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4A No. 10 Hobart (6-1)at Lowell (3-4) |
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Week
8 - Football Game of the Week Preview |
4A No. 10 Hobart (6-1)at Lowell (3-4) |
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10-04-2006
When:
Friday, October 6, 2006
Where: Lowell High School - Route 2 (Commercial Ave.).& Holtz Road, Lowell, IN.
Tickets: $4 - (for everybody).
Kickoff:
7:00 p.m.
Radio-TV: WTMK
(88.5) FM (everybody else is at Griffith-Andrean)
Weather: Low 50s. Chilly for fans. Very good for players. If the rain Wednesday is all there is, this will be played on a good field.
Parking: This is Homecoming and the biggest Lowell home game of the year. Get there early or you will get there late. Everyone needs to arrive early.
THE SERIES: These schools have played twice a year in each of the last three seasons and Lowell has won five out of six.
Rivalry: HOBART -- The best news in NW Indiana high school football in years is that the king is headed back for the throne. Hobart is celebrating a rebirth of its football program. Two years ago, the Brickies were 9-2 and they now are ranked 10th in Class 4A state wide. It smacks of the good, old days when Hobart won 4A state titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, and 1993 under the legendary coach Don Howell.
Many know the story. Howell, an offensive lineman for 1950s under coach Russ Deal, introduced weight training to high school football in 1965 and brought decades of success to the small eastern Lake County town with big, strong offensive linemen and hard running backs. Coaching icons Howell (314-73-2, 33 years) and Deal (114-49-6, 18 years) helped the small Lake County town southeast of Gary's steel mills roll up an incredible all-time record of 528-242-19 in high school football. Think about how long it takes you to get to 250 games over .500.
The tie between Deal and Howell is that Deal coached Howell and that created 50 years of play with basically the same philosophy. Don Howell, who was a 5-foot-9, 210-pound offensive lineman, is credited for introducing weight training to NW Indiana football by installing it at Hobart in 1965. Amazingly, before the 1960's, people thought that slowed you down and would hurt your football ability. It is said that the Brickie emblem, a cartoon figure with a powerful upper body, is modeled after Howell.
Hobart became so dominant that they won 18 consecutive sectionals and dominated the DAC, beating bigger schools, throughout the 70's and 80's. The Brickies were the number one team in victories state wide in the 1980's when they were 118-14. Sellout crowds made the neighborhood stadium in the town of 25,000 the place to be on Friday nights in NW Indiana.
I don't know the exact year they adopted it or who suggested it, but Hobart is called the 'Brickies' apparently because brickyards (places that made bricks and other construction materials) popped up in the late 1800's and that was probably the most significant industry in the town well into the 1900's, providing bricks for projects and construction materials in the Chicago area. The last 'brickyard' descendent, the National Fireproofing Company, closed in 1964. I'm told that if you dig down under Hobart streets (and this is not exclusive to Hobart), you will find brick roads.
Truthfully, Hobart ceased to be a major mill area after major highways (probably Routes 20 and 30) bypassed the town in the 1920's. It became a quiet residential area largely for Gary steelworkers over the next five or six decades. The 'brickyard legacy' is kept alive through the name of the football team as Hobart is a quiet place that isn't known for anything else. You could go to the southern tip of the state and when you mentioned Hobart, they'd say that's where the Brickies play football. They'd say they saw Hobart play in one of their nine state title games.
But after Howell retired in 1999, the program slipped. Whatever the reason, the Brickies 'suffered' through mediocre seasons of 6-5 (2000), 6-6 (2001), 2-8 (2002) and 5-7 (2003). The Brickie fans began to find other things to do on Friday nights. But Wally McCormack, who led Andrean to the state finals in 2002, accepted the Hobart job a year later and he has changed them with the help of two interesting names. Tom Kerr, Howell's right hand man for two decades as assistant coach, came out of retirement this year to work with this potential-packed squad. And Michael Pickett, Lowell's all-time leading rusher (4,198 yards in three seasons), who scored 35 TDs in 1994 including two in a 28-25 Lowell win over Hobart in the regional championship game, has been Hobart's offensive coordinator for the last two years.
