Crown Point (2-0) at Merrillville (1-1)

When: 7 p.m. today.

Radio/Internet: USA-365.com, WEFM-FM (95.9), rrsn.com, WWCA-AM (1270), regionsports.com.

Breaking It Down: To say last year's 38-14 win in Week 3 over C.P. wasn't a big deal for the Pirates would be incorrect. The Bulldogs had won seven straight regular season games against their rivals to the north. In the 2009 border war, Bucs QB Zac Raspopovich was 16-of-22 for 192 yards. Merrillville RB Denzel Pierce had 93 yards on 14 carries and two scores. Those two standouts have C.P. coach Chip Pettit concerned the most. "Pierce is as good as you'll find anywhere," Pettit said. "And (Raspopovich) is as good and as seasoned of a quarterback around. They will give people problems this year. We've got to limit our mistakes and hold onto the ball. We'll have our hands full with them." That's what Merrillville coach Zac Wells is thinking about the Bulldogs. Crown Point has outscored Lowell and Hobart by a total of 85-20. After back-to-back 3-7 seasons, C.P. seems to have taken it to another level. "We know they have a good football team," Wells said. "We improved a lot from Week 1 to Week 2. But we've got to continue getting better. Our execution was better on offense last Friday, but we need to get better. This is a good test for us early in the season. It's our first conference game, so that adds to it." C.P. and Merrillville have played twice in five of the last six seasons, with the Pirates going 3-1 in the postseason while the 'Dogs are 5-1 in the regular season. -- Steve Hanlon

Griffith (0-2) at Hobart (1-1)

When: 7 p.m. today.

Breaking It Down: What we have here are two old nicked-up rivals trying to hop back on their skateboards for this Northwest Crossroads matchup. The visiting Panthers have lost both games by a combined 14 points, while the Brickies have allowed 78 points -- 48 of them belonging to Crown Point. "I'd rather be 0-and-2 and have their attention and know what they are able to attain," Griffith coach Russ Radtke said. "You're only as good as your opponents make you, and both our opponents (Morton, Valparaiso) are good teams. Our chances of winning and staying in both of them show us that we will get the ship righted and have some fun." The Panthers have won nine of the 17 meetings since 1994. "We're having fun right now. We don't have a kid missing practice. We don't have a kid missing his assignments. We're still out there in that dust, dirt and heat, working hard," Radtke said. "The Hobart games always seem to come down to a field goal or a point at the end of the game; back and forth." Hobart coach Wally McCormack says his players were irritated, angry and embarrassed after their thumping by C.P. and it doesn't get any easier tonight. "All this crazy talk about Griffith's done, Griffith's in trouble, Griffith's not going to be any good ... they're forgetting who's coaching that team and how very, very hard those kids play on both sides of the ball," McCormack said. "They're typical Griffith. What they lack in size they make up for playing hard." Much of that grittiness comes from QB Calvin Bonewits, but McCormack is also impressed with the quickness of Troy Yarnelle and Brett Brinkley. "They don't have bums playing running back right now," he said. "They may be young kids nobody ever heard of but they're pretty good athletes." -- Al Hamnik

 

Lake Central (1-1) at Portage (1-1)

When: 7 p.m. today.

Internet: rrsn.com.

Breaking It Down: The matchup of the Indians features two new coaches --  Portage's Jeromy Flowers and L.C.'s Brett St. Germain -- looking to win their Duneland debuts. "I think the kids just need to continue to believe in themselves, in their abilities," St. Germain said. "They're working hard. I can't fault the effort. Come Friday, they just have to trust in each other, and they have as good a chance of winning as anybody. It would be nice to get over .500 to set the tone for the rest of the conference season. Portage is a really good team, so if we can find a way to beat them, the kids will get the sense that we can be a good team." St. Germain's main worry is containing Portage's array of playmakers, headed by Jake Dixon. "Obviously, they have some good skill kids, game-changing type kids, and they're creating space to give those kids room to make plays," he said. "They can make big plays and those plays can change the momentum of the game. We have to be on top of our game for the entire 48 minutes. There's no doubt we have to be very fundamentally sound defensively, stay in the right spots and try to reduce the space they're working with. Defensively, they got after it against St. Rita. They're playing with a lot of energy." Lake Central's spread attack will be a different challenge for a Portage defense that yielded just one lengthy scoring drive to St. Rita. "I thought we got in and out of plays pretty fast, we can't hold a candle to Lake Central," Flowers said. "(Receivers Steve Krause and Kramer Phalen) can catch the ball and run. (Tanner Redlarczyk) doesn't have big speed, but man, he's a bruiser. The line's getting off the ball real hard." Portage's offense looks to get back on track after being shut out by St. Rita. "The biggest thing we're figuring out is what we have to do when we face teams like that to get in the end zone," Flowers said. "We'd have a couple good plays, then end up off the field on third and short, or get a couple first downs, then have a bad snap. We've got to get that nipped in the bud. We've really hit hard on that this week." -- Jim Peters

Lake Station (0-2) at River Forest (2-0)

When: 7 p.m. today.

