DA REGION -- Boy, would I love to be a college professor, work a couple hours a week and bring home six figures. I think I’d look good in a cardigan, holding a cup of coffee and chatting about Descartes. Or maybe be a college president, after ruining the Indiana educational system then making big bank in West Lafayette. Yes, you can call me Mitch. Or a son of a Mitch. With the leaves starting to fall and the air soon to start chill’n like a villian, and with educamation on my mind, I feel it is time to give out the midseason report cards for Region football. My red pen is full of ink and I am full of something else. Yepper, you can call me Professor Steve, if you’d like. A-plusses
Bill Marshall’s Valparaiso Vikings are taking everyone to the woodshed so far. I picked Michigan City to be the best Class 5A team in the 2-1-9, and I was wrong. Horribly incorrect. The Green Machine’s 6-0 record will be tested on Friday when Merrillville comes to Orville Redenbacher’s and Paul Jankowski’s home town. Will the Pirates be popping in the pan? Brad Seiss’s Pirates have really turned this program around. Merrillville, after stumbling a couple years ago, is undefeated through six games, A powerful offense and Bears-like defense should give Valpo quite a contest. Either way, Merrillville is back and the neon lights are shining bright again on Broadway. The Boone Grove Wolves still don’t have a home field, but they do have a 6-0 record. Just curious, how hard is it to carve a grid out of a cornfield? It is 2019, right? A lawnmower and a bag of chalk isn’t too hard to find, is it? Nonetheless, coach Dan Kukulski and his boys have the school’s first 6-0 mark and they are laying waste to the Greater Southshore Conference. Rick Good and his Calumet Warriors are 4-1 and this incredible rebuild has been even more remarkable with the community dealing with the death of teammate and friend Curtis Walton. I got to see the Warriors beat Whiting and the scoreboard didn’t matter. The love and support shown on that Friday night was unbelievable. The As High school football, in my opinion, is everything about the head coach, 90 percent of the time. So this shout out goes to Morton’s Sean Kinsey. His Governors are 5-1 and beat Lake Central for the first time. Still not sure how they lost to Highland in Week 1, but they are rolling now. Will win the Great Lakes Athletic Conference. Again. And a little more from inner city rebuilds, stand to your feet and applaud the job that East Chicago’s Dane Dinkins is doing. The Cardinals are 4-2 with a shot at two more wins at least and a big showdown against Morton in Week 8. Not bad for a first-year coach. The A-minuses Mark Peterson’s Chesterton Trojans are 4-2, with big losses to City and Valpo. They have a shot to make a little run before sectionals on Oct. 25. Keep it rolling kids. Both Lowell and Hobart receive the same grade from this astute grader. Both are 4-2 and I’m pointing to Week 9 when the Northwest Crossroads Conference will be decided at The Brickyard. And with the Brickies moving west for sectional play they could meet again in the opening of sectionals, if the ping pong balls bounce right. Thus, this classic rivalry has a chance to keep filling the seats, to say the least. The Bs Other teams to keep an eye on are Crown Point (3-3), Highland (3-3), Clark (4-2), Wheeler (3-3) and River Forest (3-3). The Incompletes If you were not mentioned above, you are here. There is time to do extra homework, cram for the coming final exam and finish better than you started. The postseason draw is October 13. So there is some time. For those student athletes you put an apple on my desk. Thank you. For those who put a “Kick me” note on my back when I wasn’t looking. Thank you. For those who whine about using the restroom 13 times a day instead of doing your homework. No comment. These words are PG13.
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Meet SteveNWI's Steve Hanlon is forever a columnist, and he now writes a blog. Check it out. Archives
March 2020
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