Lowell converts 2nd Qtr Turnover for lone score to beat Crown Point 7-0 in season opener

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

8-23-2008

Friday, Aug. 22, 2008,  71 degrees, clear & dry, season opener at CROWN POINT, IN

1st Qtr:  No Scoring.
2nd Qtr:  LOWELL  (7-0) Brandon Grubbe, 29-yard TD run, 52-yard drive, 6 plays after Logan Wright intercepted a tipped pass at the Lowell 48-yard-line.  Matt Berkos kick.  0:06 left.
3rd Qtr:  No Scoring.
4th Qtr:  No Scoring.

RUSHING:
CROWN POINT (22 carries 36 yards, fumble)
Nick Bruno (RB) 17 carries, 53 yards; Mason Popovich (HB) 1 cary, 0 yards; Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 4 carries, minus-17; (one sack, minus 11)

LOWELL  (44 carries, 187 yards, TD)
Brandon Grubbe (HB) 29 carries, 136 yards, TD;  Bryan DeSomer (FB) 7 carries, 31 yards; Kurt Monix (QB) 7 carries, 5 yards (one sack - minus 13)

Passing
(QB) Kurt Monix (LOWELL) 7-of-10, 57 yards
(QB) Marcus Shrewsbury (CP) 10-of-16, 78 yards, one interception

Receiving
LOWELL (7) Joe Bell (TE) 1-6 yards; Trevor Kersey (TE) 1-15 yards; Jake Belt (WR) 2-9 yards; Cody Midgett (WR) 2-15 yards; Cole Midgett (WR) 1-12 yards
CROWN POINT (10) Nate Haverstock (WR) 3-28 yards; Danny Osojnicki (WR) 4-28 yards; Mike Kozlwoski (FB) 2-15 yards;  Nick Bruno (HB) 1-6 yards.

TOTAL YARDS
LOWELL -  244 yards, 17 first downs, no turnovers
CROWN POINT - 114 yards, 10 first downs, one turnover

CROWN POINT (8-22-2008) - It was an odd game in which it seemed like more happened than actually did.  In front of an overflowing crowd of at least 5,000 on a warm mid-summer night, Lowell made a late first half touchdown stand up to beat big neighbor Crown Point for the second year in a row in the 2008 season opener.

For a 7-0 game, there was a lot of drama.  Nobody scored in the second half, but it kept looking as if someone would.  Both teams put together 17-play drives that lifted the spirits of their eager fans on opposite sides of the Crown Point Stadium, only to have an errant snap from center stop both teams, allowing the single score to stand.

"It was a great high school football game," said Lowell veteran coach Kirk Kennedy, who saw his five-time sectional champions, nip CP which has won or shared the last three big school Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) championships.  "We played hard and I think they played awfully hard.  They had some momentum and we were reeling.  It was like a heavyweight fight, but I just wanted to give our defense a chance at the end."

The end, for Crown Point, came with five minutes left in the game.  CP had gotten a stay of execution when a center snap went through the hands of holder Ray Skamay on what would have been the first varsity field goal attempt by Matt Berkos with 1:08 left in the third quarter.  If Berkos gets a chance to kick the 23-yard goal, Lowell, which got a 29-yard TD run from junior halfback Brandon Grubbe in the final 10 second of the first half, could have led 10-0.

But Crown Point then moved the ball the length of the field in 18 plays.  But after a 1st-and-goal situation from the four yard line, two runs by Nick Bruno were stopped for no gain.  On third down, CP's Nick Colonna was called for being an ineligible lineman down field on a heavily-rushed third down pass play.  In a daring move, Lowell declined the penalty, making it 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard-line.

Needing just four yards to tie the game, the Bulldogs, who were 8-3 last season, never got a chance as the center snap between first time center starter Zach Brueckman and senior rookie QB Marcus Shrewsbury was fumbled and the fourth down play never got started.  Lowell ran for three first downs and ran out the clock.

"I thought our defense played pretty well," said Bulldog coach Chip Pettit, who had 10 first time starters walking out on CP's new artificial turf.  "I thought Marcus played well for his first start.  They (Lowell) have a pretty good defense.  The last play was going to be a pass but it was just a botched snap.  I don't know exactly what happened."

It was the first time CP had been shut out in almost five years, but this probably wasn't an upset.  Lowell reached the 4A state finals in 2005 and 2007 and they are 7-3 against Crown Point in the last 10 years.  Lowell is typically the smaller but quicker team that wears on CP in the heat of the season opener.  Both teams played very hard on this night.  There were relatively few mistakes in a contest that was played almost exclusively between the 20-yard-lines.

"Our guys up front did a heckuva job," said Kennedy.  "Grubbe ran hard.  He had a nice forward lean.  He always fell forward and got an extra yard or two on every play.  That's huge.  I'm proud of our kids.  We gave a great effort tonight.  Crown Point came out swinging, too.  It was a great high school game."