Breaking It Down: There is much joy in Ingot-land these days. For the first time since 1990 River Forest is undefeated after the first two games of the year. Better numbers and a high-energy summer training program have coach Jeff Bean smiling from ear to ear. Rich Pennington is averaging 7.2 yards per carry with four touchdowns. The senior also has 30 tackles and three sacks, and he has returned an interception 65 yards for a score. DB Tyler Hanson returned a pick 38 yards for a TD in last Friday's win. "Everyone's excited right now," Bean said. "The kids have worked hard in the offseason, and it's paying off. We have 42 kids out, which gives us more depth, and we're able to platoon a little bit. Our keys to this week is to keep the momentum going. We've been playing some great defense." The Ingots are averaging 250 yards of rushing a game. All those factors have Mike Hepp concerned about the biggest rivalry game at either school. When he coached the Eagles from 1994 to 1999, Hepp was 5-1 against the Ingots. Lake Station has been outscored 88-25 in its games against North White and LaVille. "We're young and we're learning to get better, learning how to compete again," Hepp said. "This is going to take some time. But I have a feeling our guys will give everything they have against River. This games means a lot." -- Steve Hanlon

 

LaPorte (2-0) at Valparaiso (2-0)

When: 7 p.m. today.

Radio/Internet: WAKE-AM (1500), WVLP-FM (98.3), regionsports.com, Z1071.com.

Breaking It Down: Arguably the most pleasant surprise of the early season, Valparaiso opens conference play against LaPorte, which dominated New Prairie and Elkhart Central in also going 2-0. "They're playing extremely well defensively," Vikings coach Mark Hoffman said. "They've been hard to run on and very hard to pass on. Offensively, they have huge -- I mean huge -- wide receivers and tight ends, 6-4, 6-5. They're working with an inexperienced quarterback and offensive line, but they have great skill players. They look better than last year from the standpoint that they're throwing a lot better." Kyle Hartson is completing passes at a 71 percent clip, giving the Slicers some balance to go with RB Nick Latchford (8 TDs). They've scored 61 points while allowing just seven. "Coming in, we had so many questions, I'm pretty happy with where we're at right now," LaPorte coach Bob Schellinger said. "One of the big stories is our defense. We may give up 50 to Valpo, but right now, only giving up seven points in two games is awful good. Obviously, we have to step it up coming into the Duneland. Valpo's one of the cream of the crop." Schellinger's biggest concern may be Valpo's size advantage against his smallish squad. "Everything about them impresses me -- their size, quickness, aggressiveness, athletic ability," he said. "They don't have many weaknesses. I've had two people comment how little our defense is, but they're very quick and they get to the ball. Against Valpo, it's going to look like the land of the giants versus the munchkins from the Wizard of Oz. With those green uniforms, our kids might think they're in the forest." Valpo appears to hold a decisive edge on special teams with kicker Sam Ficken. "If they have a flaw right now, it's kicking and punting," Hoffman said. "Otherwise, they have the whole package. It ought to be a real test." -- Jim Peters

Wheeler (2-0) at Whiting (2-0)

When: 7 p.m. today.

Breaking It Down: There aren't any secrets around the Whiting locker room leading up to Wheeler. The Oilers know that the Bearcats are 21-0 in three years in the Greater South Shore Conference, that they allowed just seven points in league play last season and that they beat Whiting 63-0 in 2009. "We've made them aware of it this week," Whiting coach Jeff Cain said. "Our kids aren't dumb." Cain said the Oilers' confidence is high after outscoring their opponents 78-0 in two games thus far, but they certainly can't coast against the Bearcats. According to the numbers, Whiting is just as good this year as Wheeler, as both teams won their second games of the season 55-0. Last week, Wheeler QB Sam O'Shea threw for 349 yards and seven touchdowns against Kankakee Valley, but regardless of the amount of film Cain has watched, he couldn't find an answer for the number of weapons Wheeler can unleash. "Their skill kids are giving people fits," Cain said. "There are other kids that they haven't even broken out. On tape, I said, the quarterback looks really good. I said the receivers run clean routes. I said they're going to play the entire field." If there's pressure in this game, it's on Wheeler. The Bearcats have set the bar high for themselves by dominating the GSSC since its inception three years ago. Each of the last three seasons Wheeler has derailed Whiting's conference hopes with a win in the league opener. "Any time it's Whiting (there are) conference implications," Wheeler coach Dan Klimczak said. "Whiting definitely has something to say about it. If we're going to defend the title, we have to go through the Whiting Oilers. "They play excited, they play fast. They're hard for a lot of teams to match up against, they can pound you running the ball. They have a lot of weapons. We have do our best to contain a very diverse offense. All games are big. That's how we view it." -- Josh Weinfuss