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FOOTBALL: RSN Top 10 – Week #5

The Andrean 59ers return to the poll after falling out following their opening week loss to Merrillville. This may not be as high powered of an Andrean club as we’ve seen in recent years, but considering their two losses are to the rival Pirates, who we’ll talk about later, and to state powerhouse New Prairie, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt…for now. The Niners have three straight at home to state the case for to stay in the rankings, starting this week against conference rival, and fellow ranked team, Hobart.

It would be nearly impossible to overstate how huge last week’s win was for Calumet – and that goes way beyond the football field. The Warriors banded together following the tragedy of losing a teammate and put together one of the best performances in program history, blanking Whiting 36-0. A win over South Central (0-4) at home this week would give Calumet some momentum as they head into a three game road stretch from weeks six through eight.

In a rare Thursday night matchup, the Wolves blanked EC 37-0 to move their record up to 4-0. While the 37 points does represent the lowest output of the season for the BG offense…the game was called in the first half due to lightning…so nothing to worry about. With an offense as dangerous as it gets in the Region and a defense that’s given up a total of six points in the last three weeks, this team has a good shot at running the table during the rest of the regular season.

Playing shutdown defense and having a good running game may sound like a cliché, but it was also the recipe for success used last week for the Bulldogs as they shutout Lake Central and had a 99 yard touchdown run by Matthew Walters to seal the deal. The win over a rival was all well and good, but the ‘Dogs are going to need to worry about scoring more than 10 points moving forward – their defense is really good, but you can’t rely on a shutout week in and week out.

It took overtime – three overtimes to be exact – but the Brickies won their second straight, with a  30-27 victory over visiting Culver Academy. The offense seems to have found their rhythm after a tough start to the season. And good timing for that as well, NCC play gets started this week and it’s not going to be a walk in the park for the Brickies as they travel to 5959 Broadway. You know Hobart wants revenge for the 41-7 drubbing Andrean put on them last year.

We can hear the fans in Hessville getting riled up aft the Governors actually falling a spot following their 69-7 defeat of Munster a week ago, and we understand – it’s a tough break for a team that’s been trending up and up since Week #1. However, the fall has more to do with the results and performances of teams around them than how the Governors actually played. With a favorable schedule for the rest of the regular season, the Govs will have plenty of opportunities to get back up to #4…or higher.

Not too long ago, the Wolves were pretty much locked into the #2 spot in the rankings…but them came the home loss to Warsaw, followed by defeat at Valpo, which saw the Wolves get doubled-up on the scoreboard. Now City’s spot in the top five is a bit tenuous as undefeated Merrillville comes to Ames this week. Can the Wolves reclaim what was once theirs or will they take an L for the third time in four weeks – something they haven’t done since the 2015 season.

We knew the Trojans would be improved this year, but we have to be honest – we didn’t see them improving enough to rise to the #3 spot in the RSN Top 10. How long will Chesterton stay in this lofty territory? Well that remains to be seen as they host Valparaiso this week. A win over their rival would be sweet in so many ways: an underdog pulling off the upset, knocking Valpo back to the pack in the DAC standings, bragging rights, and of course the opportunity to move even further up these rankings.

Demaree Stadium has proven to be quite the home field advantage for the Pirates so far this season. In Merrillville’s three home games, they’ve outscored their opponents (Andrean, Hobart, and Portage) by a combined 115-27 with an average margin of victory of 29.3 points per game! Will that dominance continue away from home? They had to go to overtime to win their one road game this year (at Crown Point) and they have a tough challenge this Friday night with a trip to Ames Field, where they’ll take on an angry pack of Michigan City Wolves.

It wasn’t a surprise to see Valparaiso get the win over Michigan City, especially since they were playing in front of a packed house at Viking Field. What was surprising was the 42 points they put up against a usually stout City defense. On the season, Valpo is averaging 43.5 points per game and giving up just 8.8 points per game…that will get the job done. The road gets tougher for the Vikings the next three weeks as they have three teams currently ranked in the Top 10 on their schedule (Chesterton, Crown Point, and Merrillville) with two of those on the road. Can Gang Green prove even more that they are the elite team in the Region or will they fall back to the rest of the pack? Stay with Region Sports to find out!

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