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Valparaiso (2-3) at Crown Point (3-2) |
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Week 6 - Football Game of the Week Preview
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Valparaiso (2-3) at Crown Point (3-2) |
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09-22-2011
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| The south end of the Crown Point football field includes the scoreboard, home locker rooms and concession stand for the fans. |
When:
7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 23, 2011
Where: 1500 S. Main, Crown Point, IN
(one mile south of the CP courthouse)
TV/Radio/Internet: WEFM (95.9),
live updates of all local scores all night on WLPR (89.1) FM.
Live Internet audio stream on www.USA-365.com.
TICKETS: $6 (new ticket price this season for all of the DAC).
ENROLLMENT: CP - 2,532; VALPARAISO - 2,300
WEATHER: Cool and a chance of rain. Almost perfect for a big game. CP's
artificial turf will make any pre-game rain irrelevant.
PARKING: I don't think a large crowd comes to CP from Valparaiso. The Vikings
were 13-1 last year and now they're 2-3. I think the Viking fans stay home on
this night.
WHAT's AT STAKE: Valparaiso has to win to stay one game out of first in the
Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) with three weeks left.
Co-leaders Chesterton (4-1, 3-0 DAC) and Lake Central (5-0, 3-0 DAC) are both
heavily-favored to win Friday.
The Bulldogs realistically can't win the DAC with two league losses (no team ever
has), so this night has to be more personal.
Crown Point lost twice to Valpo last year and denied them both the DAC and
sectional titles. They will be reminded of that this week.
HISTORY: Valparaiso, which began as a purchase of land
by the US government from the Potawatomi Indians in October of 1832, has the
best name of a town in NW Indiana.
Valparaiso, or Valle Parriso, which means
"Paradise Valley" in Spanish, is
named after Valparaiso, Chile, a city of a quarter million.
Valpo, Indiana, a town of 25,000, was first settled by Joseph Bailey, (I believe
an elementary school is named after him) and is Porter County's oldest town.
Valpo high is one of the few NW Indiana schools that is older than CP. There
were graduating classes from Valparaiso high school in the late 1800s.
I think of Valpo as a college town
that loves its sports, whether the VU
Crusaders or the Valpo Vikings. The Vikings have 50 sectional boys basketball
titles and Valpo did reach the state football final in 1985 and 2001, when they
lost 35-16 to Ben Davis. Valpo leads the all-time series by a huge margin and
they have won the last four games. Valpo and Crown Point met to open the high
school football season from 1940 to 1962 and the earliest meeting I can find is
a 12-0 CP win over Valpo on Nov. 5, 1904.
Much of Valpo's football success is based on 35-year coach Mark Hoffman, who
has been synonymous with Viking football and is ending his career this fall.
The arrival of coach Tom Stokes in 1962 changed Valpo football fortunes. Stokes
was 1-7-1 in his first season, but by the mid-60s Valpo was king. From 1965 to
the 1970 season, Valparaiso high school football was 45-4-1. From 1973-1976, Stokes' final season, Valpo was 40-3. Present day coach Mark Hoffman came in
1977. and after what must have been a couple of painful losing seasons, Valpo
was again on top from 1984-1987 (31-13) from 2000-2002 (34-8) and they were 13-1
last season.
Valpo is a charter member of the Duneland Athletic Conference and while Hobart has won more league titles, Valparaiso and Merrillville have certainly become the marquee teams of the DAC. In the last decade, Valpo chose to play Penn to begin each year. That's a signal they want to be a state power, not just a NW Indiana powerhouse. No doubt that the Viking boys would like to send Hoffman out with another DAC title and this becomes a key game for them. Again, no team has ever won or tied for the DAC title with two league losses. Valparaiso has to win or it's time to prepare for the post-season.
Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC)
1. LAKE CENTRAL 3-0, 5-0
2. Chesterton 3-0, 4-1
3. Valparaiso 2-1, 2-3
4. MERRILLVILLE 2-1, 2-3
5. CROWN POINT 1-2, 3-2
6. Portage 1-2, 1-4
7. LaPorte 0-3 2-3
8. Michigan City 0-3, 1-4
Crown Point Bulldogs (3-2)
Coach Chip Pettit (63-47, 10 years)
2010: 8-4 2009: 3-7, 2008: 3-7
Sectional titles: 1998, 1991, 2006
Regional title: 1991
Lost 2010 5A sectional 1 championship game 16-6 at Valparaiso
Aug. 19 (W) 27-6 at Lowell (3-2)
Aug. 26 (W) 45-6 Hobart (1-4)
Sept. 2 (L) 20-21 Merrillville (2-3)
Sept. 9 (L) 7-26 at LC (5-0)
Sept 16 (W) 42-0 at Portage (1-4)
Sept. 23 Valparaiso (2-3)
Sept. 30 LaPorte (2-3)
Oct. 7 at Chesterton (4-1)
Oct. 14 Michigan City (1-4)
Valparaiso Vikings (2-3)
Mark Hoffman (234-149, year 35)
2010: 13-1 2009: 5-5 2008: 9-2
Sectional titles: (10) including 2010 and 2011
Regional titles (6) including 2010 and 2011
Semistate title: 1985 and 2001
State titles: 1975
Lost 2010 5A Northern Semistate championship game 30-12 at Fishers
Aug. 19 (L) 10-21 Penn (5-0)
Aug. 26 (L) 0-49 at Carmel (5-0)
Sep. 2 (W) 47-14 at LaPorte (2-3)
Sep. 9 (W) 38-21 Michigan City (1-4)
Sep. 16 (L) 21-31 at Chesterton (4-1)
Sep. 23 at Crown Point (3-2)
Sep. 30 Merrillville (2-3)
Oct. 7 at Portage (1-4)
Oct. 14 Lake Central (5-0)
Class 5A Sectional 1
including Michigan City, Portage, Chesterton, Munster, Lake Central , CROWN
POINT & MERRILLVILLE
VALPARAISO Update:
VALPO (9-23-2011)
Who's healthy?
Coaches will fool you about who is, and who isn't hurt. They will hide injuries as
long as they can for the purposes of competitive advantage.
So there's no way to know if Valpo halfback Andrew Kittridge (6-0, 195), a
700-yard rusher last year, is healthy. He did not play two weeks ago and played
little last week.
The Vikings' Bryon Duncan and lineman Paul Runyan (6-2, 286) are out for the
season and that's hurt the Vikings, but they are hardly unarmed.
Three-year starting QB Paul Andrie (6-2, 180) was just 13 of 30 last week, but
he's 61 of 101 for the year for 778 yards. Andrie is an experienced player with tall
pass receivers like Marcus Allen (6-4, 200) and Ryan Nix (6-2, 190). Andrie was
70 of 137 for 18 TDs and 960 yards last season.
Stephen Simms (5-8, 150) has carried 41 times for 304 yards in the last two
games as a sub, and in good conditions, on the artificial turf, he has shown he
is a major threat.
The Vikings have allowed 1,500 yards rushing and it's hurt the offense because
it's limited their possessions.
Ryan Nix is an excellent kicker, having hit 13 of 15 in extra points and field goals of
25 and 26 yards. The offensive line, led by Andrew Schooler (6-1, 262) doesn't
have to open much of a hole for Kittridge and Simms. What I don't know about
Valparaiso is: Are the rushing yards they have allowed more a product of their
weak defense or facing three Top-15 Class 5A teams? And if you don't get beaten
down, how much better do you get playing top quality teams almost every week?
CROWN POINT Update:
CROWN POINT (9-23-2011) The Bulldogs overwhelmed Portage 42-0 last week, but the
Indians were so diminished on offense that game does not help CP this Friday.
QB Joe Hopman (37 of 73, 589 yards, 8 TDs, 4 interceptions) was a season-best
11-of-14 last week for 3 TDs and the Bulldogs have to go on the attack
effectively here because they won't be able to hold down the Vikings.
