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Lowell (3-0) at Griffith (1-2) |
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Week
4 - Football Game of the Week Preview |
Lowell (3-0) at Griffith (1-2) |
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9-11-2008
When:
Friday, September 12, 2008
Where: Griffith High School, 600 South Wiggs (about 6 blocks west of Broad St), Griffith, IN.
Tickets: $5 - (for everybody).
Kickoff:
7:00 p.m.
Radio-TV: WKIV
(92.7 FM), WTMK (88.5 FM).
Weather: 65 with a chance of rain. Wet Field.
JV GAME: Saturday, Sept. 13 - LOWELL at Griffith - 10:00 a.m.
FRESHMAN: Thursday, Sept. 18 - Griffith at LOWELL - 6:00 p.m.
ENROLLMENT: Griffith - Class 4A, enrollment - 962; LOWELL -
Class 4A, enrollment - 1,247
Parking: Not much for a game of this magnitude. It's not as bad as Hobart, because Griffith's "Boneyard" only seats around 2,500. But unless you arrive by 6:30 p.m., you will end up on the side streets around the school. That's not the worst thing. In 60 degree weather, the walk through tree-lined neighborhoods toward the sounds of the band and the bright "Friday Night" lights is one of the reasons you go to high school football. My trick has always been to park at the south end of the Griffith campus. You cannot enter at the end of the field, which may be why there's always a few parking spots there. My favorite thing, again, is to park in the neighborhood east of the school and walk a few blocks towards the lights.
The SERIES: Griffith leads
this series 49-24-3 and the Panthers
and Lowell have met every year (74
years) Griffith has played varsity
football. This is the second longest
continuous series between northwest
Indiana schools (Whiting and Clark
will meet for the 75th consecutive
year this month) and it has
developed into a true match of
equals. Coach Russ Radtke didn't build
Griffith into a powerhouse when he
took over the head football coaching
job in 1993. The first extended
success Griffith had in football
came under coach Les Thornton from
1975-1992. Thornton began running
what was then called the wishbone
rushing offense and the program
soared to consecutive big winning
seasons in 1988 (9-2), 1989 (10-1),
1990 (9-3), 1991 (11-2) and 1992
(11-1). The Panthers stayed strong
when Radtke came over from North
Judson, a school he'd built into a
power in the 1970s and 80s, and
continued the option attack.
The Panthers were 11-2 in 1994 and 11-1 in 1995, but they finally reached the promised land with a 49-7 win over Hamilton Southeastern in the 1997 state championship game. I don't have a cultural reason as to why Griffith, an old railroad town, is so into football. It could simply just be a factor of success breeding tradition. I was also not totally sure of why Griffith, a town of 17,000, is where it is. This is a little difficult to grasp, but the area which is now Griffith is 800 feet above sea level. The area which is now Griffith, in prehistoric times, was the on shore of Lake Michigan. During the ice age, Griffith was lake front property and everything north of Griffith was far under water. When the ice receded, the shore receded to where it is now. The sand ridge which used to be the Griffith shoreline, can still be see in parts of Dyer and Schererville. That's why the east-west Lake County street is called Ridge Road.
The town name has to do with the railroad. Since there were so many railroads crossing in town (and I'm not sure why that occurred) there was a need for organization. A surveyor for that was then called the Grand Trunk Railroad was known for making maps of the area so everybody knew where they were and where they were going. The surveyor signed his maps of the area in mid-Lake County where all the railroads crossed. That man's name was Ben Griffith and when folks looked at the maps they began calling the unincorporated railroad area they covered the 'Griffith section'.
Griffith was known in the late 1800s for having the most railroad tracks intersect within the town limits. A one point in the late 19th century, 180 trains were said to pass through Griffith every day. Ironically, the only railroads that still run through Griffith (most of us have been stopped by trains in Griffith) are the EJ & E (Elgin, Joliet and Eastern) and the Canadian National Railroad, which is a direct descendent of the Grand Trunk Railroad.
