Crown Point outlasts Merrillville to remain undefeated

Crown Point outlasts Merrillville to remain undefeated

Class 6A No. 7 and Indiana Preps NWI No. 1 Crown Point 23, Class 6A No. 10 and Indiana Preps NWI No. 2 Merrillville 14

By Paul Honeycutt

MERRILLVILLE – Both of Crown Point’s streaks were in danger of being broken on Friday night late in the third quarter, but like the Region rulers they are, they didn’t panic.

Class 6A No. 7 and Indiana Preps NWI No. 1 Crown Point made more plays down the stretch to outlast 6A No. 10 and NWI No. 2 Merrillville by a 23-14 final to open the Duneland season.

CP (3-0, 1-0 DAC) scored all of the fourth quarter’s points after the game was deadlocked at 14, as it won its 39th straight regular season game and 29th straight in the Duneland.

“It took a lot of hard work and it took a little bit of time because we can’t simulate what they do — no huddle, unbalanced,” Crown Point coach Craig Buzea said. “They’re very, very tough to defend, but I think we have the best defensive coordinator in the state in John Snyder and that defensive staff along with him, they’re really, really good.”

The Pirates drove all the way to the CP 13 on their opening series, but they couldn’t convert on a fourth down attempt.

Crown Point took just two plays covering 87 yards on runs from senior running back Brayden Schutt, including a 70-yard TD run to strike first.

Both teams held serve until late in the second quarter when Merrillville senior quarterback Michael Hill, Jr. stretched the CP defense with a couple shots downfield.

The Pirates (2-1, 0-1) capped a seven-play, 59-yard drive on a beautiful play fake from Hill, who found No. 1 receiver Curtis Walker on a 2-yard touchdown pass.

However, the Bulldogs responded quickly before the first half ended with a 21-yard TD pass from senior QB Tyce Custy to fellow senior Kingston Connelly.

With 9:03 left in the third quarter, the Pirates fumbled the Crown Point punt that was recovered by Jaden Saddler.

On the ensuing drive, Crown Point ended it with a fumble in the end zone and the Pirates responded with a 7-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 38-yard touchdown pass from Hill, Jr. to Walker.

Hill got hurt on a hard hit off a scramble early in the fourth quarter. 

Merrillville’s defense held Crown Point out of the end zone on the next drive and with Hill out, CP pinned Merrillville back to its own 2.

The Pirates were called for an intentional grounding, leading to a safety and the Bulldogs sealed it with a 46-yard TD pass from Custy to Ethan Ziolkowski.

Within the last four minutes, the Bulldogs defense forced a couple Pirates turnovers after Brody Hood forced a fumble that Ben Clark recovered and Saddler recorded an interception to seal it.

“Saddler got a little talking to at halftime and he responded, and Brody Hood is just an absolute stud sophomore,” said Buzea. “He’s been leading our defense for three games now, but you know, if you hold this team to 14 points, you got a chance to win.”

Custy threw for 198 yards on an efficient 12 of 15 passing while Hill, Jr. passed for 217 yards and a couple scores to Walker, who caught nine passes for 163 yards.

“If there’s any teams that are better than this team, it might be time to retire,” Buzea joked.

Buzea thinks this game will get his team ready for down the line.

“But these guys (Merrillville) are a juggernaut, that’s for sure and you know, the thing is you have to survive these things physically,” he added. “We got guys that are dehydrated and hurt and we played a team last week from Indianapolis Pike I don’t think people give them enough credit because they can play right along with these guys, so really we played Merrillville two weeks in a row and that’s what we schedule those games for.”

Crown Point 23, Merrillville 14

Crown Point; 7 7 0 9 – 23

Merrillville; 0 7 7 0 – 14

CP – Brayden Schutt 70 run (Oliver Brewer kick), 5:24 1st

M – Curtis Walker 2 pass from Michael Hill, Jr. (Logan Schoon kick), 2:27 2nd

CP – Kingston Connelly 21 pass from Tyce Custy (Brewer kick), 1:09 2nd

M – Walker 38 pass from Hill, Jr. (Schoon kick), 4:13 3rd

CP – safety on intentional grounding, 7:19 4th

CP – Ethan Ziolkowski 46 pass from Custy (Brewer kick), 5:51 4th

Crown Point;Merrillville

First Downs;14;17

Total Yards;393;420

Rushes-Yards;38-195;32-153

Passing;198;267

Comp.-Att.-Int.;12-15-0;21-37-1

Penalties-Yards;4-30;11-67

Fumbles-Lost;1-1;2-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – CROWN POINT, Brayden Schutt 10-104, AJ Summers 8-35, Max Gurnic 8-21, Tyce Custy 12-0. MERRILLVILLE, Cam Jordan 21-106, Michael Hill, Jr. 6-34, Pelumi Ojo 1-7, Tony Woods 3-6, Tyshawn Meeks 1-0.

PASSING – CROWN POINT, Tyce Custy 12-15-198-2-0. MERRILLVILLE, Michael Hill, Jr. 17-26-217-2-0, Pelumi Ojo 4-11-50-0-1.

RECEIVING – CROWN POINT, Ethan Ziolkowski 4-73, RJ Ford 3-49, Kingston Connelly 3-41, Cooper Malaski 2-35. MERRILLVILLE, Curtis Walker 9-163, Tyshawn Meeks 4-53, Cam Jordan 5-30, Tony Woods 2-19, William Golden 1-2.