Week 6 - Football Game of the Week Preview
Crown Point (2-3, 1-2 DAC)
|
9-23-2016
I don't know about a pretty sunset
but there should be a good size crowd at Valparaiso Friday night for the annual battle with Crown Point. (Photo by Mark Smith) |
When:
7:00 p.m. Friday, September 23, 2016
Where:
Valparaiso High School - 2727 Campbell ST, Valparaiso, IN.
Tickets:
$6
TV/Radio/Internet: No live radio -
Live Internet audio stream on www.USA-365.com.
Enrollment: CP - 2,664; Valparaiso - 2,065.
WEATHER: Another summer like week in the fall and it will still be
far too warm for football Friday. Daytime temperatures in the mid-80s, about 30
degrees hotter than it should be for a good football game. There is a chance of
rain. VHS has artificial turf. A good night for those in the stands. But this
'endless summer' is tough on the players and coaches. It needs to get much
cooler, but it won't this week.
PARKING: Viking Field seats
about 4,500 and if there was a capacity crowd, there wouldn't be enough parking
at VHS to hold all the cars. But I'm guessing the attendance will fall somewhat
short of capacity so there will be plenty of room for you. The difficulty at
Valpo is not parking. It's Campbell Street which is a two-lane residential
street in a neighborhood. If you get there late, you will have to wait.
WHAT's AT STAKE: Valparaiso (3-2, 1-2 DAC) is one game behind
LaPorte (5-0, 3-0 DAC) in the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC), as is
Merrillville (3-2, 2-1). Crown Point (2-3, 1-2 DAC) is not out of the DAC race,
but they have to win every remaining game the rest of the way. I don't believe
anyone has ever won the DAC with two league losses and it's probably not going
to happen this year either. But the Bulldogs could tie for the DAC crown if they
win four in a row starting Friday. The winner of the Crown Point-Valparaiso game
takes home the County Seat trophy. Valpo has possession of the trophy at this
point. If CP wins, watch for the presentation to the Bulldogs at the center of
the field immediately after the game.
The HISTORY:
I do not know when Valparaiso actually began playing high school football. The
web site Northern Indiana Football.com says the Vikings began playing in 1921.
But on the same web site, Crown Point is listed as playing in the year 1904.
That year, the Bulldogs played Hammond Baptist, Hammond hgh, Lowell and
Valparaiso. CP defeated Vapo 12-0 on Nov. 5, 1904. Valparaiso has long been the
crown jewel of Porter County. They have their own University, opened in 1859.
Their own radio station. For years, their own newspaper. Valparaiso high school,
or VHS, opened in 1859 and had 400 students even back then. Almost 1700 people
lived in Valparaso in 1860.
Valpo high is a charter member of the Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) and
while Hobart has won more league titles, Valparaiso and Merrillville have
certainly become the marquee teams of the DAC. The Vikings were 13-2 in 2001 and
12-2 in 2002 and 13-1 in 2010 under Hall-of-Fame coach Mark Hoffman. So when the
Vikings are 'just' 7-3 like they were last year, folks expect more out of the
team now coached by Mark Coyle.
'More' could be defined as a DAC football title, but that's probably not gong to
happen this year since the Vikings (3-2, 2-1 DAC) are already a game down to
LaPorte (5-0, 3-0) after a 38-37 loss to the Slicers. But the Vikings haven't
won a football sectional title in six years, and if they get a break in the
tournament draw next month, it's an outside possibility this year.
The 'Distant' Replay
CP 'D' shuts down Valpo 26-3
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
Valparaiso (3-3, 3-1) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
CROWN POINT (3-3, 1-3) | 7 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 26 |
Friday, September 27, 2013, 71 degrees & clear, Duneland Athletic Conference at CROWN POINT, IN.
1st
Qtr:
VALPARAISO (3-0) Caleb Dawson, 21-yard
field goal. 45-yard drive, 8 plays. 8:56 left.
CROWN POINT (7-3) Tristan Peterson, 40-yard run. 73-yard drive, 7 plays.
Evan Markowitz kick. 4:52
left.
2nd Qtr: CP (9-3) Blocked
punt by Artie Equihua, out of the end zone. SAFETY. 7:41 left.
CP (16-3) Tristan Peterson, 50-yard run. Evan Markowitz kick. 3:40 left.
3rd Qtr: No scoring.
4th Qtr: CROWN
POINT (23-3) Tristan Peterson, 46-yard run. Evan Markowitz kick. 9:15
left.
CP (26-3)
Evan Markowitz, 24-yard field goal. 3:51 left.
RUSHING:
VALPO (30 carries, 87 yards fumble) DaCota Overland (HB) 11 carries, 11
yards; Bryce Crook (HB) 10-71 yards, fumble; David Hittinger (QB) 7-5 yards,
fumble, David Fox (HB) 1-0 yards;
CP (26 carries, 217 yards, 3 TDs) Tristan Peterson (HB) 18-178 yards, 3
TDs, Jake Jatis (QB) 7-34 yards; Jake Kocher (WR) 1-5 yards.
PASSING:
VALPO: David Hittinger (QB) 9 of 22, 137 yards, one INT;
CROWN POINT: Jake Jatis (QB) 7 of 15, 72 yards.
RECEIVING:
VALPO: Michael Rastovic (WR) 4- 118 yards; Alex Healy (WR) 3-15, DaCota Overland
(HB) 2-15 yards, Bryce Crook (HB) 1-0 yards;
CROWN POINT: Jake Kocher (WR) 4-17 yards, TD; Morgan Kral (TE) 1-35 yards,
Tristan Peterson (HB) 2-20 yards.
TURNOVERS:
VALPO (4) one interception, 2 fumbles, blocked punt. CROWN POINT (1) fumble.
