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South Bend Clay (6-5) at Lowell (11-0) |
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Week
12 - Football Game of the Week Preview|
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South Bend Clay (6-5) at Lowell (11-0) |
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A
USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
11-06-2008
When:
Friday, November 7, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Where:
Lowell High School, 2501 Commercial AVE, Lowell, IN.
Tickets: $6
TV/Radio: WTMK (88.5) FM,
WKIF (92.7) FM
ENROLLMENT: Clay 4A, enrollment - 1,560;
LOWELL - Class 4A, enrollment -
1,254
WEATHER: Kiss the good life
goodbye. It was 75 degrees Monday.
It was 75 Tuesday. It was 75
Wednesday. Daytime high Friday: 45.
Sorry. If you've got one of those
'spacesuit' type waterproof,
full-body getups that you can zip
yourself into, I'd go find it. It
might rain and the temperatures
will be in the low-40s all night and
the winds will be in the 15-20 MPH
range. Kids, don't you dare show up in
a letter jacket and flip-flops or
you'll be running to the car by
halftime. It will not be warm at any
time Friday night. You were warned.
PARKING: All you want, moms and
dads. Clay does not have that many
fans and they probably don't think
they can win this game. Plus, our
weather luck has run out. I don't
know how many Lowell fans are going
to come to this game. It will be a
rough day Friday. Wet and cold. But Lowell is 11-0, at home and
the fans don't have very far to
come. Imagine you are a fan of South
Bend Clay athletics (you might be
waiting for the basketball season
anyway) and your choices are: 1.)
Stay home, have dinner and listen to
the game on the radio.
2.) Drive two hours to a place
you've never been to sit in an open
field in the rain with a pair of
mittens and a thermos full of Bosco. I guess what I'm trying to say is
that plenty of parking will be
available.
If Clay wins: They host either
Morton (9-3) or Griffith (9-3)
If LOWELL wins: They host Griffith (9-3) or they
play at Morton (9-3).
The 'Distant Replay'
3 years ago
Hobart (6-6) 0- 0-0- 6 = 6
Lowell (8-4) 0-13-13-6 = 32
LOWELL (11-4-2005) Scott Gray and Jeff
Clemens both scored two touchdowns.
Lowell dominated Hobart for the 4A
Sectional Nine championship. Clemens scored on a 60-yard run and
a 34-yard pass from QB Jimmy Ritter. Gray scored on runs of 14 and 86
yards as the Devils led 32-0 in the
fourth quarter.
The Devils, who defeated Hobart 14-7
on Oct. 7, 2005, out-gained the
Brickies 448-196 in the rematch. This was the last time Lowell won
the sectional championship at home.
Lowell would not only go on to win
the 2005 state title, the Devils
would also return to win sectional
titles in 2006 and 2007 by beating
Hobart and Concord on the road.
The SERIES: If Clay and
Lowell have ever played in any team
sport, I can't find the game.
Clay and St. Joseph's are
neighbors on the northeast side of
South Bend and both have fine
athletic histories.
Clay, which opened in 1939, has
recently become a magnet school for
visual performing arts in the South
Bend School Corporation. That means,
among other things, they offer
dance, music theory, piano and
theatre tech, classes not offered
anywhere else in the South Bend
Public school system. This is the
model that Gary's using to
consolidate next year.
Football has not really been a Clay thing. The varsity has won more than seven games only four times since 1953. The big winning seasons: 1976 (10-0), 1977 (9-1), 1999 (9-3) and 2002 (11-3) were rare. Former Lake Central and Clay coach Elmer Britton, who was 49-40 from 1973-1981, is the only varsity coach with a winning record in the history of Clay high football. City public schools have fallen from power state wide in the last three decades as people have migrated to the suburbs so Clay rarely gets this far. They probably would admit their program is not at the level of Lowell's right now. But a win would be a huge recruiting tool for city boys who might prefer basketball. Clay is almost a 5A school, however, so they always have a few top players and the fact that they have Danny Smith (6-4, 190) on the roster speaks well for a city program where it's a lot easier to play basketball than basketball and football (as Smith does).
It probably also speaks well of veteran coach Mike Krutz, who is said to be retiring this month after 22 years on the sidelines. The revival of Washington (0-10 to 7-3 this season) and Washington's relatively close 24-7 loss to Lowell will also be Clay's focus this week. The South Bend boys will assume that if the Panthers could lead Lowell in the third quarter, then so can they. The Devils are a big favorite. But the most dangerous opponent is often the one with nothing to lose. Especially if they only need one win to send their retiring coach out a champion.
