Pirates overwhelm Crown Point 42-6 to advance to Sectional semifinals

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith

10-26-2008

Friday, October 24, 2008,  48 degrees & rain, Class 5A, Sectional One Quarterfinal at MERRILLVILLE, IN

1st Qtr:  MERRILLVILLE (7-0)  Dionte Day, 4-yard run. 80-yard drive, 11 plays.  Ryan Stokes kick.  6:20 left.
MERRILLVILLE (14-0) Dolapo Macarthy, 12-yard run. 40-yard drive, 6 plays.  Ryan Stokes kick.  0:41 left.
2nd Qtr:  MERRILLVILLE (21-0) Dolapo Macarthy, 22-yard run.  64-yard drive, 8 plays.  Ryan Stokes kick. 0:41 left.
MERRILLVILLE (28-0) Dionte Day, 4-yard run. 57-yard drive, 4 plays.  Ryan Stokes kick.  5:42 left.
MERRILLVILLE (35-0) Dolapo Macarthy, 12-yard pass from Zach Raspopovich.  37-yard drive. 4 plays.  0:09 left.
3rd Qtr:  MERRILLVILLE (42-0) Dolapo Macarthy, 20-yard run.  38-yard drive, 5 plays.  Ryan Stokes kick.  7:27 left.
4th Qtr:  CROWN POINT (42-6) Alex Cipolla, 12-yard pass from Joe Hopman. 0:00 left.

GAME STATISTICS
RUSHING:
CROWN POINT (24 carries, 66 yards) Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 3-10 yards; Nick Bruno (HB) 5-8 yards; Evan Nikrin (HB) 3-2 yards; Cody Bacon (HB) 3-10 yards;
Joel Johnson (QB) 1-1 yards; Mason Popovich (HB) 4-10 yards, fumble.
MERRILLVILLE (40 carries, 281 yards, 5 TDs) Dolapo Macarthy (QB) 13 carries, 178 yards, 3 TDs;  Denzell Pierce (HB) 6-50 yards;  John Jordan (HB) 5-29 yards;  Dionte Day (FB) 3-12 yards, 2 TDs;  Zach Raspopovich (QB) 4-8 yards;  Rahim Conwell (HB) 3-3 yards;  Ray Thomas (HB) 2-2 yards;  Kortney Berry (HB) 4 (-1 yards).

RECEIVING:
CROWN POINT - John Hannon (FB) 1-6 yards; Nate Haverstock (WR) 1 (-1) ; Chris Klein (WR) 1-7; Michael Cipolla (TE) 1-12 yards, TD.
MERRILLVILLE - Denzell Pierce (HB) 4-25 yards; Sanchez Tate (WR) 1-16 yards; Keith Thomas (WR) 1-12 yards; Eddie DeLuna (WR) 1-13 yards; Dolapo Macarthy (QB) 1-12 yards, TD.

PASSING:
CROWN POINT - Marcus Shrewsbury (QB) 3-9, 16 yards; Joe Johnson (QB) 1-1, 7 yards; Joey Hopman (QB) 1-1, 12 yards, TD;
MERRILLVILLE - Dolapo Macarthy (QB) 7-10, 78 yards, Zach Raspopovich QB) 1-1, 12 yards, TD.

TOTAL YARDS:
CROWN POINT - 92 total yards, 4 first downs,  0 turnovers;
MERRILLVILLE - 371 yards, 15 first downs, 0 turnovers.

MERRILLVILLE (10-24-2008) - If somebody told you that Friday night's Sectional One quarterfinal game between Crown Point and Merrillville was misery, they must have been from Crown Point.  Or they must have been in the stands.  Or they must have been the Merrillville support personnel.  Or the game referees.

Everybody else liked it.  And that included Pirate players who rolled into the sectional semifinals with a dominating 42-6 victory over arch-rival Crown Point.

In a game played largely in a driving rain.  A game that was postponed extensively twice.  A game where the second half didn't begin until 9:30 p.m.  An 'experience' where temperatures flat out plummeted from a soggy 58 degrees at the original game time to a rainy 41 degrees by the time everybody left Demaree Stadium.  The Pirates scored the first four times they had the ball to take a 28-0 lead and then waited for a game which seemed like it would never end.