TOTAL YARDS:
VALPO: 224, CROWN POINT: 289.
CROWN POINT: The oddity of this game is that
Valparaiso came to CP with a three-game winning streak, where the Bulldogs
waited for them riding a three-game losing streak. And when the Vikings jumped
to a quick 3-0 lead, CP had to keep the faith. But the Bulldogs began to run the
ball successfully with halfback Tristan Peterson and the game turned in their
favor. The big play was a blocked punt by Artie Equihua in the end zone, giving
CP a safety and a 9-3 lead. Valpo punted and CP scored again to take a 16-3 lead
at the half.
Valpo didn't win another game, finishing at 3-7 in 2013. CP's win started a
4-game winning steak, which ended with a 9-6 sectional loss in the mud at Lake
Central. But the Bulldogs would come back and go 8-2 in 2014. Artie Equihua is
now a freshman defensive back at Wabash College (2-0), one of four CP graduates
on the football roster. Junior Tyler Downing of Crown Point has run 29 times for
200 yards in two games so far. Equhiua has gotten in late and made three tackles
for Wabash, rated 12th in NCAA DIvision III. Wabash sophomore Billy Bernhardt
was also a star safety for Crown Point and former Bulldog Salih Muhammad is a
freshman wide receiver at Wabash.
Valpo Update:
VALPO - Valpo's only losses are to 6A No. 1 Penn (5-0) and 6A No. 9 LaPorte
(5-0) and that speaks for itself. The Vikings are a senior-laden team which
graduated some key defensive players last fall, but has still come back strong
with seven returning starters offense. The last two Vikings opponents have been
whipped 29-0 and 34-13. Since the season-opening 27-7 loss to top-rated Penn,
Valparaiso has scored a total of 140 points in four games. That makes you go
back and look at the game against Penn, which is a rival of Valpo in Class 6A
Sectional 2. In that game, Valpo outgained Penn 360-263 and ran and threw for
180 yards. The Vikings have scored 70 points in the first quarter in five games.
QB - Jake Leffew (5-11, 170) Junior:
Jacob started the year as a question mark and now he's an exclamation point with
49 of 77 passing for 618 yards, four TDs and just one interception. He was 19 of
27 for 180 against top-ranked Penn in his debut. If the Vikings can protect him,
Leffew has shown he can make plays.
WR-CB - Jay Bisacky (6-4, 215) Senior:
One of the Viking co-captains, Bisacky has 16 catches for 327 yards on offense
with four TDs. Jay was a regular defensive back last season with five
interceptions. I'm not sure how much he's playing on defense right now, but I'm
sure he'll be back there late in a close game. Bisacky also averaged 8.0 points
and 5.1 rebounds on the Vikings' 20-6 basketball team last winter.
RB - Zach Jones (5-11, 215) Senior:
Jones is the hard running inside threat with halfback Greg Lichtenberger (54
carries, 343 yards) in the Vikings backfield. Jones has run 54 times for 467
yards and seven TDs. Close to the goal line, he gets the ball. Check that. Zach
had an 80-yard run against LaPorte. That's also 13 TDs for the Valpo rushing
tandem.
CROWN POINT Update:
CROWN POINT - I don't know who's playing for Crown Point this week in the
backfield after junior halfback Tyler Gomez and backup Scott Mills left last
week's game with injuries. The Bulldogs' numbers do not make sense. In five
games, they have 63 first downs and have held their opponents to 41. They have
turned the ball over just six times in five games. But CP (2-3) has scored only
63 points all season and 12.3 points per game won't win much. The Bulldogs have
allowed just seven points in the first quarter all year and only 21 in the first
half in five games. CP's defense has allowed just 590 yards rushing in five
games.
LB - Caden Watson (5-11, 185) Junior:
Watson was credited with 10 tackles last week, including eight solo tackles and
two tackles for losses. On the year, he's the CP team leader with 55 tackles and
two QB sacks, just ahead of senior Donald Schuch (50 tackles, 3 QB sacks),
another Bulldog linebacker. The only thing Watson and Schuch haven't done this
year is score TDs themselves.
PK-TE - Ben Fridrich (6-2, 225) Junior:
Ben Fridrich booted a career best 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter last
week to keep the Bulldogs close to Portage. For the season, he's 6-of-6 on extra
points with field goals of 31 and 40 yards.
KR/DB Zach Stewart (5-10, 160) Senior:
I'm mentioning Stewart because, if the Bulldogs are without their top two
running backs they may move Stewart back to offense where he played last year.
The problem with that is Zach Stewart has made 21 solo tackles in five games and
he leads the secondary with four interceptions.
at Viking Field - capacity: 4,500
Sagarin Computer rankings: Valpo by 9.
VALPARAISO
- The spread here is based on the difference in the record and the fact
that the Vikings have played Penn (5-0) and LaPorte (5-0). CP has faced no
one with a record better than 3-2. In review, CP was favored by four last
week and they lost by four.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN:
VALPARAISO
(09-23-2016) This is a tough one. CP will be short at running back and
they have to shorten this game and keep Valpo's senior playmakers on the
sidelines.
After a scoreless first quarter, Jake Leffew will get the ball to tall Jay
Biscaky for a short TD and a 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs will get a pass interception
by Zach Stewart and runback into Valpo territory where Ben Fridrich will boot
his third field goal in three weeks. Valpo scores again in the third quarter on
a run by Zach Jones, but the Bulldogs rally with a touchdown run by Grayson Lynk
on an option play. Late in the game, Jones scores again and CP won't be able to
rally.
The Bulldogs need to make several big plays to win here and they probably only
have a couple.
Valparaiso 21,
CROWN POINT
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Revised: September 23, 2016
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