Lowell Red Devils (11-0)
Coach Kirk Kennedy, 146-67 in (18th
year)
8-22 (W) 7-0 at Crown Point
(3-8)
8-29 (W) 47-20 Morton (8-3)
9- 5 (W) 42-0 Kankakee Valley (3-7)
9-12 (W) 27-12 at GRIFFITH (7-4)
9-19 (W) 55-7 at HIGHLAND (0-10)
9-26 (W) 35-32 HOBART (9-2)
10-3 (W) 63-0 at Hammond (7-4)
10-10 (W) 24-7 MUNSTER (7-4)
10-17 (W) 35-6 at ANDREAN (3-7)
Sectional 10 Quarterfinals
Oct. 24 (W) 24-7 at (South Bend)
Washington (7-3)
Oct 31 (F) 20-14 (OT) Plymouth
(11-0)
Nov. 7 (F) vs. (South Bend) Clay
(6-5)
Nov. 14 (F) 4A Regional final
Nov. 21 (F) 4A Northern Semistate
Nov. 29 (S) Class 4A state final -
Lucas Oil Arena (4:00 p.m. EST) downtown Indianapolis
(South Bend) Clay Colonials (6-5)
Coach Mike Kuntz - (113-118) 22
years
8-22 (L) 6-34 at Chesterton (9-2)
8-29 (L) 6-7 New Prairie (7-4)
9-5 (W) 28-14 at (SB) Adams (4-7)
9-12 (W) 24-0 (Mishawaka) Marian
(4-7)
9-19 (L) 28-38 (SB) Washington
(7-3)
9-26 (L) 23-34 at St. Joe's (9-2)
10-3 (W) 17-8 (SB) Riley (2-8)
10-10 (L) 6-9 at Mishawaka (7-4)
10-17 (W) 35-28 Elkhart Central
(2-8)
Class 4A Sectional 10
Oct. 24 (W) 28-7 at KV (3-7)
Oct. 31(W) 14-7 Northridge (2-9)
Nov. 7 (F) at LOWELL (11-0)
Nov. 14 (F) 4A Regional
Nov. 21 (F) Northern 4A Semistate
championship
Nov. 29 (S) 2008 Class 4A title game
- Lucas Oil Arena - (4:00 p.m. EST)
downtown Indianapolis
4A (SB) Clay (6-5)
SOUTH BEND (11-7-2008) If Clay upsets Lowell, Danny Smith will have something to do with it. Junior Danny Smith (6-4, 190) is a future major college player. He is starting for the third consecutive season at safety and wide receiver. Smith, who also averaged 7.4 points per game for coach Joe Huppenthal's 16-6 Clay basketball team last year, also returns kicks and punts and he is a problem with 10 TD catches this season. Smith, who caught 27 passes for 423 yards last year, has the reputation to catch even poorly thrown passes. The Colonials will look to get him 1-on-1 coverage and then the ball is going to him, high in the air where he can out jump smaller defenders.
The Colonials also have a capable
big running back in Andrew Adeniyi
(6-2, 175) who has four 100-yard
games and 14 rushing TDs.
Charles Hart (6-2, 215) an Tyler
Carrico (6-4, 210) are veteran
defensive ends and big Nate Davis
(5-9, 270) can be hard to move in
the middle.
But somebody's got to score points
and that somebody usually is Danny
Smith.
Justin Laureys (6-4, 190) threw
three touchdown passes in a freshman
game on Thursday, September 25 and
made his varsity debut the next
night against St. Joseph's (8-3)
after starting senior QB Reiley
Bergin.
In the six games since then, Laureys
has thrown eight TD passes (seven to
Danny Smith, one to Adeniyi) and
eight interceptions. Let's work in
two factors here.
Clay has more than one QB in the
school so they aren't playing
Laureys because they don't have
anybody else. He's better than the
other older QBs.
The other thing is: You don't have
to be Peyton Manning to throw the
ball up high where Clay's Danny
Smith can go get it. Laureys was
11-of-17 last week for 126 yards, 2
TDs and 2 interceptions. Smith
caught the winning TD with 8:11 to
play.
Clay's defense has
been inconsistent. The Colonials did
give up 38 points to Washington's
spread attack and they've allowed
30-or-more three times. But they
have also held six teams to 10
points or less. Reportedly, when
they can physically dominate early,
they're fine. But they can break
down.
Parker Durham is a very steady extra point kicker. He's 6-for-6 in the playoffs.
