Bulldogs' defense forces 4 INTs en route to 10-7 win over Pirates

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

9-06-2008

Friday, September 5, 2008,  65 degrees, dry, Duneland Athletuic Conference opener at MERRILLVILLE, IN

1st Qtr:  MERRILLVILLE (7-0)  Joey Nelson recovered Zach Raspopovich's fumble in the end zone.  81-yard drive, 17 plays.  Ryan Stokes kick. 5:32 left.
2nd Qtr: CROWN POINT (3-7)  Michael Lipton, 27-yard field goal.  22-yard drive, 6 plays.  4:03 left.
CROWN POINT (10-7)  Danny Osojnicki, 12-yard pass from Marcus Shrewsbury. 47-yard drive, 7 plays after Scott Hannon's interception at the Merrillville 49.  Michael Lipton kick.  0:08 left.
3rd Qtr:  No scoring.
4th Qtr:  No scoring.

GAME STATISTICS
RUSHING:
CROWN POINT (38 carries, 47 yards):  Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 17 carries, 20 yards (2 sacks, minus-16); Nick Bruno (HB) 1 carry, minus-1 yards; 
Mason Popovich (HB) 15 carries, 24 yards; Mike Kozlowski (FB) 3 carries, 1 yard; John Hannon (FB) 1 carry, 0 yards; Kyle Bacon (HB) 1 carry, 3 yards.

MERRILLVILLE (24 carries, 102 yards):  Denzel Pierce (HB) 18 carries, 88 yards; Zach Raspopovich (QB) 6 carries, 14 yards.

PASSING:
CROWN POINT - Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 3-of-14, 34 yards, TD, 0 interceptions; 
MERRILLVILLE - Zach Raspopovich (QB) 8-of-22, 35 yards, 4 interceptions.

RECEIVING:
CROWN POINT: Danny Osojnicki (WR) 1-12 yards, TD; Nate Haverstock (WR) 2-22 yards;  
MERRILLVILLE: Robbie Jordan (WR) 1-9 yards; Keith Thomas (WR) 1-6 yards; Sanchez Tate (HB) 1-6 yards; Keith Dockery (WR) 1-5 yards; Denzel Pierce (HB) 3-8 yards.

TURNOVERS:
CROWN POINT (0); MERRILLVILLE (5) 4 interceptions, one fumbeld punt.

FIRST DOWNS:
CROWN POINT - 7, MERRILLVILLE - 12.

MERRILLVILLE (9-05-2008) - This won't go down as one of Crown Point's greatest wins.  CP has defeated Merrillville during the regular season for seven consecutive years and the Pirates were without starting quarterback Dolapo Macarthy.  But I have to admit.  I didn't expect the Bulldogs to win in Merrillville's home opener Friday.  And you could tell by the way CP celebrated after the final gun that this victory in the Duneland Athletic Conference's 2008 opener was a surprise, even to them.

When things looked hopeless, and early Friday, they most certainly did, CP snatched a couple of turnovers, turned them into 10 second quarter points and held on grimly through a scoreless second half to upset arch-rival Merrillville 10-7 in the Duneland Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

Marcus Shrewsbury's 12-yard pass to senior Danny Osojnicki with eight seconds left in the first half gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the season.  A lead they hung onto during the final two periods of futility in a game totally dominated by defense.

"I thought they came out a lot harder than we did," said three-year starting CP linebacker LaMere.  "But after the first quarter, I did notice they started to wear down and we didn't. We've been conditioning like crazy.  They've got a couple more kids going both ways and I think that made a difference."

In the first period, it did not seem like a Crown Point victory was possible.  Merrillville went 81 yards in eight plays the first time they had the ball.  Sophomore quarterback Zach Raspopovich ran the option with sophomore halfback Denzel Pierce on every play, the TD coming when Raspopovich raced to the goal line from 17 yards away.  The young QB fumbled but senior offensive lineman Joey Nelson fell on the ball in the new purple artificial turf end zone for a 7-0 Pirate lead with 5:21 left in the opening quarter.

"They were running the option," said CP"s three-year starting linebacker Lance LaMere.  "And they were just running it as fast as they could.  Quite honestly, in the first quarter we were slow.  They were faster than us.  But we just had to step it up and we were able to do that."

Crown Point could not control the Pirates' defensive front, led by hard charging end James Travis (6-0, 250) and quick, hard-to-block linebackers Chris Stokes (5-8, 208) and Dionte Day (5-6, 202).  The Pirates (1-2) probably made a conceptual error when they threw the ball six times on their second possession after running on all plays in the opening 81-yard drive.  Merrillville threw 10 first half passes and CP defensive back Scot Hannon intercepted two of them.

Crown Point's Nate Haverstock ran a punt back 16 yards early in the second quarter setting up a short drive and a 27-yard field goal from senior Michael Lipton with 4:03 left in the half. Hannon (6-1, 155), a varsity rookie, grabbed an ill-advised pass towards the CP sideline at the Merrillville 47 with 1:38 left before halftime.  A Shrewsbury to Haverstock pass picked up 20 yard sand two QB keepers moved the ball to the 12 yards line.  With 16 seconds to play in the half, Shrewsbury threw a lob to the wide side of the field with Pirate defensive back Dominique Gray (5-6, 150) knocking the ball away from Haverstock (5-8, 150).