"This was a really good game for us," said Merrillville coach Zac Wells.  "We went right down the field at the start of the game and then we had the 30-minute delay.  And we pushed it in anyway.  I really couldn't tell you who scored or what happened but I know we all played well."

Merrillville, who lost 10-7 to Crown Point in early September, used option runs by quarterback Dolapo Macarthy and sophomore halfback Denzell Pierce, quickly moved the ball from the Pirate 20 to the Crown Point 10-yard-line in eight plays.  CP then received an act of God when bolts of lightning in the northern sky convinced game officials to postpone the game for the required 30 minutes.  Given a second chance, Crown Point couldn't take it.  After the break, Merrillville scored in three plays; the last one a 4-yard run by linebacker-turned fullback Dionte Day.

CP's first possession came about 45 minutes after the opening kickoff and they punted into the steady rain with Merrillville taking over at the CP 40-yard-line.  The Pirates the scored in six plays with Macarthy, the 6-foot-6 senior, breaking three tackles to score for a 14-0 led with 41 seconds left in the quarter.  CP's second and third possessions did not gain a first down and Merrillville drove for two more TDs, a 22-yard run by Macarthy with 7:58 left in the half and another 4-yard run by Day with 5:41 remaining in the second quarter.

After an exchange of punts, Merrillville drove 37 yards in five plays to make it 35-0 with back-up QB Zach Raspopovich, who subbed for an injured McCarthy in the loss in September, lobbing an end zone toss to Macarthy, who lined up at wide receiver.  Macarthy leaped over three CP defenders and made a spectacular catch for a 35-0 Merrillville lead with eight seconds left in the half.  It was a play that no one on either side could have made.

"He was a receiver when he was a freshman," said Wells.  "We thought we'd give that a shot and the QB did a nice job of getting that there.  That was big for us.  That extra score really put us in good shape."

Then, the lightning and heavy rain moved in.  Fans and players were driven to shelter and there was a concern that the two teams would have to finish the game Saturday, something no one on either side wanted to even consider.

"That's subject never came up," said CP coach Chip Pettit.  "The game is out of the hands of the coaches at that point."

"We were on our heels from the get-go.  They scored on the first drive and the second drive.  We never found a spark and they were very good.  I want to say that the boys gave us everything we asked for this year and I was very disappointed to see it end for them this way."

The second half was played quickly... with Merrillville's sixth TD, a 20-yard run by Macarthy on the third quarter's first possession, countered on the final play of the game as CP freshman QB Joey Hopson fired a 12-yard touchdown pass to senior Alex Cipolla, his first career TD.

CP knew there would be hard times this year, although they didn't expect a 3-7 finish.  The final game was an example of what troubled CP all year.

"They got rolling tonight," Pettit said of Merrillville.  "Our defense has been fine most of the year.  But our inability to establish a running game put so much pressure on them.  It puts you behind the eight-ball all the time.  We could not consistently run the ball and you just have to be able to do that."

SECTIONAL NOTES:  Crown Point and Merrillville have met 10 times (twice each season) in the last five years with CP winning six of 10 games.

Merrillville resembled the team that was highly-regarded starting this season before a 42-0 loss at Warren Central, injuries and some offensive line problems of their own.  The Pirates' late season run may be only a team defeating teams they should beat.

"I don't know if there's a turning point to this season," said Wells, who has watched his squad win three in a row and 5-of-6 after a 1-3 start.  "But we gave up being individuals.  We put all the individual stuff aside.  I have no doubt that's why we've gotten better."

Merrillville plays a semifinal game at Munster on Oct. 31, an oddity since Munster and Merrillville have not met since 1982.  The Pirates faced Munster three years in a row from 1980 to 1982 and Merrillville won by scores of 9-0, 16-0 and 28-0.

Crown Point's 3-7 record is the Bulldogs' worst mark since they were 1-9 in 2001, Pettit's debut season.  Six of the teams CP lost to (Chesterton, LaPorte, Valparaiso, Lowell, Hobart and Merrillville) were sectional quarterfinal winners on Friday night.  CP played the 22nd toughest schedule in the state this season.