If you do not remember Pickett, who could be considered the most important player in Lowell history, he is somewhat re-incarnated in present day Brickie junior Andrew Jackson (6-2, 220), they are very similar. Right down to the number '6' that Jackson wears. You hear so much talk about schools like Griffith these days, it's easy to forget that Lowell and Griffith's football history, hugely successful recently, pale badly in comparison to Hobart, the all-time kings of NW Indiana high school football. No team is anywhere near Hobart where it comes to Lake County football tradition and don't let anybody tell you they are.
Lowell has eliminated Hobart from the state tournament in each of the last three years, all three times in front of sellout crowds in Lowell. The state tournament bracket, just released Tuesday (10-3-2006), matches Lowell and Hobart in opposite ends of the bracket. They are on a double collision course, scheduled to meet Friday and projected to meet the night of Nov. 3 in Lowell.
Hobart
is favored this time. You can't beat the same team forever. But are
the Brickies really going to beat Lowell twice in Lowell late in the year?
Hobart needs to prove they can win at Lowell and they don't need to wait until
November to do it. That makes this one of the two most dramatic games of
the year.
Hobart
(6-1, 4-0 LAC Black)
Coach:
Wally McCormack (126-16, 4th year)
Enrollment: 1,187
2005 record: 6-6*
Sectional titles: (19) 1997
Regional titles: (15) 1996
Semistate titles (9) 1996
State titles (4) 1987,1989, 1991 and 1993
Lost Class 4A Sectional nine championship 32-6 to eventual state champion
Lowell in November of 2005
2006 schedule
(W) 45-7 Gary West Side (2-4)
(L) 20-34 Crown Point (7-0)
(W) 56-0 at Hammond (0-7)
(W) 38-14 Highland (2-5)
(W) 42-14 at Munster (4-3)
(W) 36-29 Andrean (6-1)
(W) 42-13 Morton (3-4)
Oct. 6 at Lowell (3-4)
Oct. 13 at Griffith (7-0)
4A Sectional 9 playoffs
10-20 (F) vs. Munster (3-4)
10-27 (F) vs. probably Highland (2-5)
11-3 (F) vs. probably Lowell (3-4)
Class
4A Lowell (3-4, 2-3)
Coach:
Kirk Kennedy (118-60, 15 years)
Enrollment: 1,150
2005 record: 11-4*
Sectional titles: (6) 1992, 1994, 1999, 2003, 04, 05
Regional titles: (3) 1994, 1999, 2005
Semistate titles: (1) 2005
State titles: (1) 2005
*Defeated three-time defending champion Roncalli 28-27 to win the 2005 4A state
title.
2006 schedule
(L) 0-17 at Crown Point (7-0)
(W) 63-6 Calumet (1-6)
(L) 0-35 at GRIFFITH (7-0)
(L) 17-21 Morton (3-4)
(L) 0-17 at ANDREAN (6-1)
(W) 35-12 HAMMOND (0-7)
(W) 15-14 Munster (4-3)
10-6 (F) Hobart (6-1)
10-13 (F) at Highland (2-5)
4A Sectional 9 playoffs
10-20 (F) vs. Gary West Side
10-27 (F) probably vs. Highland
11-3 (F) probably at Lowell
4A
No. 10 Hobart (6-1) at LOWELL
(3-4)
Hobart: Offense 39.9 ppg. - Defense: 15.9 ppg.
LOWELL: Offense: 18.6 ppg. - Defense: 17.4 ppg.
