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Crown
Point
(2-3, 2-1 DAC)
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Week
6 - Football Game of the Week Preview|
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Crown
Point
(2-3, 2-1 DAC)
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9-25-2008
When:
Friday, September 26, 2008
Where: Valparaiso High School - 2727 Campbell ST, Valparaiso, IN. Here's a travel tip. Valpo high is on the west side of Valparaiso. Heading east on Route 30, look for Horseprairie Road and turn left (north). Do a Z turn and head into downtown Valpo. Turn left at the second light and go to Campbell. Turn right on Campbell (north) and you'll find the school 1/4 mile down.
Tickets: $5
Kick-off: 7:00 p.m. (CDT)
TV/Radio/Internet: WWLO (89.1) FM, www.USA-365.com, WEFM (95.9) FM.
WEATHER: Mid-60s and dry. The forecast is for the low-80s which is far too hot for football. But with darkness falling now slightly before 7:00 p.m., we should at least be in the upper-70s by kickoff time. This is not football weather and we're going to see who's in shape all over NW Indiana. Valpo has new artificial turf just like CP and it gets very warm in 80-degree heat.
JV game:
Saturday, Sept. 27 at CROWN POINT - 10:00 a.m.
Freshmen:
Thurs. Oct. 2 at Crown Point - 6 p.m.
Numbers: Crown Point - Class 5A, enrollment 2,442; Valparaiso
- Class 5A, enrollment - 2,083
PARKING: In the good, old days, which were only six or seven years
ago, Valparaiso sold out home games. I think those days have come again.
There is no parking next to the field at Valpo. So, if you want to avoid a
very long walk, arrive about 6:30 p.m. I'm gong to guess that Valpo folks
will look at the much colder long range forecast for next week and try to catch
one more game in mid-summer weather. I think this game will draw a
capacity crowd to the Valpo Stadium. See if you see ANY open areas of
empty seats. I don't recommend you driving long distances for road games
anymore because of the cost and some of the parking and seating situations.
LaPorte and Michigan City are the final two road games and that's a long haul.
Michigan City and LaPorte have very little parking. Unless the Bulldogs are
competing for the league championship (they may yet be) I can't ask you to go
all that way to support the boys. But Friday's game is in good weather in
a good field with good parking. Bulldog fans need to come out to Porter
County on a warm night and support the boys. There's room for you.
THE SERIES: Valparaiso leads the all-time series 36-18-2 and the Vikings won 21-17 last season. Times have changed. Ten years ago, Valparaiso was better than Crown Point in almost every sport. Tom May's 1997 girls basketball squad beat Valpo on the way to the state finals, but the Vikings dominated CP in most other sports. In 2001 and 2002, Valpo ruled the DAC gridirons and beat the stuffing out of CP more than once. The Bulldogs had a huge inferiority complex where Valparaiso football was concerned because some boys from Crown Point actually paid to attend Valparaiso, citing the poor condition of CP sports and the raggedy CPHS school building. All that has changed, too.
Valpo and Crown Point met to open the high school football season from 1940 to 1962 but they were football foes long before that. The earliest meeting I can find is a 12-0 CP win over Valpo on Nov. 5, 1904 and they may have played even earlier.
Valparaiso,
or Valle Parriso, which means "Paradise Valley" in Spanish, is named after
Valparaiso, Chile, a city of a quarter million. (If you want to have your
eyes opened, look up Valparaiso, Chile, one of the most tradition-rich Spanish
cities in the world.) Valpo, Indiana, a town of 25,000 dates back to the
early 1800s and is named Valpo because of naval captain David Porter, who
fought heroically in Valparaiso harbor during the war of 1812. Valparaiso was
originally Portersville but tales of David Porter's battles drifted back to
northern Indiana and the town, along the ancient Sauk Indian Trail (which ran
from around Lake Michigan to what is now Detroit) was renamed Valparaiso, in his
honor... while the County took on the name of Porter County.
Valpo high is one of the few NW Indiana schools that is older than CP.
There were graduating classes from Valparaiso high school in the late 1800s. I
am not sure of this (and I don't know who would be), but I believe that
Valparaiso and the other Porter County Conference schools like Hebron, Morgan
Township and Kouts are the oldest schools in Northwest Indiana. Known
mostly as a basketball school (the Vikings have 49 sectional basketball titles),
Valpo did reach the state football final in 1985 and 2001, when they lost 35-16
to Ben Davis. Since the 2002 team went 12-2, Valpo has not been bad in
football. The Vikings have just been mediocre in 2004 (6-5), 2005 (5-5),
2006 (3-6) and 2007 (6-5).
