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Lowell (3-5) at Highland (2-6) |
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Week
9 - Football Game of the Week Preview |
Lowell (3-5) at Highland (2-6) |
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10-11-2006
When:
Friday, October 13, 2006
Where: Highland High School - 9135 Erie St.(Two blocks east of 41st and Kennedy), Highland IN 46322.
Tickets: $4 - (for everybody).
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Radio-TV: WTMK (88.5) FM (everybody else is at Griffith-Hobart)
Weather: Mid 30s at best... Snow flurries... Almost too cold for fans. If you go, take maximum protection. In other words, take every coat you own and any heat equipment you can. Sleeping bags. Face masks. That's where we're at. Remember the obvious. That you'll be sitting or standing still. Bring warm friends. It's always much colder than you think when you leave home. This level of cold puts handcuffs on the passing game and makes a good defensive team even better, which is why it's good for Lowell. By the way, this is why passing teams from northern Indiana do not win state titles. Late season Northern Indiana weather. It won't be 35 degrees Friday night (the forecast is for upper 40s) in places like Bloomington and Jeffersonville and that 10-15 degrees is a big difference when you're trying to pass or kick the ball.
Parking: Highland's parking lot is as close to the field as it is at Lowell, so you can go out to your car at halftime to warm up. But you cannot sit in the car and watch the game. The home grandstand blocks your view. One thing's for sure... on this near-winter night? You wont have any problem finding a parking space. Let's be honest. We may like these boys but there's two losing teams on the field and Highland (13.3) scores even less points than Lowell (16.3) does. Only the most loyal Lowell fans are going to make the Friday rush hour drive. Highland crowds have reportedly thinned, understandably, as the season has gone on. Your car may get lonely in the lot.
THE SERIES: Highland leads the series 30-15. Lowell has won the last four meetings since a 23-13 Highland win on Sept. 13, 2002. The highlight to this series was 1999 when Lowell beat Highland 25-14 in September and rallied from a late 14-6 deficit to force overtime and win 20-17, Highland's only two losses that season. 1999 was the highlight for LOWELL. Highland prefers to recall the 55-0 win over Lowell on Sept. 11, 1998, a year when Highland was 10-2. Lowell has won 10 of the last 13 after losing 22 in a row going back to 1969.
Rivalry:
HIGHLAND - Lowell and Highland are old rivals from 20 years in the old Lake Suburban Conference (LSC) and those were good days for the Trojans. Highland isn't that old a school. The football program began in 1958, Lowell's 55th year of football. The first Lowell-Highland game on record is Highland's 19-13 victory on Oct. 6, 1961. The two schools met every year until the Lake Suburban Conference broke up in 1992 and Highland won almost all of those games. There was a four-year period from 1978-1981 that Lowell didn't score a point against Highland. Until the 1998 game, the worst loss was 55-7 in 1988, one of Highland greatest years. The Trojans were 4-4 after eight games before winning five in a row. Highland lost the 5A state championship game 14-7 to a then-unknown Indianapolis school, Ben Davis. That was the first of Ben Davis' five state titles in a 15-year span. Ben Davis (now, 4,265 kids) was a much smaller school back then and Highland was a slightly bigger one.
I believe that's the only Highland team that has reached the state finals in any team sport, which makes the Trojans athletic history somewhat similar to Lowell. Lowell's 2005 state title football squad was the first team from the school to reach the final. That's probably why there's little to no rivalry between Lowell and Highland. They rarely have great teams that go head-to-head.
Oddly, Lowell's rise in football has coincided with Highland's slide back to the .500 mark. Highland's good basketball teams have never cited Lowell as a rival. Lowell's good softball teams aren't challenged that much by Highland. I don't remember any time in any sport in the last 20 years where the top two schools in Lake County were Lowell and Highland. The enrollment at Highland, once over 1,500, is now lower than Lowell's. Highland is probably 'full' from a housing standpoint and there's simply not a lot of room for new construction and new families. It's a quiet suburban area much more similar to arch-rival Munster than it is to Griffith or Hammond and the community's average age is only going to get older.