4A Lowell Red Devils (11-0)
Enrollment: 1,254
2007 record: 13-2
4A Sectional titles: (9) 1992, 1994,
1999, 2003, 04, 05, 06, 07
4A Regional titles: (4) 1994, 1999,
2005, 2007
4A Semi state titles: (2) 2005, 2007
4A State Titles (1) 2005
LOWELL (11-7-2008) Lowell needs a strong offensive game. The Devils are averaging about 25 points per game the last month and that's an adequate total against good competition (Andrean, Munster, Washington and Plymouth), but Lowell punted eight times last week and they've trailed in the second half in each playoff game so far. That cannot go on. The Devils don't have to score points every time they get the ball but they need to play the field position game a little better.
The entire concept of Lowell's offense is to maintain ball control so their defense doesn't wear out. The Devils have seven players who go both ways. The offense cannot punt eight times. Lowell is blessed to have junior halfback Brandon Grubbe (251 carries, 1,520 yards) relatively healthy going into November. Grubbe, who has gained 3,195 yards on 532 carries in two seasons, must carry the ball 20-30 times for Lowell to have a chance.
The emergence of Cody Midgett (31 carries, 323 yards, 7 TDs) as a long distance threat is helping Grubbe and the Devils don't run him so much that it would wear him down because he's a string corner back. The passing attack has not been successful in recent weeks. Senior Jake Belt (17 catches - 403 yards), who averaged 25 yards a catch during the regular season, has just one catch in the post-season. But this week might not be the time to work on pass-catch skills as Clay has speed and size in the secondary. Assuming everyone is healthy, the Devils shouldn't worry about the pass game. It figures to be there when they need it.
Fullback Bryan DeSomer (63 carries, 311 yards, 6 TDs) may be on display Friday, running behind center Ryan Russnak (6-3, 175) with Justin Juarez (6-3, 227), Brian DeMario (6-3, 232), Nick Schultz (6-0, 238), and David Eastling (6-0, 213), who will be challenged by a physically larger defense this week.
QB Kurt Monix (57 of 100, 1,179 yards, 8 TDs), who has three interceptions, still might want try to find running room. It's a threat the Devils really don't use.
Matt Berkos has made three field
goals and he has 33 extra points in
a row since missing a point boot
against Griffith on September 12th.
Lowell has allowed just 36 points in
the first half all season and they
have outscored eight foes 155-14 in
the second quarter.
Defensively, Ryan Russnak made
two game-saving plays against
Plymouth last week at the safety
position. The continued play of
defensive end Nate Cleveland (6-4,
200) stands out. Cleveland had nine
tackles last week and he had five
sacks in Lowell's last four games. Joe Bell leads the Devils with six
QB sacks.
Linebacker Bryan DeSomer had 11
tackles and Logan Wright added
a season-high 10 tackles. Senior
Thomas Moore (6-1, 170) had four
tackles last week, the most for him
since the Hobart game in September.
I'm counting on a mood inside Lowell that this sectional final is the first real championship game of the year. This is the game the Devils have been waiting for. They have carried the burden of the favorites' role all season and now they can cash the check in the first real title game of the year.
South Bend Clay (6-5) at 4A No. 3 LOWELL (11-0)
at 'The Inferno' - Lowell - capacity - 3,000 Sagarin ratings: Lowell by 26
LOWELL
(11-07-2008) Clay will get some bad weather,
which will allow them to use their
size advantage and keep this one
close. The Colonials will run big
halfback Andrew Adeniyi (6-1, 195)
early and often on handoffs or short
passes to establish a little punch
against the Devils defense.
Defensively, Clay is going to sell
out totally and bring nine men to
the front to stop the run. They
believe that the secondary, led by
Danny Smith, can protect against
any passing the Devils might do. In
poor weather, Lowell won't take the
bait. They're a little gun shy
after a flurry of interceptions
lately. Clay stuffs the run early
and the game is scoreless after two
possessions.
Cody Midgett runs a counter play away from Brandon Grubbe and Clay overruns it, springing the Lowell senior for a breakaway TD. An interception by Kyle Botts leads to a second TD, but freshman Justin Laureys finds Smith for a long TD pass to cut the lead to 14-7 at the half.
In the third quarter, a blocked punt by Joe Bell creates a short field for Lowell and the Devils score on a draw play run by Brandon Grubbe. Clay will fumble a kickoff or punt and Grubbe will score his second TD on another short drive.
Laureys will toss a short pass to Abeniyi for a second Clay TD in the fourth period, but Bryan DeSomer will find running room for the final TD in the final seven minutes. Lowell knows better than most teams that a third season begins in week 12. The 'cash money' season where you get a trophy for every win. You bring a little more emotionally to a championship game. Lowell will start slowly on this night but they will pull away for an 18th consecutive sectional game triumph and a sixth consecutive sectional crown.
LOWELL 35, (South Bend) Clay 14