Week 5 Football Picks

WEEK 4, 2007 Football Picks in Review: Wrong - 1; Right - 10 = 90.9%
The Pick	The Result
East Chicago 39, Gavit 20	Correct... East Chicago 32-12
Morton 42, Highland 14	Correct... Morton 27-21
Hammond 44, Gary Roosevelt 30	Correct... Hammond 52-30
Bishop Noll 42, Lake Station 20	Correct... Bishop Noll 45-6
Andrean 21, Munster 20	Correct... Andrean 31-28
Whiting 38, South Central 27	Correct... Whiting 30-20
Valparaiso 34, Michigan City 27	Correct... Valparaiso 28-20
Chesterton 38, LaPorte 28	Correct... Chesterton 22-20
Merrillville 19, Portage 0	Correct... Merrillville 21-14
Crown Point 37, Lake Central 20	Correct... Crown Point 24-13
Lowell 17, Griffith 7	Wrong... Griffith 29-28 (OT)

WEEK 4 (FOUR) RECAP 2ND WEEK OF CONFERENCE PLAY FROM 9/7: Obviously, the Griffith-Lowell game could have gone either way, but the Panthers had almost twice as many total yards. That was a bad call. All other games went as expected, although Morton continues to be unpredictable. I would not have thought they'd give up 21 points to Highland. Michigan City has been close in every game this year. The Hammond-Roosevelt game shows the relative strengths of Hammond and Gary football. The best picks of the week were Andrean, by three, over Munster; Whiting, by 10 over South Central and Valparaiso, by eight, over Michigan City.

2007 (Week 1) 8 of 13   = 66.7%
2007 (Week 2) 8 of 11   = 72.7%
2007 (Week 3) 8 of 12   = 66.7%
2007 (Week 3) 10 of 11   = 90.9%
2007 (overall) 34 of 47   = 72.3%
2006 (final) OVERALL : 166 of 217 = 76.4%
2005 (final) OVERALL: 170 of 233 = 72.9%

Northwest Indiana
WEEK 5 (FIVE) PICKS, 09-14-2007

MERRILLVILLE (09-14-2007) - With the new schedules, week five is not a good one. Only a few games are interesting matchups. Lowell (3-1) and Hobart (3-1) isn't until week six (9-21-2007); the unofficial Hammond city championship: Morton (2-2) at Hammond (4-0) is also week six. Crown Point (3-1) and Chesterton (4-0) is week eight (Oct. 5). Week nine with Chesterton (4-0) at Merrillville (3-1) and Andrean (3-1) at Lowell (3-1) also has possibilities.

The big game in the state brings powerful Hamilton Southeastern to Lafayette to face Jefferson (4-0). 5A Jeff is led by QB Tom Fogarty who completed 16 of 29 passes last week for 450 yards in a 53-32 win at Noblesville. 1A Lafayette Catholic (4-0) plays at Carroll and Lafayette Catholic QB Chris Mills will try to top last week when the sophomore was 24-of-29 for 296 yards in three quarters of a 47-14 win over Guerin Catholic.

Clearly the game is played a little differently in the Lafayette area. Class 3A West Lafayette (4-0) travels to unbeaten Tipton (4-0) Friday with WL quarterback Matt Lancaster coming off a game where he completed 16 of 22 passes for 250 yards and four TDs in a 41-14 win over Benton Central.

There's no point in picking Hammond-Wirt, Wallace-West Side, KV-Griffith or Lowell-Highland. East Chicago-Clark and Lake Station-Calumet also appear to be foregone conclusions.

New Prairie (3-1) at Jimtown (4-0)

ELKHART - The Cougars travels east to take on the defending 2A state champions. This game will tell you whether New Prairie can beat Andraen at sectional time. The Cougars got hurt by the ground attack of LaPorte but NP has had some offensive success here before. the Jimmies ran for 20 first downs and 348 yards last week in a 36-7 rout of Knox. Jimtown has a little more speed and they haven't forgotten that they lost at New Prairie last season. But the Cougars will score more point on Jimtown than anyone else has.