Marcus Shrewsbury (6-2, 210), the new CP signal caller, looked good completing 10 of 16 largely short passes for 78 yards.  The pass interception was a ball deflected by Lowell linebacker Justin Juarez and intercepted by senior lineman Logan Wright at the Red Devils' 48-yard-line with 1:08 left in the second quarter.  The Devils picked up two first downs before Grubbe, on a 4th-and 2 at the Crown Point 29, broke off right tackle and outran the CP defense to the visitors sideline and then to goal line in front of about 1,000 Lowell fans in the visitors' grandstand.

The right side of Lowell's line, seniors Juarez (6-3, 227) and Nick Schultz (6-0, 238) plus tight end Trevor Kersey (6-1, 230) was somehow able to crack open a small hole in the CP defense even though it was obvious that's where Grubbe was coming on a fourth down play.

"I really don't know what happened on that play," said Pettit.  "It was on the other side of the field."

The Bulldogs played without starting linebacker Kyle Qualizza and defensive tackle Kyle Land (6-0, 220), both of whom were injured.  When you lose 7-0 to a ranked team, you'd think your defense wasn't the problem.  But CP only punted four times and just once in the second half.  Neither Bulldog unit was overwhelmed, but there was a lot of room for improvement.

"I can't really evaluate the offensive line until we look at the film, but when there's nothing on the scoreboard, that speaks for itself," said Pettit.  "With that said, I didn't think they back down to Lowell, especially in the second half.  And we didn't expect they would."

There was not a Crown Point play where you said, "that could have easily been a touchdown.'  There were no dropped deep passes or runs where the last Lowell defender made the stop.  The large crowd which included a few hundred standing near the north end of the Crown Point stadium after the grandstand filled up, kept waiting for the offensive explosion that never came.  But the game was so close, the large crowd never seemed to lose interest.

Kennedy was very happy with the narrow win.  A state finalist always wears the favorite's role most of the next season.  It's a heavy load.

"You're going to get weird things on opening night.  You don't accept it, but you hope it doesn't cost you the game.  Like that botched field goal attempt.  Good snap.  The ball just slipped through the holders hands.  He's a first year kid.  Be kind to him.  A lot of our guys went both ways.  It was a great effort.  They (CP) played well.  We just made one or two more plays."

DOG NOTES:  CP's next opponent is Hobart (1-0), which rolled over Gary West Side 40-14 last Friday.  The Brickies led 33-0 at the half as senior QB Matt Barras was 9-of-11 for 134 yards.  Crown Point plays at Merrillville in two weeks and neither side will be undefeated.  Warren Central laid heavy lumber on the Pirates 42-0 in the season opening game in Indianapolis.  WC, which lost 17-10 at Merrillville in 2007, led 36-0 at the half Friday.

In the eight team Duneland Athletic Conference, only Crown Point and Merrillville failed to win the season opener.  Michigan City rolled to a 54-0 halftime lead and beat Gary Roosevelt 60-8.

Lowell's line had one new starter in center Ryan Russnak (6-3, 197) who was making his varsity debut.

"He played JV last season," reported coach Kirk Kennedy.  "Sometimes those dogs get a few whiskers on their face."

Kennedy encourages his players to want to play both on offense and defense.

"Not every play," he says.  "We want the No. 1 backup to be able to step in there sometimes.  But these kids played a lot of football tonight.  Justin Juarez.  He can barely hold his head up over there.  He plays two positions (guard and linebacker) that you don't hide on.  You can't hide."

Lowell senior soccer player Matt Berkos made his first football extra point for Lowell and his second half kickoff carried into the end zone for a touchback.

Outside linebacker Sean Qualizza (5-11, 180), projected as a Crown Point starter, was on the sidelines in street clothes Friday with a large brace on an injured elbow.  Word is Qualizza, a senior, will miss at least two months.  Star wrestler Mark Myers probably won't play football his senior year for CP.

"I had a hernia operation a couple of weeks ago," Myers said Friday.  "So I don't know if I'm going to be able to play at all.  I might just wait for wrestling."

Myers, who wrestled with a knee injury in 2007, reached the state finals before losing in the opening round at 160 pounds.

Marcus Shrewsbury was 21-1 as Crown Point's junior varsity QB over the last three seasons, a record that no one is likely to break or even want to break.  Shrewsbury was stalled behind Blake Mascarello, who was 26-4 as CP's starting varsity QB the last three seasons.

The fact that this game was so close kept a lot of new players off the field.  Lowell halfback Deron Johnson, a senior transfer from Gavit, got only two first half carries.  Johnson is a kickreturner, but CP only kicked off once, to start the game.

Crown Point junior halfback Mason Popovich (5-9, 170) got just one third quarter carry.  Popovich backs up senior tailback Nick Bruno, who is also the starting safety on defense.  CP sophomore linebacker Reed Stofko (5-10, 190) got CP's first quarterback sack of the season when he downed Lowell's Kurt Monix for a 13-yard loss in the first quarter.

When Crown Point went to multiple receiver formations, Lowell used halfback Brandon Grubbe as an extra pass defender.  Cody Midgett, formerly a running back, played wide receiver, defensive back and was a two-way special teams player.

Since CP and Lowell agreed to meet in the opening game of the season, beginning with the 1997 season, Lowell now has a 7-5 edge in the 12 games played.