Around the Region – Week #12

A quick look at the sectional championship matchups!

CROWN POINT (5-5) @ MERRILLVILLE (5-5)

Merrillville hasn’t had a winning record since they lost to LaPorte in Week #6. Crown Point hasn’t had once since losing to Mishawaka in Week #2. One of those teams will finally get on the positive side of .500 with a win – and more importantly, capture the sectional #1 title. The regular season meeting had a little bit of everything – big offensive plays, a couple of pick sixes and a combined 69 points. Both programs have underwent some changes since then, so we likely won’t see the scoring barrage we saw in Week #3, but this is one of those contests in which anything can happen and probably will. FAVORITE: Merrillville….slightly

PENN (10-0) @ LAPORTE (9-1)

The transitive property is hardly the best way to analyze a matchup….but we’re going to go ahead with it anyway because it’s interesting. In their two meetings with Valpo, the Kingsmen beat the Vikings by a combined 62-14. LaPorte needed a last second 2 point conversion to beat Valpo by one. Does that mean the Kingsmen are going to beat the Slicers by 30 or so points? Hardly. But it does show what they’ve done against a common opponent. Penn may not be as good offensively as they were when they went to state last season, but their defense is better, giving up just over 8 points a game. LaPorte’s offense has struggled the last two weeks, scoring a combined 35 points after averaging over 32 per game in the first nine games – not the trend you want going up against a tough defense. FAVORITE: Penn

MICHIGAN CITY (7-3) @ MISHAWAKA (9-2)

In their first three games of the season, Mishawaka scored a combined 51 points – not terrible, but far from great. In their nine games since, they’ve scored 299 points, good for over 37 a game. Michigan City’s defense has had issues stopping pretty much everyone as of late, but they can put up a ton of points themselves – take the over. FAVORITE: Pick ‘Em

LOWELL (7-4) @ MUNSTER (6-5)

Lowell was ranked #1 in the pre-season RSN Top 10 and by a pretty decent margin. But then play actually started and a 2-4 Red Devil record had us all confused, but that’s why they play more than six games. The Lowell team we’ve seen over the last five weeks – the one that’s scoring 44.6 points per game while giving up 9 – is the team we were expecting when we ranked them at the top. Munster’s had a nice run to make it to the sectional championship – this is the first time they’ve won two games in one post-season since 1996 – but all the momentum is on the side of the visitors. FAVORITE: Lowell

MISHAWAKA MARIAN (10-1) @ GRIFFITH (8-3)

The Panthers escaped Rensselaer with a sectional semi-final victory, which is by far the most important thing this time of year. But while their bend but don’t break defensive philosophy was successful against the Bombers, they’ll need to shore up the run defense big time this week with Mishawaka Marian coming to town. Against Rensselaer, Griffith gave up 362 yards on the ground and 426 yards of offense overall. Mishawaka Marian’s rushing game is led by future D-I player Zander Horvath who’s carried the ball 192 times for 1,857 yards this year – that’s 9.7 yards per carry & 168.8 per game – along with 28 scores. The Knights don’t have much else offensively that’s scary, so basically stop Horvath stop Marian, but that’s much easier said than done. FAVORITE: Mishawaka Marian.

HOBART (9-2) @ NEW PRAIRIE (9-2)

The Brickies haven’t won a sectional championship since losing to Russ Radtke’s Griffith Panthers in the 1997 regionals. They could end that drought by beating New Prairie…..which is coached by Russ Radtke. Historical significance aside, this is one of the most intriguing matchups this week as both teams feature multi-dimensional offenses that can move the ball on the ground or through the air. New Prairie’s defense is vulnerable to the passing game, so that may be the key to success for the Brickies. FAVORITE: Pick ‘Em

WHITING (10-1) @ KNOX (9-2)

Knox’s defense has played well in the post-season, giving up just 13 points in the first two sectional games. But with all due respect to Roosevelt & River Forest, the level of competition picks up big time this week as they take on the Oilers in the sectional championship for the second straight year. Whiting’s average margin of victory this year is around 25 points….don’t be surprised to see that average go up. FAVORITE: Whiting

PIONEER (11-0) @ NORTH JUDSON (5-6)

Sometimes in the post-season, you have to expand the coverage a little bit, especially to stay updated in a class, like we are here with Class 1A. That’ll change after this week as any team that we could consider as “kind of” local will be gone after this one. Pioneer is averaging over 51 points a game – North Judson gives up 30 a game. This should be the end of the road for honorary Region member North Judson. FAVORITE: Pioneer