Jimtown 34, New Prairie 20

River Forest (0-4) at North Newton (0-4)

MOROCCO - All I ask for is an even game and this should be one. The trick here is to figure out who's been weaker against a weaker schedule. North Newton has allowed 220 points. River Forest has given up 169 points. River Forest has lost 17 in a row. At home, North Newton has a little more offense.

North Newton 35, River Forest 14

Munster (2-2) at Morton (2-2)

HAMMOND - Strength against strength as Munster can throw the ball and Morton has speed in the secondary. Munster has lost by three to LC and Andrean. Morton lost by three to Lowell. Morton has the better team but they haven't played a really strong game all year. I don't understand it. This team has not lived up to expectations. Morton is better than Munster. The Governors will gain more yards here but lose the war.

Munster 23, Morton 20

Valparaiso (2-2) at Chesterton (4-0)

CHESTERTON - Fall comes one week two soon. I'd love to see this one in 75-degree weather. The two top passing teams face off with Chesterton and Alex Beirwalter rolling up yards against Valpo and Alex Sarkisian, who was 21-of-28 for 275 yards in a 28-20 win at Michigan City last week. But on a cooler night with a little rain thrown in, Chesterton is a solid selection here.

Chesterton 38, Valparaiso 20

Whiting (3-1) at Bishop Noll (1-3)

HAMMOND - Whiting takes its 40-points-per-game offense on the very short trip to Noll for a very interesting matchup. The Oilers play the pass-and-run game well while Noll finally got going 45-6 against outmanned Lake Station last week as Tony Hollingsworth carried 30 times for 170 yards. This will be closer than expected but Noll cant control the ball.

Whiting 41, Bishop Noll 28

Wheeler (3-1) at South Central (2-2)

UNION MILLS - The Bearcats actually should be 4-0 except for the night they turned the ball over 10 times against a Kankakee Valley team they should have beaten.
South Central cannot possibly have lost 40-8 to Culver. This one wont be close as Wheeler builds some momentum.

Wheeler 42, South Central 8

Lake Central (3-1) at LaPorte (2-2)

LaPORTE - I don't know the condition of Tony Morang, LC's rushing leader, and the Indians shuffling QB situation means they don't have a starter. The Slicers cause a lot of problems defensively and they have faced good offenses all season. The Lake Central defense can bother soph QB Dustin DeMuth of LaPorte but LaPorte is a very difficult place to play. I don't know if LC has ever won there. And the LC offense isn't good enough to win there this year either.

LaPorte 28, Lake Central 24

Merrillville (3-1) at Michigan City (2-2)

MICHIGAN CITY - Michigan City has been close in every game this year, losing only 22-20 to Chesterton and 28-20 to Valparaiso. The Wolves have scored 20 or more in every game this season but they are facing a speedy defense that can shut a team down totally. The Pirates eventually will blow someone out but I don't think it'll be Michigan City.

Merrillville 26, Michigan City 14

Crown Point (3-1) at Portage (2-2)

PORTAGE - This one will get ugly. Portage can bring a good running attack to the table if everyone is healthy but the Indians don't make a lot of plays on offense. Crown Point has found the road to be a very dark lace for their offense this year. The Bulldogs carry that 16-game DAC winning streaks and this win gives them a realistic chance to win a third consecutive DAC title. But Portage will more desperate than the Republican Party. They cant lose three DAC games in a row or its 'wait till the playoffs'. There will be less scoring here than in the 'World Cup.'

Crown Point 16, Portage 7

Hobart (3-1) at Andrean (3-1)

MERRILLVILLE - Here's the game of the week. Hobart can run the ball. Nobody has impeached 'The President' Andrew Jackson. And Brickie QB Matt Barras has not thrown an interception. But the 59ers' new QB Austin Sutter is averaging over 200 yards per game passing. Andrean did well defensively against Albert Evans of Portage and they are a safety away from being 4-0. If the Brickies, who in some ways are also a safety away from being 4-0, cant bury Andrean early, the 59ers win in the fourth quarter.

Andrean 28, Hobart 26