But under longtime coach Mark Hoffman, the Vikings are back battling for first place in the DAC. They may have been a little lucky to escape in that first win 10-9 at Penn and a tad unlucky last week. But Valparaiso won't be 6-5 this year. CP and Valpo now play for what's called the "County Seat Trophy," a traveling trophy that CP surrendered last year after three consecutive victories.
Valparaiso is the quintessential Duneland Athletic Conference school. They have all 20 sports and they expect to do well in all of them.
Crown Point
Bulldogs (2-3)
Chip Pettit, 50-30 (8th year)
DAC games in CAPs
8-22 (L) 0-7 Lowell (5-0)
8-29 (L) 7-13 at Hobart (5-0)
9-5 (W) 10-7 at MERRILLVILLE (2-3)
9-12 (L) 5-10 LAKE CENTRAL (3-2)
9-19 (W) 21-6 PORTAGE (4-1)
9-26 (F) at VALPARAISO (5-0)
10-3 (F) at LaPORTE (2-3)
10-10 (F) CHESTERTON (4-1)
10-17 (F) at MICHIGAN CITY (1-4)
10-24 (F) 5A Sectional 1 quarterfinals vs. LC, Valpo, Portage, Munster,
Chesterton, Michigan City or MERRILLVILLE
10-31 (F) 5A Sectional semifinals
11-7 (F) 5A Sectional 1 final
11-14 (F) 5A Regional final
11-21 (F) Northern 5A Semistate championship
11-29 (S) Class 5A state final (7:00 p.m., EST) Lucas Oil Arena, downtown
Indianapolis
Valparaiso Vikings (4-1)
Coach Mark Hoffman 209-144, 32nd year at the school
DAC games in CAPs
8-22 (W) 10-9 at Penn (2-3)
8-29 (W) 57-0 at Gary Roosevelt (0-5)
9-5 (W) 48-0 LaPORTE (2-3)
9-12 (W) 32-14 MICHIGAN CITY (2-3)
9-19 (L) 10-12 CHESTERTON (4-1)
9-26 (F) CROWN POINT (2-3)
10-3 (F) at MERRILLVILLE (2-3)
10-10 (F) PORTAGE (4-1)
10-17 (F) at LAKE CENTRAL (3-2)
10-24 (F) 5A Sectional 1 quarterfinals vs. LC, Portage, Merrillville, Munster,
Chesterton, Michigan City or CROWN POINT
10-31 (F) 5A Sectional semifinals
11-7 (F) 5A Sectional 1 final
11-14 (F) 5A Regional final
11-21 (F) Northern 5A Semistate championship
11-29 (S) Class 5A state final (7:00 p.m., EST) Lucas Oil Arena, downtown
Indianapolis.
-36.jpg) |
| Four Bulldogs rush towards a fumble by Portage's Eric Melcic (4), including Evan Nikrin (30), Ben Cottrell (38), Steven Strong (94) and Nate Haverstock (1). (All photos by Mark Smith) |
-39.jpg) |
| The winner? Nate Haverstock runs off the field after recovering the third quarter fumble . CP took away four fumbles and beat Portage 21-6 on 09-19-2008. (All photos by Mark Smith) |
VALPARAISO (4-1)
2007 record: 6-5
Enrollment: 2,083
Sectional titles: (9) last in
2001
Regional titles: (5) last in
2001
Semistate titles: (2)1985, 2001
State titles: (1) 1975
VALPARAISO (9-26-2008) I don't know how they lost to Chesterton last week, because I think they have a better team. This is a big, strong team with over 1,250 yards rushing in five games. Valpo, which returned 14 starters from last year's squad, has gone back and forth between Zack Livovich (6-6, 215) and Brian Bartholomew (6-1, 175), last year's JV QB. Livovich was 17-of-26 for 164 yards against Penn. Bartholomew, who took over when Livovich was injured in week three, was 14 of 23 last week against Chesterton. The plus side? Neither Valpo QB has had a pass intercepted this season.
The Vikings return four
offensive line starters from last
season, including Connor Sapp (6-8,
290). Every team every year claims
that everybody disrespects them and
picked them to finish last so they
have to prove 'everybody' wrong. The
truth is, with the possible
exception of Merrillville,
Valparaiso has more talent than
anyone in NW Indiana including
senior all-state candidate receiver
Kevin Piet (6-2, 175) and halfback
Eric Jackson (46 carries, 376
yards). Valpo has speed in junior
running back Nick Thompson (39
carries, 446 yards, 5 TDs) and
move-in Michael Perkins (5-10, 170),
who reportedly has run a 10.6-second
100-yard dash. Senior kicker Tony Hite already
has five field goals of 27, 34, 35,
41, and 45 yards.
