RegionFBFan

Merrillville has a legit shot in this one. Good football team with speed everywhere. Their strength is their defense specifically the front 4. All four are good players. Merrillville offensively will come down to how well their qb plays. He is a much better runner. As mentioned below, his vertical passing is more of throw and hope style. His receivers made some of those catches to beat a good Valpo defense. Merrillville can not let this become a high scoring affair. If it’s low scoring, Merrillville has real shot on the road.

Chatard easily!! Not much more to say.

In my opinion, his issue was not lack of receivers this year but their offensive line looked bad vs BD.

Penn would have had close to 400 yards passing and a likely win if #3 didn’t have 3 drops on the last drive. All balls were right in his hands.

LaVille offense is/was awful. They need to diversify some to be effective. I’m not sure they are capable of tweaking their offensive scheme. Obviously, you need to score points to win games and that offense vs LCC was not going to score. Also, hats off to #75 for LaVille. He’s one heckuva a player. High motor, big kid. Is he playing somewhere in college?

Does Westfield have a good passing attack? CP is going to score some points. They love to run power but can throw it around too. CP defensive secondary is awful. It has been the past 2 years. If Westfield can throw and slow down CP’s offense, Westfield wins.

Right off the top of my head, Matt DeSomer.

In my opinion and if I was a d coordinator, I would worry about him breaking contain and making plays via his legs. Keep him in the pocket and beat me throwing from pocket. He makes plays with his legs both in passing and running the ball. Also, are his careers yards over 4 years? He was a starter as a freshman at Hobart. If over 4 years, then I would say pedestrian at best. Don’t get me wrong, I think he is an excellent athlete and player. I’ve watched him for 4 years and he is not elite in my opinion.

I’m with you Temptation on picking this one. My heart is with Penn but mind says CP. I usually default to which team wins the line of scrimmage battle. Penn looks small up front on defense but quick. CP strength is the line. I think CP has the advantage up front and will wear down Penn in second half.

CP defensively is stout in the front 7. Their liability is in the secondary especially with opponents that have speed at wr. CP offensively is all about the offensive line and the power running attack. The running back is not special but behind that line anyone would look good. QB is a good player but has had a tendency to play tight in big games at least in the past. In my opinion, he’s more dangerous as a runner not a thrower. I don’t know much about Penn but they better come ready for a physical football game. Defensively, they must keep contain on CP qb or he will make you pay. This game will be won or loss in the trenches and who wears down at LOS in 4th quarter. Good luck to both teams.

Since it seems people are using Andrean game as a measuring stick of LaVille. Let’s keep in mind: 1. Andrean below average team this season. 2. Loss by 2 to LaVille with 4 turnovers; 2 of which were snaps over the heads of qb and punter setting LaVille up at the 10 and 20 yard lines. 3. Extremely sloppy field. Actually a joke of a field. 4. Interception by Andrean in Endzone right before halftime. Same drive has two holding calls inside 10 yard line. My point is Andrean self destructed and still only loss by 2 to a bad Andrean team. In regards to LaVille, they have a talented qb as a runner not a thrower. He will make inaccurate throws for interceptions. Defensive secondary very questionable. They will blitz but if picked up long night for LaVille secondary. KO team coverage is bad. Better kick them in endzone. Andrean almost took 3 to the house. Overall team speed lacking with LaVille. QB and #2 decent speed. Lastly, if the weather is good and field is fast, LCC will have huge advantage. LCC by 10+

LCC wins this one by 10+. LaVille is not that good. They are not playing on that “mosh pit” they call a field. QB is a good athlete but will make mistakes throwing the ball. LaVille secondary weak especially one of their corners. Metzger will have a field day.

Scarab - I think MaxPreps attempts to rank teams nationally. I don't know how they determine it but teams have their Record, then Rating and then a column called Strength which is schedule strength. You can sort Nationally, by State, and Class within State.