What you like about CP at mid-season is that they have good balance (162 runs,
73 passes) and just five turnovers all season.
The numbers that jump out at you off the statistics sheet are for Tyler Wells,
who has caught just 13 passes for 299 yards (23 yards per catch) and Braxton
Rice, who has caught just eight passes for 161 yards (20 per catch).
The Bulldogs have an odd mix at receiver with Wells (5-9, 160), Rice (6-6, 170)
and Zach Plesac (6-1, 175). Throw tight end Tyler Kral (6-2, 215) and pass
catching fullback Peter Parks (6-2, 250) and the Bulldogs have a variety of
different targets.
Running back depth has developed with senior Jake Lindeman (85 carries, 355
yards) and sophomore Tristan Peterson (19 carries, 117 yards) and the line of
Michael Young (5-9, 285), guards Eric Huttle (6-0, 265) and Stephen Hutchison
(6-1, 285) and tackles Sean Jones (6-2, 235) and Blake Pals (6-1, 245) has been
effective against everyone but Lake Central..
Kicker Brett Bayer has three field goals of 23, 24 and 45 yards and is 18 of 19
on extra points.
Defensively, nose guard Cameron Tanner (6-1, 260) has a shocking seven
quarterback sacks. I've never seen a nose guard in a three man line get that
many sacks. Tanner is also CP's leading tackler.
Defensive end Billy Van Cleef and safety Logan McRae both had eight tackles
against Portage.
The Bulldogs' 3-5-3 defense dares you to throw the ball, a challenge Valparaiso
will welcome.
Senior inside linebacker Jordan Krajci has recovered four fumbles and the
Bulldogs need turnovers on this night.
Crown Point is out of the DAC race, but they were 8-4 last year with a lot of these same players. This team is used to winning against everybody but Valpo and Merrillville. They'd like to change that Friday night.
Valparaiso (2-3) at Crown Point 3-2)
SAGARIN RATINGS: CP by 7
CROWN POINT: This spread is confusing since Valpo has lost to 5A No. 2 Carmel,
5A No. 3 Penn and 5A No. 15 Chesterton. CP has not faced anyone in the Top-10
of any class.
This is where the Sagarin ratings can be misleading. They are suggesting that
decisive victories over relatively weaker teams mean more than decisive losses
to the state's elite teams. That's wrong. CP beating Portage by 42 does not mean
that Valpo, which lost by 49 to Carmel, is the lesser team.
Crown Point has played the 50th toughest schedule in the state so far. Valpo has
played the 17th toughest schedule.
This rating is off.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN:
CROWN POINT (9-23-2011) Last year's CP-Valpo games were low-scoring (10-7 and
16-6), but conditions will be right Friday night.
These teams both have three-year starters at QB and they probably have more
varied running and passing weapons on offense than any two teams in NW Indiana.
There is no chance of this being a low scoring game.
Valparaiso will take the lead early on a TD run by Kittridge, who will prove to
be healthier than he was last week. A long TD run by Stephan Simms will up the
count to 14-0 before the Bulldogs get started.
Braxton Rice will prove most difficult to cover for the Vikings and a short TD
pass closes the gap. An interception by Logan McRae sets up a short run by Jake
Lindeman to tie the game. But Simms, as he has been the last two weeks will be a
major factor, scoring two more TDs late in the third quarter and a field goal by
Ryan Nix will open up the lead to 31-14.
Crown Point will rally on a pass to tight end Tyler Kral for a third CP TD. A
blocked punt will set up Tristan Peterson for a TD run.
But CP will not get the ball back and Valpo will win another close one.
There's not a lot of difference between these two teams, but of CP's last 11
wins, 10 have been by 10 points or more. Of Valpo's last 15 wins, seven have
been by 10 points or less. The Vikings seem more confident in close games.
Valparaiso 31, CROWN POINT 28