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Morton (0-1) at Lowell (1-0) |
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Week
2 - Football Game of the Week Preview|
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Morton (0-1) at Lowell (1-0) |
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8-27-2008
When:
Friday, August 29, 2008
Where: Lowell High School - 2501 Commercial Ave (Route 2 & Holtz Rd) Lowell, IN.
Tickets: $5
Kickoff:
7:00 p.m.
Radio-TV: WTMK
(88.5) FM and www.rrsn.com
Weather:
Unpleasant. Mid-70s and very
warm. I'm hoping for clear skies
so the temperatures will drop
rapidly as the night goes on. But it's August and it could
actually be much hotter than
this. Coaches say the heat does
not matter, but secretly they
worry. Cold weather can be
overcome by mental toughness. Hot weather can't be overcome by
just being tough. It's a serious
hazard. Ice water may be at a premium
early Friday, and for you folks
coming from Hammond remember
that the Lowell sports complex
is basically cut into a forest
at the north end of Lowell. Mosquitoes will score more
touchdowns than either team.
JV game: Saturday, Aug. 30 at
Lowell - 10:00 a.m.
Freshman: Thursday, Sept. 4 at
Lowell - 6:00 p.m.
Numbers:
Hammond Morton - 4A enrollment -
1,186; LOWELL - 4A enrollment -
1,247
Parking:
More than in past years, but
they'll need it.
Lowell's expanded home and
visitor's grandstands, which were
scheduled to be completed this
week, will up the capacity of
"The Inferno" to 3,000. It
should be noted that the
visitor's grandstands were not
completed as of Tuesday night.
Lowell will still use the
football practice field east of
the football stadium for
parking.
But there is a small new parking
lot west of the football field,
behind baseball's third base
dugout. The lot in back of the
school is always full, but the
lot in front of the school (by
Route 2) is not. To be blunt,
Morton usually does not bring
many fans and the opening
blowout home loss to Griffith
may keep a lot of Governor
watchers at home. If you stopped attending
home football because of the
cramped conditions, you might
want to try again Friday. I
think there's room for you.
The SERIES: Lowell has won 11 of 16 games against Morton over the last 15 years, but it's a stretch to call this a rivalry. Morton and Lowell never met before 1985. Morton was a powerhouse in the 60s and 70s. The Governors were 7-3 in 1969, 6-3-1 in 1970 and 9-1 in 1971 and that's when the Hammond and East Chicago schools were still top level competition. Morton was the champion of the old Lake Shore Conference in 1969, 1970 and they were the undefeated league champ in 1971 and 1972. Meanwhile, Lowell had 25 consecutive non-winning seasons before 1992. Hammond figuratively and literally didn't know where Lowell was on Friday nights. Times changed for both schools in the 1990s. When Lowell was reaching football prominence for the first time, Morton had hit the skids. The Governors were 0-10 (1997) and 3-7 ('99), Lowell was 8-3 ('97) and 12-2 ('99).
But the arrival of popular coach Roy Richards from East Chicago was the genesis of a turnaround. Morton's greatest victory in recent years came in October of 2002 when they overcame a 21-6 Lowell lead in the fourth quarter of a sectional semifinal to win 24-21. Under coach Richards, Morton plays a college style spread offense, which should be more effective at home with the installation of artificial "Field Turf" like they have at Crown Point and Merrillville.
That would indicate that the future consolidation of the four Hammond high schools will not include Morton. You don't spend $500,000 for the football field at a school you are gong to phase out. In 15 years there will probably be just three schools in Hammond: Morton, Clark and a consolidated Hammond and Gavit. That consolidation should also increase the enrollment at Morton. They have benefited from being a magnet school, much like West Side is in Gary. Anyone in Hammond can attend Morton under the right situation so enrollment is said to be on the rise. Morton is also aggressive athletically. They play perennial Top-10 Crown Point and Lake Central in baseball. Morton competes in the Marquette volleyball tournament, which included 1A No.1 Marquette and 4A No. 1 Elkhart Memorial.
Many times in recent years, Morton and the other Hammond schools have publicly pointed to Lowell as one of those 'rich' schools that broke away from the Lake Athletic Conference to form the Northwest Crossroads Conference, leaving them on their own.
The argument is a little difficult to understand since Lowell was in the Lake Athletic Conference for all of 7 years and Hammond schools didn't play Lowell for decades because Lowell was not a quality program. I sense that 'rich school' talk is made up by the Hammond schools to motivate players when they play the bigger schools. If there is any real animosity between Morton and Lowell (which I doubt) it is totally on Morton's side.
I still believe that Morton will eventually be in the Northwest Crossroads Conference because, except for the lack of a fan base and a couple of JV and freshman teams, they are a good fit. But the Hammond consolidation has to play out first. As for now, since Morton and Lowell presently are not in the same sectional, they are the perfect non-conference opponents.
4A Morton Governors (0-1)
Coach: Roy Richards, 53-45
(10th year)
Hammond Athletic Conference
games in CAPs
Aug. 22 (L) 13-40 Griffith (1-0)
Aug. 29 (Fri) at Lowell (1-0)
Sep. 5 (Fri) at CLARK (1-0)
Sep. 12 (Fri) Highland (0-1)
Sep. 19 (Fri) at Munster (0-1)
Sep. 26 (Fri) HAMMOND (0-1)
Oct. 3 (Fri) Gary West Side
(0-1)
Oct. 10 (Fri) at Hobart (1-0)
Oct. 17(Fri) at GAVIT (0-1)
Class 4A Sectional
9
Oct 24 (F) quarterfinals
vs. Hobart, Gary West Side,
Highland, East Chicago, Hammond,
Griffith or LW.