I don't completely disregard the Sagain ratings in fact I look at them every Saturday morning. You just have to be mindful of the nuances mentioned by all above. As far as predictions, its way too early for me to start. Long way to go and teams will change for the better and for the worse. I'm a big believer in defense wins championships. Andrean defense is fast and physical and has faced a variety of styles with some more to come. Even though they have given up some points, their defense has held up well considering they have been on the field alot through the first 3 games as the offense has had to find itself. The games vs Merrillville and CP were still close at the start of the 4th quarter thanks to the D. Football is awesome!!

For those that put alot of stock in the Sagarin ratings (I personally do not), the Ratings and SOS do NOT include teams not in Indiana. Andrean beat a good Crete Monee team that was in Illinois 6A SemiState last year so it does not calculate in Sagarin. This is similar to last year when they played Grand Rapids Catholic, MI State Champion. I completely agree with 007. Andrean has played a very good schedule thus far and has seen a variety of styles of teams, Merrillville - speed and athletes galore, CP - massive oline and rushing attack, Crete - a combination of the two with a running QB in spread offense. Defensively they are stout. Offensively they are getting better as backup QB is settling in and oline improving. Overall, 2A is wide open with a variety of quality teams. There is alot of football still to be played!

I believe Grainger is the DC at CP. Not sure though.

no, not correct. Score was 34-21 at half Merrillville. Merrillville score a td missed 2 pt conversion with under 1:00 minute to go in game to get to 40.

Those look about right. Marshall got almost all of his yards in !st half. Merrillville never attempted to kick xpoint. 2pt conversions every time.

All good points but as Barry Switzer said, " It's not about the X's and O's but the Jimmy and Joe's". This will be CP's biggest issue. Will always have size but not the skill players.

I don't disagree about this year but for the "foreseeable future". It is one game. Merrillville could have easily won that game and arguably should have. CP defense is horrendous. Merrillville DC out. Pop Warner play calling in 2nd half by Merrillville. I think we need to pump the breaks on DAC dynasty here thats all. Valpo, MC, and Merrillville aren't going anywhere. CP style of play makes the entire conference better for the post season. Smash mouth, ball control football will make the other DAC DC's prepare for what they will see in playoffs.

Now thats what is called "Overreaction Monday"!!

Piratefan - why did Marshall only have 2 touches in 2nd half vs CP? Some of it was CP ball control but the play calling was very suspect, Features Stephens in 2nd half. He is no where near Marshall level. Marshall had close to 200 yds at halftime and on the field 2nd half but only 2 touches. Merrillville QB play is average at best.

Hats off to CP!! They simply overpowered them at the line of scrimmage all night. Merrillville could not stop them. CP stopped themselves on turnovers on two possessions the others were methodical marches down the field from the start. CP defense is still a liability especially secondary. I don't understand Coach Seiss' play calling in 2nd half especially the entire 4th quarter. He stopped giving the ball to Marshall and started giving it to Stephens. There is no comparison between those two. Marshall best player on the field and could not be stopped either running or receiving. Great atmosphere at the game! Good to see a large crowd.

I understand that this is the way it is today. This is precisely my point. The AD's and Coaches can control it much more if they stop releasing the student athlete. They are the front line on defense as they should be not the IHSAA. The IHSAA should intervene only after the parent or student challenge the decision made by departing school. The question then becomes why aren't the schools saying no to release? Likely because they do not want to punish the student athlete which I completely understand. It could also be that they receive as many transfers as they lose so net net a wash over time.

It seems to me that if you want to reduce or impact the amount of transfers that we are seeing, the simplest way is to essentially have the departing school "not release" the student athlete period. At that point, the parent and student athlete have a decision to make: stay at school, transfer and accept limited eligibility for one year, or appeal to IHSAA. The appeal to the IHSAA then should be able to vet whether it is purely for athletic purposes or not and then make a judgment. I believe this will create at least some sort of deterrent to transfers. It will also create more work for the IHSAA. Personally, I am more aligned with MHSTigerFan and not punishing a young man for what is already a shortened high school career (2-4 yrs). I also see the concern around competitive balance. Great topic.