So, I don't know about Highland's athletic future. Lowell will get much bigger and Hobart, with a new school building opening in 2009, is going to grow. Munster's per capita income is well above its neighbors and Kankakee Valley is almost certainly going to get bigger. A consolidated Hammond high would be bigger. In 10 years, Hanover Central is projected to be bigger than Highland. Coaches and athletic directors brag about their programs but anyone who says raw numbers of athletes don't matter is lying to you. Highland and Griffith appear to be in long term difficulty of competing in what is presently the new seven team NWCC, which groups those two with Munster, Andrean, Hobart, Lowell and Kankakee Valley.
There's an outside chance that as other schools grow, Highland could slide down to 3A with Griffith. But those two aren't that close right now, and the IHSAA is going to be forced to consider a Class 6A in the near future. If IHSAA football goes to six classes, Highland will remain 4A even if they lose some enrollment.
Football is the barometer of your boys sports programs. It's hard to be good in many sports if you aren't good in football. Highland is 30-41 in this decade, and the wins are over 2A Wheeler and winless Hammond (0-8). They are building and they need a boost. With a gift win over Gary West Side coming up to open the playoffs, Highland can see a tiny bit of potential momentum building as a possibility. Beating a team that still carries the label of defending state champion would allow the Trojans to salvage some good feeling out of another lost season.
Highland (2-6, 1-5 LAC Black)
Coach: Eric Miller (12-18, 3rd year)
Enrollment: 1,131
2005 record: 6-6*
Sectional titles: (3) 1982, 1986, 1987
Regional titles: (1) 1987
Semistate titles (1) 1987
Lost Class 4A Sectional nine quarterfinal 24-21 to Hobart
2006 schedule
(W) 41-18 Wheeler (5-3)
(L) 0-26 at Merrillville (5-3)
(L) 13-42 Munster (4-4)
(L) 14-38 at Hobart (7-1)
(W)
25-0 Hammond (0-8)
(L) 0-64 at Griffith (8-0)
(L) 3-42 at Andrean (6-2)
(L) 10-33 Morton (3-5)
Oct. 13 (Fri) Lowell (3-5)
4A Sectional 9 playoffs
10-20 (F) vs. Gary West Side (2-6)
10-27 (F) vs. probably Hobart (7-1)
Class 4A Lowell
(3-5, 2-4)
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 (8-0)
(W) 63-6 Calumet (1-7)
(L) 0-35 at GRIFFITH (8-0)
(L) 17-21 Morton (3-5)
(L) 0-17 at ANDREAN (6-2)
(W) 35-12 HAMMOND (0-8)
(W) 15-14 Munster (4-4)
(L) 0-7 Hobart (7-1)
10-13 (F) at Highland (2-6)
4A Sectional 9 playoffs
10-20 (F) vs. Kankakee Valley (7-1)
10-27 (F) vs. Gary Roosevelt (3-5) or Lew Wallace (0-8)
11-3 (F) probably at Hobart (7-1)
LOWELL
(3-5) at HIGHLAND (2-6)
Highland: Offense 13.3 ppg. - Defense: 32.9 ppg.
LOWELL: Offense: 16.3 ppg. - Defense: 16.1 ppg.
Sagarin
computer ratings: Lowell by 12
HIGHLAND
(10-13-2006) -
When you look at the numbers, understand that the computer has only been wrong
once all season on a Lowell football game. The Sagarin numbers said
Munster would beat Lowell and Munster actually did lead by eight in the fourth
quarter. The records are similar, but Lowell (CP, Hobart, Griffith and
Andrean) and Chesterton (LaPorte, CP, Griffith and Andrean) are the only NW
Indiana schools that has faced four teams presently ranked in the top-10.
That's a badge of honor, but the badge is bent and crooked because both
Chesterton and Lowell are 0-4 against those ranked schools. For the record,
undefeated schools Griffith and CP will finish the season having played just two
top-10 schools.
The Trojans have given up 900 yards rushing in the last three weeks to Griffith, Andrean and Morton and that's where they're going to have to focus on this night. Linebacker Val Covarrubias (5-8, 208) and his sophomore brother Emilio Covarrubias (5-9, 187) give this team hope for the future and soph CB Trent Altieri (5-11, 180) has three interceptions. Highland began the season with just 12 seniors and they are having a lot of the same problems that Lowell (just 10 seniors) has been having. The Trojans have worn down as the game has gone along. They have been outscored 79-16 in the fourth quarter and 66-24 in the third quarter. Those are hellacious numbers, and assuming the effort is still there, then clearly this team just wears down physically which wouldn't be unusual with young teams.
