 12, 75%

2003 Season: 17 of 24, 70.8%

WEEK THREE (3): Sept. 5, 2003

This is a very good week for high school football. There are very few mismatches in northwest Indiana. River Forest will slaughter Horace Mann and Kankakee Valley has far too much for Lake Station.  Also...Hobart will name their score against Hammond high.

And they'll buckle down in nap town for the showdown between 5A superpowers Ben Davis and Warren Central. No.1 Warren Central has won 32 of their last 40 games and 14 of their last 15. But No.2 Ben Davis beat them 35-28 in overtime at the regional level last November. Ben Davis beat No. 4 Penn 27-24 at Penn last week.

Highland (2-0) 28, Munster (2-0) 21
Munster has faced two weak teams and will have to jack up the intensity this Friday. Highland has a multiple offense while the Mustangs must run. They'll find running against the Trojans more difficult than it was last year when the ponies blasted Highland 49-0 in Highland.  Highland is underrated and Munster is overrated.

Chesterton (1-1) 42, Michigan City (2-0) 14
Michigan City has beaten two weak teams decisively and this game isn't the mismatch it was last year when Chesterton on 42-0. But Chesterton has almost 700 yards of total offense against Griffith and Andrean, both vastly superior teams to Michigan City.  MC stopped the run outside the DAC... but inside the DAC... it's a whole other level.

ANDREAN (2-0) 49, Morton (2-0) 28
This is Morton's debut in the Lake Athletic Conference Black Division and the Governors' first game against Andrean in 12 years. They will be psyched to prove that their 10-2 record last year was not a result of one of the state's weakest schedules. The Governors and tailback Uriah Austin can run the ball on an Andrean front that gave up 200 yards rushing to both Chesterton and Bishop Noll.
But Morton simply didn't face good teams last year. Gavit passed the ball (18-35, 253 yards) all over Morton last week in a 56-43 Morton win. Andrean's defense is shaky, but they can score as much as they want on this night.

Valparaiso (1-1) 17, LaPorte (0-2) 8
LaPorte's offense is surprisingly bad with just 13 points after two games against average defenses. Valparaiso held Penn to 27 points and, unless LaPorte figures out what's holding them back, the Vikings can stop them easily.  LaPorte's defense is strong and fast, but their offense will not produce much for a third consecutive week.

Portage (2-0) 28, LAKE CENTRAL (1-1) 14
Portage (88 points in 2 games) has been so strong it's hard to see them getting stopped here. Lake Central faces a second consecutive monster school and I don't think they can move consistently against Portage's size and speed. Plus, no one has stopped tailback Antoine Brown.

MERRILLVILLE (2-0) 28, CROWN POINT (1-1) 10
This isn't a good match for Crown Point, which won in overtime 34-27 at Merrillville in 2002. Merrillville allowed a surprising 20 points to Dunbar and CP's Aaron Miller is a prime-time player. But I believe there is a speed mismatch here and the Bulldogs are on the wrong end of it.

Wheeler (2-0) 27, Clark (1-1) 14
Clark came off a 34-12 loss with a 34-7 win over a rival (Hammond high). The hard running game of Wheeler is a step up, though. The Pioneers do not have the powerful boys to stop Wheeler runner Andrew Patten (6-0, 200) who scored five TDs against North Newton last week.

Bishop Noll (0-2) 34, Gavit (1-1) 33
Gavit gave up an insane 56 points last week to Morton and Noll is very good running the ball. This would be an upset but the Warriors are at home and hungry for the victory.

Calumet (1-1) 28, Whiting (0-2) 26
Another offensive showcase. Lowell buried Calumet's running game last week but Whiting doesn't have much defense. On the other hand, Lowell, a non-passing team, was able to throw on Calumet. That means Whiting, with sophomore QB Matt Kobli (10 of 16, 200 last week) will score through the air.

North Judson (1-1) 20, Rensselaer (2-0) 12
A big time 2A showdown. Judson rolled over Knox 34-8 last week while Rensselaer squeaked by 4A KV 16-7.  The young Bombers will move into the top-10 this week, but Judson's running game will knock them out.

South Central (1-1) 22, North Newton (0-2) 12
The Spartans were crushed by Rensselaer and Wheeler by a combined score of 104-17 but South Central got bombed 49-7 by LaVille in week one. However, if South Central can run the ball, they can beat the Spartans, even in Morocco.

LOWELL (2-0) 23, Griffith (1-1) 21
The week's best game and the area's top rivalry in the last 10 years. Griffith ran for 270 yards against Chesterton last week but they couldn't hold on, losing in the final minutes, 32-20. Lowell has 400 yards rushing in two games and they will be playing before a home sellout crowd against the Devils' toughest foe so far. Lowell won last year 21-20 at Griffith and the game was that close. These are almost carbon-copy, ground-oriented teams featuring hard runners. The team that fumbles the most usually loses. Like the Highland-Munster match, this is a pivotal game in the LAC Black league standings.

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Revised: June 08, 2004 .