Factories spring up near railroad centers and the railroads made the town a residential place for railroad workers and factory workers. In a lot of respects little has changed to this day. Ernie Strack opened the Royal Blue grocery store in Griffith in 1930. The Strack and Van Til Grocery chain exists in Griffith and elsewhere to this day. I'm guessing that the factories and railroads are why Griffith also has a small airport about two miles east of the high school.
It's a conservative working man's town and that could be why they like football so much, although 14 sectional titles might also have something to do with it. Forget the won-loss records. Griffith will have tradition and a stadium full of their fans on their side Friday night and they will draw a line in the sand. The Panthers have almost always played well against Lowell and they need this game more than Lowell does.
Friday's game should be one of the better match ups, as talent wise, both teams appear to be at a peak. This also could be only one of two times these two schools meet this year.
Lowell Red Devils (3-0)
Coach Kirk Kennedy, 137-67 in
(18th year)
NWCC games in CAPs (2008 records in parenthesis)
8-22 (W) 7-0 at
Crown Point (1-2)
8-29 (W) 47-20 Morton (1-2)
9- 5 (W) 42-0 Kankakee Valley (0-3)
9-12 (F) at GRIFFITH (1-2)
9-19 (F) at HIGHLAND (0-3)
9-26 (F) HOBART (2-1)
10-3 (F) at Hammond (2-1)
10-10 (F) MUNSTER (2-1)
10-17 (F) at ANDREAN (2-1)
Oct 24 (Fri) Sectional 10
quarterfinals vs. KV, Northridge,
Plymouth, Logansport, Clay,
Washington or Concord.
Oct 31 (F) Sectional 1 semifinals
Nov. 7 (F) Sectional 1 finals
Nov. 14 (F) 4A Regional final
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
4A Griffith Panthers (1-2)
Coach: Russ Radtke
145-48 (16th year)
Northwest Crossroads Conference
games in CAPs (2008 records in parenthesis)
8- 22 (W) 40-13 at
Morton (1-2)
8- 29 (L) 15-24 Merrillville (1-2)
9-5 (L) 0-16 at HOBART (3-0)
9-12 (Fri) LOWELL (3-0)
9-19 (Fri) at KANKAKEE VALLEY
(0-3)
9-26 (Fri) at MUNSTER (2-1)
10-3 (Fri) HIGHLAND (0-3)
0-10 (Fri) ANDREAN (2-1)
10-17 (Fri) at East Chicago
(2-1)
Oct 24 (F) Class 4A Sectional 10
quarterfinals
vs. Morton, Gary West Side, Hammond,
Lew Wallace, Highland, Munster or
Hobart
Oct 31 (F) Sectional 1 semifinals
Nov. 7 (F) Sectional 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
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| Senior Brad "Big Country" Hardin (78) is a key two-way lineman who played all 13 games for the Panthesr when they won the sectional title last year. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
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| Lowell senior Logan Wright played all 15 games for the Devils as they won 4A sectional, regional and semistate championships. |
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| The Panthers run on the field through a giant Panther and through a wishbone as smoky cannons welcome them to the field. |
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| Lowell senior QB Kurt Monix (2) fires a pass out of the gold-colored Griffith end zone in last year's 20-13 regional championship victory over the Panthers. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Don't go changing
This is not the championship of the
world. Lowell doesn't want to get
tricky and do anything out of the
ordinary. Griffith has to do
something differently, because they
got shut out last week. The Panthers
have thrown the ball 34 times in
three games, which means their
offensive line is not blowing people
off the ball like they always want it
to. The Panthers' line, led by Brad
"Big Country" Hardon (6-7, 255) can
be excused for not being able to
handle Merrillville's defensive
speed. But they must handle Lowell or
hopes for a winning season become
slim. But Griffith has to get arrogant
about running the football. The
Panthers can't give up on the run
like they apparently did against
Merrillville and throw 19 times. That dog won't hunt. Griffith has to run the ball
even if Lowell is stopping them
waiting for the one play they break
big. I always feel that an option
running team like Griffith does you
a favor when they throw on anything
other than third down because the
options' genius is its cumulative
nature. You run 20 or 30 plays just
to get the one that breaks clean. The Panthers can beat Lowell running
the ball and they cannot beat them
throwing it 10-20 times.
