Week Seven Picks:  NW Indiana High School Football

- by Mark Smith

WEEK Six (6) Predictions:

Wrong - 5; Right - 8
The Pick The Result
Wheeler 30, Noll 22 Noll 31-10
River Forest 20, North Newton 14  North Newton 27-10
Gavit 28, Whiting 26 Whiting 33-7
Griffith 28, LOWELL 17 LOWELL 21-20
Portage 27, Chesterton 10 Chesterton 42-40
LAKE CENTRAL 16, Huntington North 14 LAKE CENTRAL 28-0
Clark  20, Lake Station 8 Clark 27-14
East Chicago 28, St. Francis DeSales 20 East Chicago 38-21
Hobart 27, Michigan City 12   Hobart 34-9
North Judson 31, Kankakee Valley 6   North Judson 51-6
ANDREAN 27, Highland 17 ANDREAN 41-7
LaPorte 13, MERRILLVILLE 8  LaPorte 24-0
Valparaiso 34, CROWN POINT 21 Valparaiso 43-10
Week 6:  8 of 13  = 61.5% Season:  54 of 72  = 75.0%


WEEK 6 analysis:  Teams without a conference are notoriously difficult to judge and Wheeler is no exception.  River Forest had a horrible game offensively.  Gavit over Whiting was an upset pick and they did lead 7-6 at the half.  Chesterton over Portage was somewhat of a fluke.  Portage passed for 417 yards, gained 23 first downs and still lost.  Chesterton didn't complete a pass and scored six times. That wouldn't happen again.  Griffith can always fumble enough to lose any game.

WEEK (7) SEVEN

I could lie to you and say there are some really big games in week seven in this area, but there aren't. Continued warm weather should ensure that most of the favored teams win.  Prohibitive favorites include Portage (5-1) over Michigan City (2-4); Rensselaer (5-1) over Delphi (3-3); ANDREAN (6-0) over Hammond (2-4); Gary West Side (3-3) over Horace Mann (0-6) and Whiting (4-2) over Calumet (1-5).  There are some other really bad ones but I do need some games to pick.


Wheeler (3-3) 38, South Central (1-5) 21

Look for the BearCats to bounce back from last week's loss at Noll. South Central has scored only 56 points all season.

Clark ( 2-4) 14, Gary Roosevelt (3-3) 8

Clark's defense has been respectable all season and they've won 2-of-their-last-3.

Wirt (3-3) 34, Lew Wallace (3-3) 20

Lew Wallace recorded a big win last week over Roosevelt but the Troopers offense has been potent all season.

Griffith (3-3) 51, East Chicago (1-5) 21

This is another one of those mismatches. Griffith will rebound from last week's one-point loss.

Lake Station (1-5) 16, Gavit (0-6) 8

Gavit has only scored 61 points all season while Lake Station has been able to control the ball.

Morton (4-2) 35, Bishop Noll (4-2) 24

Noll's offense is potent but they're talking a step up in competition here. Morton is bigger and faster.

Munster (4-2) 24, Highland (4-2) 7

Munster is superior in both lines. Highland is young and has had major problems on offense most of the season.

Providence (5-0) 31, LAKE CENTRAL (3-3) 7

Providence Catholic of New Lenox, Ill is a dominant team. LC can't move the ball against them.

LOWELL (4-2) 17, Kankakee Valley (3-3) 14

Lowell may be looking ahead to their game at Munster while, for KV, this is the game of the year.

New Prairie (3-3) 28, John Glenn (4-2) 27

New Prairie's option offense usually gets better as the year goes along.

CROWN POINT (4-2) 21, LaPorte (4-2) 17

Crown Point's offense (25.3 ppg.) against LaPorte's defense (3 shutouts). The Bulldogs may be at full strength for the first time in three weeks.

Hobart (2-4) 27, Chesterton (5-1) 21

The upset of the week. Chesterton' s pass defense is weak and Hobart can contain the running game enough to win a close one.

Valparaiso (5-1) 35, MERRILLVILLE (2-4) 7

Merrillville has to throw their back-up QB against the region's top team.