Highland doesn't have any good offensive numbers with just 106 points scored.
QB Adam Musielak is 90-of-153 for 956 yards with 7 TDs and 8 interceptions.
Those aren't terrible totals and throwing less than 20 times a game, he isn't'
being beaten up back there.
WR
Glen Durocher (5-9, 154) has 32 catches for 314 yards while junior JJ Garza
(5-9, 145) has 18 catches for 242 yards). These are small pass catchers
who have to run away from the defense. Emilio Covarrubius has run 69 times
for 471 yards. But lets not sugar coat it. Highland has been held to
14 points or less six times and they have allowed 26 points or more six times.
Obviously, there are problems in both lines.
Lowell has not come up with offensive game-breakers. Halfbacks Steffan Peck
(144-678, 9 TDs) and Max Znika (71-396 yards, 4 TDs) don't have great speed, but
they are steady and the Devils have only one fumble now in their last five
games. QB Josh Kuiper (30-of-68, 388 yards) just doesn't have a lot of
targets beyond 6-foot-5 Jeff Barker, who has caught 11 passes for 182 yards.
I would not be surprised to see defensive backs Lukas Palmer and TJ Lukasik
tried out as wide receivers or wingback runners to help out junior Eric Roadruck
(5-7, 147). The Devils have not been able to move the ball against good
defensive teams and they've faced a lot of them. With David Lang (33.4)
doing a steady job as a punter, Lowell is looking for a home run hitter to open
up things up for the running backs. A lot of it is confidence. The Red
Devils have a speedy defense that has held Crown Point (29.3 ppg.) to 17 points,
Andrean (27.3 ppg.) to 17 points and Hobart (35.8 ppg.) to just seven points.
Barker (74 tackles) and safety Lukas Palmer (70 tackles) have been all-area
players. A half dozen others are setting the table to be regular starters
as seniors. Defensively, Lowell has done all they can.
Lowell has to turn the page offensively and set their sites on a four-game winning steak that would give them a winning season. It's a tall order and Highland is desperate for a win. The Devils need to win Friday and they need to play well on offense to have a chance to defeat Kankakee Valley in the playoff opener. It's that simple.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
Lowell is out of the spotlight for the first time in a while. They aren't facing a ranked foe and it isn't Homecoming or some other special night. It's just a cold night far from home where they have to get down to business and move the ball. Highland is going to mimic Lowell and stay on the ground. This game won't last very long. Anything in the air, in the wind, with small receivers against a good secondary, is very dangerous on this Friday and both sides know it.
Lowell has gone to HB Max Znika in recent weeks as leading rusher Steffan Peck may be playing hurt. Znika has shown quickness and has picked up over 200 yards in the last two games. Lowell might be getting a break here because Peck is averaging 23 carries a game and he might be wearing down. Znika has just 71 carries all year and he may be fresher right now. The Devils also planned to get FB Danny Remboski back this week as a lead blocker and short yardage ball carrier.
Lowell should score first on a run by Znika in the middle of the second quarter. Highland will play very conservatively and punt a half dozen times, putting the onus on Lowell to move the ball. A Red Devil fumble will set up Emilio Covarrubius for a short TD run, but a TJ Lukasik kick return will set up Josh Kuiper for the go-ahead TD in the third quarter. Jeff Barker's sack will force a fumble and Peck will score to bump the lead to 21-7.
Highland will go to the air with limited success, but Glenn Durocher will run way from the defense to close the gap to 21-14. But Lowell will kill the clock with an extended drive and Znika's second TD will clinch the win. The Devils need an easy game and this won't be it. It might be scoreless after one quarter and almost all the yards gained will be rushing yards. But Lowell didn't get beat up last week. They could have won or at least gone to overtime. Highland took a demoralizing defeat by 23 against a Morton team that Lowell also should have defeated. The Devils's defense should be very confident after last week's showing. Highland can't run the ball consistently against Lowell and the Devils will eventually be able to run it against Highland. That will be the difference on the coldest night of the year.