WEEK 2, 2007 Football Picks in Review: Wrong - 3; Right - 8 = 72.7%
The Pick	The Result
Clark 49, Calumet 33	Clark 42-6
South Central 20, Culver 14	Culver 40-8
Mishawaka 31, LaPorte 21	Mishawaka 34-0
Whiting 42, Gavit 28	Whiting 42-20
Wheeler 31, KV 14	KV 25-0
North White 35, Lake Station 13	North White  35-13
New Prairie 35, (SB) Clay 27	New Prairie 35-14
North Judson 21, Knox 20	Knox 20-13
Lowell 48, Morton 20	Lowell 3-0
Merrillville 51, Griffith 20	Merrillville 14-6
Crown Point 35, Hobart 17	Crown Point 22-20

WEEK 2 (TWO) RECAP FROM RAIN-DELAYED 8/24 TO 8/25:  The big regret in week two was not taking Knox over North Judson.  I thought Judson would improve more than they did from week one to two.  Wheeler turned the ball over 10 times against KV to mess up that game.  The surprise was Culver over South Central by 32 points.  I'm still not sure how that happened.  The best picks of the week, obviously, were Whiting over Gavit and New Prairie over Clay.  LaPorte playing on the road was going to have problems and, while all three were closer than I expected, the CP, Lowell and Merrillville games went the way they should go.  The shifting of many games to Saturday, may account for the lack of scoring in some games.

2007 (Week 1)  8 of 13   =   66.7%
2007 (Week 2)  8 of 11   =  72.7%
2007 (overall)     16 of 24 =  66.7%
2006 (final) OVERALL :  166 of 217 = 76.4% 
2005 (final) OVERALL:  170 of 233 = 72.9%

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Northwest Indiana
WEEK 3 (THREE) PICKS, 08-31-2007

MERRILLVILLE (08-31-2007) -  Everybody plays Friday.  The matchups get better.  The weather gets cooler.  Truthfully, the high school season should begin on Labor Day weekend.  The stronger teams should step to the front now.  In the past, week three has been a little erratic as league play begins.  

This is where the lack of an 8th team in the new Northwest Crossroads Conference shows up as Andrean will still be outside the league against East Chicago.  I think Morton continues to show that they should be that 8th squad.  This the first week of the 8-team Greater South Shore conference and there should be some interest there as only Whiting (2-0) got through the first two weeks without any pain. 

I don't know how good some of the games will be, but River Forest playing arch-rival Lake Station in a league game is good for both schools, even if they're both 0-2.  And Clark (2-0) facing Morton (0-2) kicks off the four-team Hammond Athletic Conference (HAC), which may only go to show how Morton is a step ahead of the other three.

The spotlight is on the Duneland Conference where undefeated LC (2-0) and Portage (2-0) match up, while arch-rivals Merrillville and Crown Point go head-to-head.

Once again, I'm not going to pick North Newton games until they show a little more life.  When you are allowing almost 50 points a game, it's time to go to 'Plan B'.  Wirt, West Side and Lew Wallace are other teams I'll leave alone for now.  And the EC-Andrean and Hammond-Kenwood (Hammond will be 5-0 when they host Morton on Sept. 21) games are not ready for prime time.  Again, the goal here is not to pick obvious mismatches.  Make it a challenge.  You can play along at home.

FYI to soccer-football players.  Be cool in Thursday night soccer games.  Michigan City place kicker Jacob Mallon also plays soccer.  Last Thursday night, he got a 'red card' which means ejection from the Wolves' varsity soccer game.  According to IHSAA rules an ejection means you sit out your next game, even if the next game is not soccer.  Mallon had to sit during Friday's MC football game against South Bend Washington.  I was not aware that is the way that rule worked.

Clark (2-0) at Morton (0-2)

HAMMOND - The moment of truth for the Pioneers, who are 2-0 for the first time in 10 years, but now face cross-town rival Morton, which has lost twice to Top-10 teams.  The Pioneers are going to be bottled up here.  Morton's defense is fast and the secondary hits hard.  Morton needs to reinvest in their short passing game.  Against Lowell, their short tosses to running backs were effective.  Morton has kicking problems and the passing game is not working yet, but the Governors' lines are too physically strong for Clark.

Morton 32, Clark 16

Rensselaer (1-1) at North Judson (1-1)

NORTH JUDSON - A big 2A rivalry that lost a bit as both sides have started at 1-1.  Judson comes off a big loss to Knox where they couldn't run the ball.  Rensselaer romped over North Newton and they should have beaten 4A KV.  The Bombers are a very young team, but they are a young team that's scored 82 points in two games.  These teams play very close games and this should be no exception.

Renssealer 20, North Judson 12

Highland (0-2) at Munster (1-1)

MUNSTER - Highland can start anew with a win over arch-rival Munster and I think the Trojans can strike through the air here to give themselves a chance.  To be fair, Highland lost 28-0 to Portage (2-0) and were held to 74 total yards last week while Munster whipped up on EC.  There is an upset possibility here, but I'm going against it.  Munster has more offense.