Defensively, the Vikings allowed
over 25 points a game the last two
seasons combined. That has all
changed as the VHS boys have allowed
five touchdowns in five games.
The Vikings are led by linebacker Tony Gallinati (6-0, 190)
and defensive end Ben Tobey (6-3,
195), who had 95 tackles last year. The Vikings want to smother you
defensively, give their young QB a
lot of possessions and their
offensive line a chance to wear you
down. Valpo has 90 first downs in
five games. I'm very surprised that Chesterton
ran for 290 yards last week, but Valpo has given up only one TD in
the first half all season. They have
not allowed a passing TD yet. It's been good so far, but after
the season's first loss, there has
to be some doubt in the green
uniforms.
Crown Point (2-3)
Enrollment: 2,442
2007 record: 8-3
Sectional titles: (3) 1981, 1988,
2006
Regional titles: (1) 1988
Semistate titles: (0)
State titles: (0)
CROWN POINT - The defense, led by linebacker Lance LaMere (14 tackles) shut down a crippled Portage offense, and it wasn't 'breaking' news. Crown Point has strong defensive numbers at mid-season. The Bulldogs have allowed just 53 first downs, 63 rushing yards and 370 passing yards. Keep in mind, this is facing two undefeated teams in Lowell (5-0) and Hobart (5-0) plus arch-rival Merrillville (2-3) and two other winning big school teams in Portage (4-1) and Lake Central (3-2).
LaMere (67 tackles) and linebacker Greg Schillo (41 tackles) have keyed the inside with noseguard Steven Strong (5-9, 250). On the perimeter, deep backs Nate Haverstock (26 tackles, 3 fumble recoveries), Nick Bruno (22 tackles, 2 interceptions) and Danny Osojnicki (30 tackles, 2 interceptions) have sealed the outside. Junior defensive end Ben Cottrell (5-11, 190) has four QB sacks in five games. This is a complete defense, although they face a major test on this night.
On offense? Well, it has been a struggle. In five games, CP does not have one rushing touchdown. The Bulldogs have only 520 yards rushing (104 per game) and only 905 total yards. CP has only seven turnovers so it's not mistakes, in that respect. They just can't create any holes for the runners. The offensive line is all new except for tackle Nick Colonna (6-0, 240) and they have not done well. But there is improvement. CP had 47 yards rushing in week one, 63 yards in week two and just 35 yards against Merrillville in week three. Since then, the Bulldogs gained 189 yards in 41 carries against Lake Central and 124 yards on 31 carries against Portage. Those last two totals are not great, but you can win with that.
Those totals for the first three weeks, allowing for the quality of the defense, were still abysmal. I am not capable of analyzing offensive line play from the sidelines, so I don't know why the numbers are going up slightly. But here is one theory. Crown Point has faced the five best defenses they will see. Valparaiso gave up 291 yards rushing last week and CP may find it possible to control the ball.
Senior QB Marcus Shrewsbury got some production last week, completing 11 of 16 passes for 85 yards and three TDs. Halfback Mason Popovich (5-8, 170) gained 69 yards in 20 carries, both career highs. Danny Osojnicki (14 catches, 161 yards) and fullback Mike Kozlowksi (11 catches, 133 yards) are the top pass receivers. Popovich (55 carries, 197 yards) and Nick Bruno (41 carries, 164 yards) are the top rushers. All could do better with better blocking.
In my mind, the offensive line takes a long time to put together and they only have four more weeks. A sub-100 yard rushing night in the post-season will be the season finale. The Bulldogs need to rush for 200 yards. It's that simple.
VALPARAISO
(9-26-2008) Crown Point can win
here if they get off to a quick
start, but I think Valpo goes to the
early lead as QB Brian Bartholomew
will connect with Kevin Piet for an
early TD as the Vikings look for
redemption after last week's 12-10
loss.
CP will collect a Michael Lipton field goal after a long punt return by Nate Haverstock, but the Vikings will win field position on an exchange of punts and Tony Hite's field goal will up the lead to 10-3 at halftime.
The Vikings will mount a long sustained drive for a 17-3 third quarter lead on a short run by halfback Nick Thompson. CP will score its first rushing TD of the season on a long run by Mason Popovich, but Valpo likes to throw deep and another Bartholomew to Piet toss will put the game out of reach.
CP always has problems on the road at Valparaiso. Crown Point needs those 200 rushing yards I was talking about and they can't get that on this night. This is not a team CP can't beat, but the Bulldogs need to get a little better running the football before they get another shot at the Vikings in November.
Valparaiso 24, CROWN POINT 13