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5A
No. 3 Crown
Point
(6-0)
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Week
7 - Football Game of the Week Preview |
5A
No. 3 Crown
Point
(6-0)
|
|
9-29-2006
When:
Friday, September 29, 2006
Where: Kiwanis Field (capacity: 4,800), a few blocks south of LaPorte high school - 602 F St., LaPorte IN 46350.
Tickets: $5 - (for everyone).
Kick-off: 7:00 p.m. (CDT)
TV/Radio/Internet: WWLO* (89.1) FM, www.USA-365.com, WTMK (85.5) FM. When you get to LaPorte County, you can listen to 'The Eagle',WCOE (96.7) FM, the country music station that carries LaPorte football, basketball and baseball. As you drive home, the game will be replayed on WWLO (89.1) FM, the station that carries Crown Point sports. * - The game will be replayed on WWLO after the postgame show.
WEATHER: Upper-50s by the end of the game, and a good chance of rain. It will feel cold. Summer is over.
PARKING: LaPorte is like the old Crown Point high school tucked away in the neighborhood on the west side of town. Very picturesque but no parking. If you park at the high school, understand that you will walk a few blocks south to LaPorte's Kiwanis Field. It is not next door to the school like the Slicers' baseball field is. The weather might create some empty seats, but this is LaPorte's Homecoming so the sky is going to have to fail to keep the home fans home.
THE SERIES: Since
Crown Point entered the DAC, the Slicers are 9-4 against them overall and 5-1 in
LaPorte County.
RIVALRY:
LaPorte is called the 'Maple City' for all the maple trees you can see change colors at this time of year. There are few places in LaPorte where you can't see the large, leafy maple trees. Oddly, there are more similarities between LaPorte and Crown Point than there are LaPorte and Michigan City. Both have populations of about 21,000. Both were incorporated in the 1830s. CP and LaPorte are both the head of county government. Both have very affluent areas and distinctly older sides of town. The residential areas are especially similar. Before CPHS moved to the edge of town, so were the high schools. You can still walk out of the door at LaPorte, walk 100 yards in any direction and be in some homeowners living room. Foul balls at the baseball field actually hit houses in the neighborhood (much to their dismay). You can watch football from the upstairs areas of surrounding homes. It's Wrigley Field-style throwback to another era that isn't gone like the dinosaur, but is certainly disappearing like the buffalo.
LaPorte and Crown Point are actually too far apart geographically to be in the same league. One difference between big and small school leagues like the Duneland and Lake Athletic Conference is that, in the DAC, you have to travel to find other big schools to play with. When CP grew to the point where they joined the DAC in 1993, CP-LaPorte became an every year series. It is the longest road trip Crown Point makes and it will be well past 11 p.m. before anybody from CP gets home Friday. The distance between these two schools (45 miles) could be why the football series has been dominated recently by the home team.
Since
Crown Point entered the DAC, the Slicers are 9-4 against them overall and 5-1 in
LaPorte County. CP's 14-7 victory at LaPorte on Oct. 4 2002 is believed to
be the only time that the Bulldogs have ever won at LaPorte. These teams
are actually not rivals at all. Since LaPorte has never won a sectional
title, the Bulldogs have only won three and CP has never been in LaPorte's
Sectional (that may change in 2007), these two schools have never met in the
post-season. Crown Point won their first undisputed DAC title last season,
while the Slicers, while they have the best record in DAC play over the last six
seasons, have never won an undisputed league championship. So forgive them
if LaPorte feels that Friday's game is one of their biggest home football events
in several years.
5A LaPorte (5-1)
Coach: Bob Schellinger (73-65, 14t h year)
Enrollment: 1,923
2005 record: 9-2*
Sectional titles: (0)
Regional titles: (0)
*Lost 5A sectional 2 semifinal 24-14 to Elkhart Memorial
5A LaPorte 2006 Schedule
(L) 33-39 at New Prairie (5-1)
(W) 42-13 Elkhart Central (3-3)
(W) 57-56 (2 OT) at VALPARAISO (1-4)
(W) 34-21 CHESTERTON (2-4)
(W) 35-28 at LAKE CENTRAL (4-2)
(W) 41-14 MERRILLVILLE (4-2)
9-29 (F) CROWN POINT (6-0)
10-6 (F) at MICHIGAN CITY (1-5)
10-13 (F) at PORTAGE (2-4)
5A Sectional 2 playoffs
10-20 (F) quarterfinals
SECTIONAL 2: Penn, Elkhart Central, Elkhart Memorial, (SB) Clay, (SB)
Riley and (SB) Adams, Mishawaka and LaPorte.