Sagarin
computer ratings: Hobart by 18
LOWELL
(10-06-2006) - The
spread has to do with the fact that Hobart has defeated Morton and Andrean,
teams that beat Lowell. Hobart should be a significant favorite in this
game. But Munster was a 16-point favorite on the computer to beat Lowell
last week and it didn't work out that way. Let's quickly dispel the notion
that this is another Munster coming in here. Hobart has veteran play
makers at almost all skill positions. Hobart's historically named halfback
Andrew Jackson is 'the president' because, with the help of 'the congress' (his
offensive line), Jackson has gained 938 yards on 175 carries. Hobart's
offense (40 ppg.) is based on the 220-pound junior.
QB Josh Miracle (68-108, 1,055 yards, 10 TDs, 5 INTs) is a legacy player. His dad Bob Kobza played quarterback on Hobart's 1979 and 1980 state finals' teams. Miracle, who threw for 1,800 yards (140-265, 1,877 yards, 12 TDs) last season, has been more efficient his senior year throwing to Michael Brown (29-508 yards) and Bobby James (28-482). James (6-2, 175) is the premier offensive player in the Lake Athletic Conference and he can score on any play. You have to give the defender on James help and hope Brown, whose dad unbelievably was Bob Kobza's No. 1 receiver in 1979 and 1980, doesn't beat you.
A silent point maker is senior kicker Jeremy Cartagena. I do not have details of the Hobart season-opening 44-7 win over Gary West Side, but Cartagena has kicked 32 consecutive extra points and he's also booted a 31-yard field goal. With the big junior Jackson and big Steve Gascy (6-0, 205) running up the middle, you can see that Hobart causes a lot of problems at the same time. The offensive line averages about 235 pounds a man and they are crucial to success here.
Miracle is listed as 5-11, 175 and he's probably shorter than that. If a team with tall defensive linemen can force passing situations and get in his face, they can bring the Brickies to a halt. With the possible exception of Crown Point and Andrean for a half, no one has done that.
Hobart's defense is mediocre. They can be physical, but they aren't that quick. Crown Point, Morton and Andrean all gained 350 yards on the Brickies. And there is the way to beat the Brickies. You don't stop all the play makers. You keep them on the sidelines. Limit Hobart to four possessions a half and you can beat them. If they get the ball six times a half, they'll slap you up and down the field.
Lowell is trying to do the impossible. All year, the boys have heard how they can't rally from a 1-4 start to win post-season gold for the second consecutive season. The 2005 team was 1-4 and then won 10 in a row to take the state title. This year, with many new players, the Devils went 1-4 again, and lost some key defenders to injury. But they came on in the second half to rout Hammond 35-14 and rallied to edge Munster 15-14 in a game that brought back vivid memories of 2005.
Lowell
has allowed 1,090 yards on 255 carries this season (4.3) which isn't bad
considering the teams they've played. The Devils make up for a lack of
size with quickness. Defensive end Jeff Barker (6-5, 187) benefits from a
fast track as does safety Lukas Palmer (5-11, 160). They've combined for
121 tackles in seven games. Junior linebacker Ben Rigby (5-10, 163) and
junior end Joe Carlson (6-2, 186) have been surprise contributors and linebacker
David Eastling (6-0, 185) and end Justin Juarez (6-4, 197), both sophomores,
have been more than surprising, because I don't think even they expected to play
as sophomores. Senior linemen Mike Staniewicz (6-7, 255) and Andrew
Steuer (6-0, 222) and LB-S Josh Kuiper (6-0, 187) have been stabilizers.
This could be a great defense next season when injured regulars Kaleb Layman and
Danny Remboski are back at full strength and everybody is 10-20 pounds
heavier. It's a good Red devil defense now, and if the offense can hold
the ball half the time and junior punter David Lang keeps getting about 35 yards
a punt, nobody's going to run them into the ground.
Offense has been a problem. Junior Steffan Peck (136-666 yards, 9 TDs) was
expected to do well at halfback and he has. Lately senior halfback Max
Znika (50 carries, 251 yards, 4 TDs) has also excelled. The tandem reminds
longtime Lowell fans of the 2000 team of Mike French and Chris Goult, who
combined for over 2,000 yards.