2. Go for the ball
Griffith has fumbled six times in
three games and that just won't
work. I don't know how much of this
is taught, but if a defender knows
that a certain player has fumbled a
couple of times, he may go for the
ball a little more. An early fumble
could crush the Panthers and Lowell
might go for it. The downside, especially against
an option running team is that a
missed tackle could mean a 60-yard
TD. Griffith came from behind to
beat Lowell last year, but they are
not a good come-from-behind team. The Panthers have to dominate
physically from the opening kickoff
and that's the game they like to
play. Lowell has to know that the
hardest hitting game of the year is
always the Griffith game.
3. Forget the records
Griffith is 1-2, but let's haul
out the history book. Griffith was
1-2 last year. They had lost to
Merrillville and Hobart, just like
they have now.
Lowell was undefeated, just as they
are now, and feeling good about
themselves. Just like they are now.
Griffith resurrected their season
with a 29-28 upset and they are most
definitely looking to do that this
week. Griffith has nine returning
starters on defense from the team
that almost beat Lowell twice last
year.
The Devils have played non-physical
teams the last two weeks while
Griffith has slugged it out. Mentally, Griffith can easily
overcome a 1-2 start. But a 1-3
start?
The Panthers certainly could win the
last five and recover, but it's a
place they probably don't want to
go. Griffith is a difficult place to
play, but Lowell won there 20-13 last
November so they know they can do
it.
at 'the
Boneyard" in Griffith - capacity - 2,500 - Sagarin ratings: Lowell by 15
GRIFFITH
(9-12-2008) -
Let's just
say that Lowell wont beat Griffith by 15 and leave it at that. Early in
the season, the Sagarin ratings can be a little twisted and the CP victory over
Merrillville (Lowell won at CP, Griffith lost at home to Merrillville) has
skewed the rating for this game.
Griffith certainly worked all week on running the football, because they simply cannot be held to 91 yards rushing as they were last week at Hobart. With the home crowd behind them, I'm looking for a big early surge and a short TD run by fullback Mark Butkus (6-1, 201). Lowell will respond with a TD pass from Kurt Monix (17 of 24, 322 yards, 4 TDs) to Cody Midgett. But Griffith, playing as if their entire season depends on it, will take a 10-7 halftime lead on a field goal by Jacob Melton.
Lowell will be unable to run for the first time this year and Monix will hit a second TD pass to Grubbe, a long pass-and-run play for a 14-10 lead. Any play-action fake to Grubbe is going to work on this night because Griffith will sell out (8 or 9 men to the front) to stop him.
The Devils will increase the lead to 21-10 as Monix fires a third TD pass, this one to Jake Belt in the third quarter. But Griffith effectively runs the ball and soph halfback Ed Johnson, who had 196 yards on 18 carries against Morton, will break lose on a long run to close the game. The Panthers will recover a Lowell fumble and take the lead on a TD pass by QB Ed Joyce (16 of 34, 298 yards, TD, 3 INTs). Griffith's defense will create a second turnover and a 31-20 lead on a second TD run by Butkus before Lowell rallies.
Grubbe's second TD will cut the lead to four points, but the Panthers will run out the clock. The Devils have not trailed all season and this is just their second road game. They have not proven much yet. Griffith has proven nothing, but they're at home and desperate.
Lowell advanced to the state finals after losing to Griffith in week four. In one of the best games of the year, Griffith wins what, for them, is a must-win game.
Griffith 31, LOWELL 27