Pairings drawn on Oct. 3
5A Crown Point (6-0)
Coach: Chip Pettit (35-25, 5 seasons)
Enrollment: 2,387
2005 record: 11-1
Sectional titles: (2) 1988, 1991
Regional titles: (1) 1988
Lost Sectional 1 championship 16-13 at eventual regional champion Merrillville.
5A Crown Point (6-0)
(W) 17-0 Lowell (2-4)
(W) 34-20 at Hobart (5-1)
(W) 17-2 at MERRILLVILLE (4-2)
(W) 31-14 LAKE CENTRAL (4-2)
(W) 17-10 PORTAGE (2-4)
9-22 (F) at VALPARAISO (1-4)
9-29 (F) at LaPORTE (5-1)
10-6 (F) CHESTERTON (2-4)
10-13 (F) at MICHIGAN CITY (1-5)
5A Sectional 1 playoffs
10-20 (F) quarterfinals
10-27 (F) semifinals
11-3 (F) championship
SECTIONAL 1: Valparaiso, Michigan City, Chesterton, Portage, Merrillville,
East Chicago, LC and CP......Pairings drawn on Oct. 3
----------------------------
Total points ALLOWED (6 weeks) Class 5A schools
DEFENSIVE AVERAGE1. Indianapolis Tech
{5-1}
7.00
2. Homestead
{6-0}
8.33
3. Hamilton Southeastern
{6-0}
8.50
4. (South Bend) Riley
{3-3}
10.17
5. Decatur Central
{3-3}
10.67
6. (Fort Wayne Snider
{5-1}
11.00
7. CROWN POINT
{6-0}
11.17
8. Carmel
{5-1}
12.17
9. MERRILLVILLE
(4-2)
12.70
Total points SCORED (6 weeks) Class 5A schools
OFFENSIVE AVERAGE1. Warren Central
{6-0}
54.50
2. Huntington North
{4-2}
41.33
3. LaPORTE
{5-1}
40.33
4. Marion
{5-1}
39.17
5. (Lafayette) Jefferson
{4-2}
38.67
6. (Fort Wayne) Snider
{5-1}
36.17
7. Penn
{4-2}
36.17
8. Carmel
{5-1}
36.00
9. Homestead
{6-0}
33.33
10. (Evansville) Reitz
{6-0}
32.67
CROWN POINT
(9-29-2006)
The spread here is
probably because LaPorte has had those defensive breakdowns this year, the
most vivid against Valparaiso and New Prairie. The thought being that
really good teams can't give up that many points, whatever the reasons
were. There is a feeling that Crown Point has been chasing greatness for
the last two years, but they haven't caught it yet. LaPorte knows what
that's like. It is true that the Slicers have the best record in the
Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) over the past six years, but all you hear
about in Lake County is Griffith and Andrean while all you hear about east of
LaPorte County is Penn and Jimtown.
Somewhat because of the geography, LaPorte is the undiscovered country, getting far less media coverage than teams that have had far less success. But, with Penn in their sectional in recent years, the Slicers have also failed to advance to the second level of the playoffs. Neither team is going to become great Friday night, but LaPorte would love to win the undisputed title in the big school league.
If they do it, it will be with a rookie quarterback and a 4-year veteran halfback. Senior Adam Creed (68-130, 1,120 yards, 11 TDs, 10 INTs) has waited until his senior year to start and he's probably okay with it after the Slicers 5-game win streak. He has thrown too many interceptions and his completion percentage is not good, but LaPorte has outscored everyone in the second half this season, a point differential of 158-48. Creed is the No. 1 reason that has happened because somebody's got to make plays when you are 14 points behind. LaPorte has converted 42 of 74 third down situations, a ridiculously high number.
HB
Airrence Shark (166 carries, 863 yards), a two-time, 1000-yard rusher and
LaPorte's all-time leading ground gainer, is the base to the LaPorte
attack. The 216-pound running back gained 223 yards on 32 carries last
week against Merrillville. Two years ago, Shark carried 24 times for 198
yards as LaPorte beat CP. You want LaPorte to throw the ball because its
pretty safe in Sharks' hands.
