BY FRANK KIELPIKOWSKI
August football came to a close last Friday night with some good games in the Region. Here’s what happened on the second football Friday across Northwest Indiana.
Boone Grove 53, South Bend Clay 6: The Wolves handed Clay their 30th consecutive loss. Each of Boone Grove’s five wins since 2021 have been by 35 points or more.
Crown Point 49, Chicago Taft (Illinois) 7: This is the second straight season the Bulldogs have started out 2-0 entering Duneland Athletic Conference play.
Hanover Central 24, Hammond Morton 14: The Wildcats came away with a Region-best 17th consecutive regular season victory.
Highland 46, Whiting 7: The Trojans are 2-0 for the second time (2016 being the other) since 2014, which was also their last winning season.
IC Catholic Prep (Illinois) 47, Bowman Academy 0: It’s the first time the Eagles have been shut out since a 53-0 decision to Whiting on October 22, 2021.
Kankakee Valley 33, Wheeler 14, The Kougars earn their fourth straight triumph over Wheeler.
Lowell 26, LaPorte 7: A nice bounce back win for the Red Devils as both teams now stand at 1-1.
Merrillville 31, Hobart 12: The Pirates dominated on the ground as J.Q. Johnson (173 yards) and Dontae Pope (138 yards) both scored twice against Hobart.
Michigan City 36, Lafayette Jeff 30: Cody French picks up his first win with the Wolves by downing last year’s Class 6A Sectional 1 champions.
Munster 41, Griffith 33: The Mustangs bounce back with their second straight win over Griffith.
NorthWood 49, Portage 7: The No. 7 (Class 4A) Panthers were too much to handle for Portage, which dropped to 0-2 entering DAC play.
Providence Catholic (Illinois) 28, Lake Central 21: The Indians rallied for the second straight year against Providence only to come up short at the end.
River Forest 33, Calumet 0: An impressive win for the Ingots who improved to 2-0 for the second straight campaign.
South Central 44, Culver 22: A nice win for the Satellites against Culver squad which beat them twice a year ago.
Valparaiso 55, Andrean 18: The defending Class 5A state champion Vikings roar back with eight touchdowns in an impressive road performance against Andrean, which falls to 0-2.
Warsaw 8, Chesterton 6: The tough-luck Trojans fell victim to a late field goal by Warsaw. In falling to 0-2, Chesterton has allowed just 24 total points and only one touchdown.
West Central 58, Lake Station 10: It’s the fifth time in the past six seasons he Flying Eagles have started out 0-2.
WEEK THREE CONTESTS
DUNELAND CONFERENCE
Chesterton at Michigan City: Although the Wolves won last year’s regular season matchup, 24-21, Chesterton got some revenge in the post-season with a 28-20 road triumph at Ames Field in the Class 5A sectional sectionals.
Merrillville at Crown Point: A huge early DAC matchup game as the Bulldogs look to make it two straight in the series after surviving a 48-40 slugfest at Merrillville’s Demaree Stadium last year It could be a similar type of game on Friday night.
Portage at Lake Central: In the battle of the Indians, the Blue Indians of Lake Central have won the last two matchups and three of the last four contests against Portage, including a narrow 17-14 win in 2022.
Valparaiso at LaPorte – The Vikings won a pair of 42-3 contests over LaPorte in 2022, including the sectional opener in their historic tournament run.
NORTHWEST CROSSROADS
Hanover Central at Highland: The Wildcats play their first game in the NWCC, having moved from the Greater South Shore Conference. Highland is looking for its first 3-0 start since 2001.
Kankakee Valley at Andrean: The 59ers have dominated Kankakee Valley over the years, having won 20 of the 21 previous matchups.
Munster at Hobart: The Brickies have won five straight over Munster with the Mustangs’ last victory being a 7-0 triumph at the Brickyard in 2017.
NONCONFERENCE
East Chicago Central at Calumet – Either East Chicago’s Corey Bailey or Charles Salary from Calumet will earn their first head coaching victory in this matchup.
Gary West at Boone Grove: In this first meeting between the programs. both squads are coming off of dominating victories last weekend.
Griffith at Hammond Central: This is the first tine the two clubs have met since the Hammond school consolidation took place. The Panthers are looking to get in the win column after suffering two losses by 12 total points.
Hammond Bishop Noll at Whiting: The Oilers have won 17 of the 21 battles with Bishop Noll,
Hammond Morton at Elkhart: The Lions have taken the previous two meetings against Hammond Morton, including a 35-6 road victory last year.
Lowell at New Prairie: The Red Devils are looking for some revenge as defending Class 4A state runner-up New Prairie defeated them twice in 2022, including a 42-6 thumping in the sectional semifinals.
North Newton at Lake Station: Both squads are looking to earn their first win of 2023 as they meet for the first team since 2017,
River Forest at Wheeler: Although the Bearcats have dominated the series, 16-3, River Forest got the upper hand last fall with a 22-15 win.
South Central at Bremen: – It’s the first regular season matchup between these two schools, but the Lions downed South Central, 27-6, in their only previous meeting in the 1990 Class 1A playoffs.
Phalen Academy at Bowman Academy: Both teams are looking for a victory after being blanked last week. The Eagles soared to a 44-0 win over Phalen a year ago.
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