Oct 31 (F) Sect. 1 semifinals
Nov. 7 (F) Sect. 1 finals
Nov. 14 (F) 4A Regional
championship
Nov. 21 (F) Northern 4A
Semistate championship
Nov. 29 (S) 2008 Class 4A state
championship - Lucas Oil Arena
(4:00 p.m. EST) - downtown
Indianapolis
Lowell Red Devils (1-0)
Coach Kirk Kennedy, 136-67 in
(18th year)
Northwest Crossroads
Conference games in CAPs
8-22 (F) 7-0 at Crown Point
(0-1)
8-29 (F) Morton (0-1)
9- 5 (F) KV (0-1)
9-12 (F) at GRIFFITH (1-0)
9-19 (F) at HIGHLAND (0-1)
9-26 (F) HOBART (1-0)
10-3 (F) at Hammond (0-1)
10-10 (F) MUNSTER (0-1)
10-17 (F) at ANDREAN (0-1)
Class 4A, Sectional 10
Oct. 24 (Fri) quarterfinals
vs. KV,
Northridge, Plymouth,
Logansport, Clay, Washington or
Concord.
Oct. 31 (F) Sectional one
semifinals
Nov. 7 (F) Sectional one finals
Nov. 14 (F) 4A Regional final
Nov. 21 (F) Northern 4A
Semistate championship
Nov. 29 (S) Class 4A state
final - Lucas Oil Arena (4:00 p.m.
EST) -
downtown Indianapolis
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| Lowell offensive linemen David Eastling (52), Brian DeMario (75) and center Russ Russnak (54) opened holes 44 times for Lowell rushers to gain 187 yards against Crown Point, 8-22-2008. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
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| Lowell junior running back Brandon Grubbe (25) running a decoy play and blocking for senior Brian DeSomer (31) in the Red Devils 7-0 win over Crown Point, 8-22-2008. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Run the
Devil out of the football
Even if Lowell can throw the
ball effectively (and they can
this season), that's just not
what you want to do against
Morton. The Governors gave up
almost 400 yards rushing to
Griffith last week. Lowell has a
lot of running backs, and with
starter Brandon Grubbe (32
carries, 144 yards last week at
CP) playing in
the defensive secondary against
multiple receiver formations, Lowell's backup running backs
will be needed tomorrow. I'm tired of seeing Brandon Grubbe running for TDs (did I
say that?). There are two Lowell
boys I can't wait to see get the
ball in the open field.
Gavit
transfer Deron Johnson and
sophomore Cole Midgett. I've
heard talk, but this is their
varsity home debut.
2.
Mis-direction
Morton has always had a tendency
to overrun plays. They have a
lot of speed and they usually
play with a lot of enthusiasm. Lowell will always establish the
straight ahead game. They want a
match-up of power, but Morton
might be vulnerable to a couple
of Devils going in different
directions. Teams are often
fooled into thinking they can
overpower the usually small
Devils at the point of attack.
CP tried last week and they
gained 35 yards on 23 carries.
The Governors have to drag
receivers 'against the grain'
against Lowell. Morton can win a
track meet. They are faster than
Lowell, even though Lowell is
quick. Morton has to make
it a sideline-to-sideline game and put the ball in the air two of every three
plays.
3. Get serious early
When Morton comes to Lowell,
there are always comments about
how they are inspired by the
size of the Red Devil crowd and
the festive Friday night
atmosphere. They love to play at
Lowell and they won at Lowell
two years ago. Morton wants to
jump on Lowell with something
early. They do not eat at the
'Conservative Cafe'. The
Governors will lay down the law
on the first series or two and
they have had success with that
against Lowell in the past.
The Devils are the defending semistate champion and are rated fourth in the state. On their home field, Lowell better play like it because that's the level of team Morton will be preparing for.
at 'The Inferno' in Lowell - capacity: 5,000 - Sagarin
computer ratings: Lowell by
32
LOWELL
(8-29-2008) -
Morton had 65
yards rushing in week one and
they threw 23 passes. So, there's
no secret what they will do. The
Governors QBs will take a couple
of tries at Lowell's run
defense. But look for senior
Cory Phillips (6-0, 175) to
quickly start firing for guys
like Shevin Williams (6-2, 205),
who may line up anywhere. Look for a no huddle attack to try to take
advantage of the inexperienced Lowell defense.
The Governors will score first on a pass-and-run play from Phillips to Orlando Lucas. Lowell will respond on a TD run by Kurt Monix after a long rushing drive. Cody Midgett's first interception of the season will lead to a TD and the Devils will receive a fumble deep in Morton territory for a third TD and a 21-7 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Brandon Grubbe will score his first career kick return touchdown and fullback Bryan DeSomer will get on the board for the first time. I would not be surprised to see Morton throw 25-30 times with their QBs having some success. But Phillips and Allen Polkinghorn will run for their lives against Lowell's pass rush.
The picks to click on this night are Lowell running backs. Lowell seniors Deron Johnson, Andrew Eldred and others need to be ready, because Lowell will get more possessions than usual. Morton is in the wrong place at the wrong time on this night. Lowell is not weak and small in the secondary as they have been some years. Morton may pass for three TDs and Lowell will get three interceptions. If Griffith can get 400 yards rushing, Lowell will get at least 300. It's hard to repair your run defense in one week.
Morton will get the game into a track meet, but this is an unusually well-equipped Lowell offense and that will come to the front on this night.
LOWELL 49, Morton 21