The unsung heroes
are LaPorte's offensive line of Mike Berdowski (6-2, 200), Brandon Cosby (6-0,
187), Tyler James (6-4, 273), Grant Hofer (6-2, 205) and Ricky Salary (5-9,
262) because the Slicers need to score consistently. These boys have
been very good at opening holes for Shark, who doesn't need much, and they
have allowed only five sacks. LaPorte has 1,142 yards rushing and 1,120
yards passing.
Most newspaper stories about LaPorte don't mention the defense, which has allowed over 1,800 yards and 171 (28.6) points. The Slicers gave up 22 points a game last season and 21 points per game in 2004. LaPorte, under coach Bob Schellinger, has always played a gambling defense that creates big plays for both sides and that doesn't figure to stop this week.
Crown Point has been steady, if not spectacular. The Bulldogs have won 15 of their last 17 games by 10 points or more and no one has moved the ball for four quarters against them. The '35' defense, which uses five linebackers, appears more vulnerable to the pass than it really is. In 2005, the Bulldogs allowed just 111 points in 12 games (9.3 per game) and it was assumed the senior-dominated personnel were the basic reason. But Crown Point has come back with seven new starters and has allowed 11.2 points per game against a schedule that has included Lake Central (4-2), Merrillville (4-2) and Hobart (5-1).
Linebacker-defensive end Michael Damjanovic (6-0, 220) posted 11 tackles against Portage, while linebacker Joey Patrick made 10 stops against Valparaiso last week.
QB Blake Mascarello has thrown just one interception all season and the Bulldogs have only four turnovers. Place-kicker Michael Lipton was 5-of-5 last week and has made 19-of-20 extra points with one blocked. Halfback Jon Sertich gained 172 yards on 22 carries two weeks ago and he got 162 yards on 22 carries last week.
But the Bulldogs won't outscore LaPorte. CP wants to control the ball behind an offensive line that averages 240 pounds a man. If they can, CP will stop LaPorte's high-scoring play makers by keeping them in the only place they can be sure to defend them, on the sidelines.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN: LaPorte's game is based on senior halfback Airrence Shark , who has carried 166 times for 863 yards. Two years ago, Shark carried 24 times against CP for 198 yards and he is larger now. CP needs more than one tackler in his path to make him run laterally. You want to make him 'dance' sideways, because running straight ahead, he can flatten most defensive players. The Bulldog defensive front and linebackers may prove quicker than the LaPorte offensive line.
CP's Jon Sertich set the all-time single game CP rushing record (20 carries, 273 yards) at LaPorte two years ago in a 37-23 Slicer win. They haven't forgotten. A key question Friday will be if fake handoffs to Sertich can create time for deep passes into the leaky LaPorte secondary, because there's no way LaPorte doesn't jump on Sertich every time he even looks like he wants to carry the ball.
Take the top two backs out of the game and what do you have? Problems for LaPorte. They cannot throw the ball into the CP secondary without losing a couple to interceptions and that can be fatal because top scoring threats Jon Sertich, Ryan Forney and Matt Ernest are the Bulldog secondary.
I think LaPorte goes down the field early in the game and scores on a run by Airrence Shark. The Slicers will play with a lot of emotion in this game matching first place teams, but this might be the first time all year they feel they have to win. Crown Point has faced that all season.
The Bulldogs will challenge senior QB Adam Creed (68-of-130, 1,120 yards, 11 TDs, 10 INTs) to reach his top WR Michael Phelps (30-647) and tight end Matt Mizia (18-249) with a lot of different blitzes and he'll miss more passes than he'll complete.
Crown Point's short passing attack is suited to handle a blitzing defense. I can't see LaPorte playing a patient, containing defense and the Bulldogs will tie the score on a short pass-long run to Ryan Forney. The Slicers will turn it over on a fumble or interception and look for Tommy Parks to score on a short run before halftime. An interception will set up a third CP score in the third period and a long punt return by Sertich will make it 28-7.
The Slicers will rally on another run by Shark, but the Bulldogs will repeatedly throw short passes behind the blitzing defenders. Matt Ernest's breakaway TD will make it 35-14. Both teams will exchange TDs after the starters have been pulled. LaPorte hasn't really stopped anyone who hasn't stopped themselves with turnovers. The Slicer's defense does not really match up with anyone. This game won't be that close in the late going.