CP then appeared to shift Danny Osojnicki (6-0, 175) to the wide side of the field and ran the same play with the taller Bulldog grabbing Shrewsbury's perfect toss for CP's first offensive TD of the year with eight seconds left.

"The defense gave us so many opportunities," said Shrewsbury, CP's senior rookie QB.  "We're confident throwing that same pass to either one of them.  I don't know why we did that (run the same play with Osojnicki).  We had Danny on the left side and I threw it up there.  He made a great play.  It only took me about 15 throws to get one in there."

Marcus is exaggerating that slightly, but he was a season-low 3-of-14 for 34 yards against the fast defense of the purple-clad Pirates.  Almost as much as Merrillville back-up QB Zach Raspopovich did against Crown Point's blitzing 3-5-3 defense.

"It's not an easy task," said Shrewsbury.  "I have a lot of respect for him tonight.  He took a lot of hits out there.  Dionte's a good player.  He was coming at me out there.  Confidence?  It's the team.  They pick you up when you're down.  They pick everybody up.  We've got a good group of guys.  You make a bad play and they're still there for you.  That's how it works.  That's why we're a good team."

No one scored in the second half and there were only six first downs combined by both teams.  Lipton missed a 37-yard field goal with 7:23 left in the fourth quarter, but Merrillville never crossed the 50-yard-line in the second half on a perfect 65-degree night in front of about 3,500 fans.

Crown Point has not been this futile in recent years.  They ran 52 offensive plays Friday and gained a total of 81 yards and they have gained an unofficial 349 yards in two games.

"We've got a lot of work to do," said coach Chip Pettit, who was pleased, but not thrilled with the victory.  "Its early.  The coaches just try to be consistent.  You can't change.  That's all you can do.  Let's not kid ourselves.  By no stretch are we an offensive juggernaut.  I thought our kids competed well and we made a couple of extra plays at the end."

In the fourth quarter, Merrillville self-destructed with a flurry of dropped passes capped off by two interceptions from CP seniors Danny Osojnicki with 3:51 to play and Nick Bruno with 1:08 left.

"Lance had a couple of big hits tonight," said Pettit.  "Our defense has been able to keep us in these games."

Merrillville again played without starting all-area quarterback Dolapo Macarthy (6-6, 208) who passed for 1807 yards last season and ran for 558 more.  Pirate coach Zac Wells didn't want to talk about the situation, but it is rumored that Macarthy has a minor back or neck injury and will be back in a couple of weeks.  The tall senior did do pre-game conditioning and he helped counsel the younger Raspopovich during the game.  He stood up all game and seemed in good spirits.

It's safe to assume that if CP and Merrillville meet again in November that Macarthy will play.  But for the record, Wells has absolutely no comment.

Raspopovich, a 145-pound sophomore making his second varsity start, didn't get much protection from his offensive line and he was hit hard on several plays by linebackers LaMere and Greg Schillo.

"I just told him that he was in a tough situation," said Wells, "and that I thought he did a pretty decent job.  We have a lot of kids who are trying to do what we ask them to do.  He took a lot of hard hits out there."

So it's not the greatest win ever for CP.  But it will do until something else comes along.

"It's bad enough we lost the 'Leather Helmet' to Lowell for the second year in row," said  linebacker Lance LaMere.  "But come on.  We've beaten them seven years in a row (during the regular season)."

DOG NOTES:  I'm not a big believer that you can do something simply because you did it before.  But this is the seventh consecutive season that Crown Point has defeated Merrillville in the third week of the season.  Three times during the last seven years, Merrillville has come back to defeat CP in sectional play.

Hobart, which bounced Crown Point 13-7 on Aug. 29, blanked powerful Griffith 16-0 last Friday.  The Brickies improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1997.

Lowell (3-0), the other team to beat CP this season, rolled over Kankakee Valley 42-0.

Crown Point ran 52 offensive plays (33 in the first half) and gained 81 total yards.  The Bulldogs gained 126 total yards against Lowell and 142 total yards in the Aug. 29 loss at Hobart.

CP senior linebacker Lance LaMere put some hard hit on Merrillville QB Zach Raspopovich, which may have led to the sophomore QB's inaccurate throws.

"It's nothing personal," LaMere said.  "Just had to do it.  I'm not going to take it easy on him.  I remember when I was a sophomore.  I was scared to death out there."

CP's co-leaders in the Duneland Conference are Valparaiso (3-0), Portage (3-0) and Chesterton (2-1) after victories on Friday.

CP has allowed just 27 points total to three strong opponents this season.  Lake Central (2-1) and Portage (3-0) come to CP the next two weeks.

The Bulldogs lost starting veteran offensive lineman Nick Colonna (6-0, 240) to an undisclosed injury in the second half, further clouding the picture in the offensive line, which has had some problems early in the season.