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FOOTBALL: RSN Top 10 – Week #9

Winners of four of their last five, the Wildcats find themselves back in the RSN Top 10 following their 17-7 victory over Wheeler in Week #8. With a winnable game to close out the regular season and a favorable first round draw in Class 3A Sectional #25, the Wildcats could be rolling for a few more weeks…at least. This team seems to be hitting their stride and it’s coming at the perfect time.

Not only was the 13-0 Red Devil loss to Andrean the first time that Lowell has been shut out in the regular season since 2006, it gave the Devils their first NCC loss this year, preventing Friday’s game against Hobart from being a winner take all conference championship matchup. Lowell can still play spoiler though and earn themselves a share of the conference crown with an upset on Friday, plus a win will go a long way in letting them move on from Week #8.

Consistency was an issue for the Niners earlier in the season, but three straight wins will make people forget all about those problems, especially since one of those wins is a shutout of Lowell at “The Inferno,” Andrean’s defense has led the way in this resurgence, giving up a total of 19 points over the last three weeks, while the offense has developed a solid running game that can control time of possession. The Niners close out the regular season with a trip to Highland on Friday.

In their first three games of the season, Calumet gave up a combined 92 points. Since then…zero. That’s right, the Warriors have four straight shutouts, setting a school record. The offense is also averaging over 38 points per game, so this team is playing extremely well on both sides of the ball as the post-season draws nearer. With Bishop Noll on the schedule for Friday, one of the Warriors will have momentum as they roll into sectionals.

What else can we say about this team that hasn’t been talked about already? Each and every week, the Wolves hit the field and dominate their opponents in all three phases. Last week was no different as BG scored the second most points in program history with their 66 point outing against Lake Station. The Wolves get a chance for revenge on Friday with a trip to Whiting. The Oilers beat Boone twice last year, but the tables may be about turn in the next two weeks.

It’s been a really good year for the Trojans through eight weeks of the regular season, but Chesterton has a chance to make it a great season with a win Friday at Merrillville. The Trojans have done a great job beating the teams they are supposed to beat (that’s what good teams do), but they’ve dropped two against teams that were ranked, at the time, higher. Can Chesterton finally break through and show they belong in the upper stratus of teams in the Region? We’ll find out Friday.

For the past couple of seasons, this Week #9 matchup against Lowell has been a stumbling block for Hobart. In 2017, the Brickies came into the game with a 6-2 record, lost to Lowell and then were eliminated in the sectional opener. In 2018, Hobart was 7-1 going into the game against Lowell….lost the game….lost in the sectional opener. But, there’s no doubt this is a different bunch of Brickies and they’re playing about as good as any team in the Region. Another loss to Lowell in Week #9 would be a bit of a surprise, unless the Brickies are already planning for their sectional opening opponent….a team comes in ranked at #3.

Morton had their lowest scoring output of the last five weeks in their win over EC Central…scoring a mere 47 points. That’s how dominating the Governors have been during this stretch and makes the loss to Highland seem like it happened a season ago, not in Week #1. With only Clark standing in the way of an outright GLAC title, Morton looks like they’ll bring home the hardware, but what about the post-season trophies? Their draw of #4 Hobart in the sectional opener was less than ideal, but at least it’s at the “Governor’s Mansion.”

It came as no surprise that the Pirates were quickly able to move past their loss to Valpo by routing Lake Central last week. But that doesn’t mean it’s time for Merrillville to relax. The Pirates have a tough Senior Night game to close out the regular season with Chesterton coming to the Purple Palace, then they follow that up in two weeks against Lafayette Jeff, the highest scoring team in the state, who they drew to open Class 6A Sectional #1. They’re all going to be tough ones from here on out, but the next two games for Merrillville might be as hard as it gets.

After close games against Crown Point and Merrillville the last two weeks, Valpo got back to their dominating ways with a 46-7 win over Portage in week eight. The Green Machine can clinch the outright DAC title with a win over Lake Central at Viking Field this week, but clearly this team has bigger expectations, and with Valpo being the highest ranked 5A team in the north, don’t be surprised if we see them playing on Thanksgiving weekend. 

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