Munster 28,  Highland 21

Bishop Noll (0-2) at South Central (1-1)

UNION MILLS - I'm surprised Noll has not come close to either Gavit or Andrean, but I'm sticking with them here in what I believe is the first ever meeting between these two schools.  Noll has not had over 100 yarsd rushing yet, which indicates some offensive line problems, because I know they have the running back.  But they won't make 5 turnovers (like they did last week) in every game.  South Central was crushed 40-8 by Culver.  SC has more problems than Noll does.

Noll 36, South Central 16

River Forest (0-2) at Lake Station (0-2)

LAKE STATION - The 'Hillbilly Super Bowl' is an example of the beauty of the new evenly-matched small school conference.  These two teams are down.  Lake Station has been outscored 84-20 in two games, while RF has been smoked by a combined score of 90-0.  But the winner grabs a tie for first place in the new small school Greater South Shore Conference (GSSC).  The Eagles almost gave up 500 yards rushing last week, while RF, which has lost 15 games in a row, committed 12 penalties in a 27-0 loss at Eau Claire, Michigan last week.  Lake Station has lost 10 games in a row since a 60-6 win over River Forest last year.  LS has the better team, but I'm going way out on a limb here.

River Forest 28, Lake Station 26

Whiting (2-0) at Wheeler (1-1)

UNION TOWNSHIP - Wheeler committed 10 turnovers last week and that can't possibly happen again.  But the Oilers have scored 105 points in 2 games.  Anthony Dumezich was 14 of 24 for 257 yards last week in a 42-20 win at Gavit.  Wheeler QB Mike DeSimone threw three interceptions in the loss to KV last week, but he has a chance to make amends on this night.  This will be a very high-scoring game.

Wheeler 42, Whiting 35

Hobart (1-1) at Griffith (1-1)

GRIFFITH - The Panthers were close against Morton and Merrillville, but they have not played well in two games.  The matchup of Griffith's David Alexander and Hobart's Bobby James is worth the price of admission.  Hobart looked very good offensively last week against Crown Point, but to win in front of a sold out crowd at Griffith the Brickies will have to be just as physical defensively as they are on offense.

Hobart 28, Griffith 21

Lowell (2-0) at Kankakee Valley (2-0)

WHEATFIELD - The 'Milk can' is on the line in the renewed (both are new teams in the Northwest Crossroads Conference) border war between KV and Lowell, with both teams coming off shutout wins.  The Kougars have shown the ability to run on Rensselaer and Wheeler and you have to run on Lowell to beat them.  But Lowell did not play well on the road last week in a 3-0 win over Morton and they will be challenged to come out strong this week.

Lowell 28, KV 10

Chesterton (2-0) at Michigan City (2-0)

MICHIGAN CITY - New coach Craig Buzea has the Wolves at 2-0, but the DAC schedule is brutal.  Chesterton has big linemen and a big-time QB in Alex Beierwalter, who was 5 of 23 last week for 329 yards and 4 TDs.  The Trojan defense has allowed 42 points in two games, but they've played much tougher foes than Michigan City.  Don't bet your little brother on this one, because MC is at home and The Trojans have no reason to be 'up' for this game.  But MC's RB Travis Harmon (13 carries, 103 yards in week one) is lost for the year (maybe) with a knee injury suffered in last week's 29-13 win over SB Washington.

Chesterton 41, Michigan City 21

Valparaiso (1-1) at LaPorte (1-1)

LaPORTE - Now you guys know this is the game that was 57-56 in 2 overtime last year, right?  The offensive freaks come out when these two get together.  Valpo gave up 40 points and 500 yards passing last week.  Three years ago, LaPorte won 27-21 in overtime.  Defense is not invited to this matchup.  Valpo QB Alex Sarkisian is another DAC QB rolling up big yards.  LaPorte has won this matchup three years in a row, but the Slicers don't have the defense yet to make it four.  In good weather, with two young teams, get out the calculator.

Valparaiso 51, LaPorte 38

Portage (2-0) at Lake Central (2-0)

ST. JOHN - The defense that was not invited to the Valpo-LaPorte game is welcome here.  Portage cannot just line up and run over LC, led by DE Danny Manick (6-4, 240).  New QB Bo Dempsey will face his toughest pass rush, but I don't know about the health issues involving Billy Doll, Portage's WR-CB.  I like LC kicker Scott Spicer, RB Tommy Morang and center Ben Stepanian in a close game.  They're all veterans of the team that won 10-3 at Portage last year.  The Indians have not displayed a passing attack.  I see another upset here.

Lake Central 16, Portage 14

Merrillville (2-0) at Crown Point (1-1)

CROWN POINT - The Pirates have stopped 5A power Warren Central 17-10 and 3A Top-10 Griffith 14-6, but this is their first road game of the season.  After two years of being the favorite in every game, CP is a home underdog, exactly what every high school coach wants.  I thought CP's offensive line showed marked improvement in week two (237 yards rushing on Hobart) and HB Russell Chick shortens the game here and the Bulldogs win a close one with defense.

Crown Point 17, Merrillville 12


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