Josh Kuiper (28-58, 355 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs) has survived the brutal early schedule and, if he's healthy, he could be a major factor in the next six weeks. Kuiper is not a prolific passer, but his 41-yard, 3rd-and-4 pass to WR Eric Roadruck in the final two minutes setting up the winning TD last week was Lowell's biggest play of the year. Remember, it's Kuiper whose interception set up the winning TD in the state title game last year. He can make big plays and if Lowell isn't overwhelmed in the first three periods, they have the leader they need in the fourth quarter.
Barker is a tall, fast tight end who is difficult to cover. He's only caught 11 passes but he's averaging 15.5 yards per catch. Near the goal line, you have a serious problem with him. Peck is a good pass catcher out of the backfield and Roadruck (5-7, 145), a baseball outfielder, may have the speed to get deep. I have a feeling that Lukas Palmer (5-11, 160) and top kick returner TJ Lukasik (5-7, 165) are somehow going to find their way over to the offense occasionally this month.
David Lang (16 of 17) missed his first extra point of the season last week, but he made a crucial fourth quarter field goal. Lowell fumbled nine times in their first three games and has lost just one fumble in the last four. Somehow, the Devils need to squeeze three TDs out of this mix every Friday, something I'm sure they know. Lowell averages less than 19 points a game and that won't pay the rent. No team wins the sectional with that few points scored. It won't happen.
On paper, Hobart has a better team than Lowell. In three Lowell games against ranked teams (3A No. 3 Andrean, 3A No. 1 Griffith and 5A No. 3 Crown Point), the Lowell offense has not scored a single point. They have to score this week and when they do, they have to use it as a sign. A quick TD will be proof that they have improved. A first quarter score on the No. 10 Brickies would be a major lift for the home sidelines and a large cause for concern for the visitors. Lowell also needs to play to the home crowd. The '12th man' is college football slang for the student body, which can help the 11 players on the field win home games against tough opponents by being noisy.
Hobart has been pointing to this game all year, but the Devils' seniors need to win what could be their final regular season home game. Lowell players need a very loud home crowd Friday night and they have some loudmouth friends who can be worth two or three points here.
Lowell will be blitzing and changing sets late in the play clock count. Josh Miracle can't be allowed to call audibles at the line. On offense, Josh Kuiper can pull the Brickies off sides in passing situations with a hard count. Crown Point pulled LaPorte offsides four times in their showdown last week. Lowell needs to win Friday, but beyond that, they need to control the ball on offense. The offensive line has to create about 200 yards rushing, and if they do, the Devils can pick up another 100 through the air and with that, they'll have a chance against anybody in 4A Sectional 17 and against Hobart in the week eight showdown.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
Lowell will learn more from this game than Hobart will. Lowell's offense just doesn't change that much. Hobart knows what they're going to run. I expect a big night from the Lowell offensive line. Hobart has been hearing how they must stop the run. Lowell has been hearing about how they don't run like most Lowell teams. A lot of boys have something to prove when Lowell has the ball. The Devils will try to punish the wide receivers and force fumbles. They will strike back after an early fumble and tie the game.
But Andrew Jackson will have a big drive on his way to about 125 yards rushing. The Devils will possess the ball more, but Hobart will score quickly and lead most of the night. What Lowell will try to show is balance between the runners Steffan Peck and Max Znika. I think you can attack Hobart straight ahead between the tackles, but Lowell has to be perfect to complete drives. Hobart just needs big plays and a long pass to Michael Brown will be the game-breaker. I like Hobart, if they don't fumble more than once, to score four TDs and Cartagena just doesn't miss extra points. Lowell has two goals here and the second is to play well enough, especially on offense, to believe they could win the inevitable rematch. The Red Devil glass will end up very much half full.