It didn’t take long for Crown Point to make an impression under Craig Buzea.
The Bulldogs opened the season with a 28-14 win against Lowell on Aug. 20, a strong showing in the veteran coach’s debut with the team.
Buzea, a Griffith graduate who had previous stops at Portage and Michigan City, had been the coach at Illinois power Homewood-Flossmoor for the past 10 seasons.
“Everything is new to our players, including how we prepare for our game-day routine,” Buzea said. “I’m glad we got this behind us, but it will take awhile for everything to seem normal for them.
“It certainly was every bit the challenge we thought it would be going against a very well-coached, seasoned team at their place, and a very much more diverse offense than what they have showed in the past.”
The Old Leather Helmet game is the oldest rivalry in the state, and Lowell had won the past four matchups. Crown Point most recently had won in 2016 with a 9-3 victory in double overtime.
“So many of our guys had never played on Friday night, let alone in a huge rivalry game,” Buzea said. “The atmosphere was electric. I’ve never been to one of these games and was told how it would be, but it was more than I imagined. We definitely had guys that took awhile to get their legs underneath them.
“It was a nice win, which Crown Point hasn’t had over Lowell in a long while. I’m happy for our players, alumni and community.”
Buzea said the game could’ve gone “sideways in a hurry” when Lowell recovered the opening onside kick. But Crown Point’s defense came up with a stop.
The Bulldogs aimed to contain senior running back Joey Heuer, who gained 98 yards on 23 carries.
Lowell scored on a short field after a Crown Point fumble but didn’t score again until the last play of the game.
Junior quarterback JJ Johnson sparked Crown Point’s offense. He passed for 77 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 139 yards and two more TDs.
Crown Point plays Andrean on Friday before opening its Duneland Athletic Conference schedule against Merrillville. Buzea and Andrean coach Chris Skinner said the programs haven’t played each other during the regular season.
“What it does for us, that makes the first third of our schedule one of the toughest around, putting us against three of the top four programs in the Region to start our season,” Buzea said. “It’s quite a challenge. But we’ll definitely find out what we’ll need to work on for the rest of the schedule once we complete that stretch.”
Major matchup: West Side’s game at Calumet on Friday features a pair of teams coming off season-opening wins.
The Cougars defeated Phalen Academy 35-12, and the Warriors beat Bowman 49-0 in Cody French’s first game as coach.
West Side lost 32-26 to Phalen at the beginning of last season.
“It’s always important to start off the season with a win, especially against a team we lost to in 2020,” West Side coach Eric Schreiber Jr. said. “Our kids gained some much-needed confidence and assurance that they can play at a high level. Now it’s all about consistency.”
Junior running back Camajay Griffin-Terrell was the star for West Side, rushing for a program-record 339 yards and four TDs on 30 carries.
Schreiber also praised the performances of offensive linemen KJ Sandidge, Jordan Summers, De’Eric Mister, Paul Gould, Sean Ambrose and LeBarron Burton, and H-backs Braylon Matthews and Donald Robinson.
French had a successful debut for Calumet, which is coming off its first sectional title last season. Among the highlights, sophomore quarterback Quentin Falls completed five of seven passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns after senior Scott Flores suffered an early injury. Sophomore linebacker Alex Ponce had 10 tackles.
“It felt great to get on the field with the guys and to watch them execute the game plan,” French said. “Our staff felt like we had a great week of practice and were happy with the results in all three phases.
“Q Falls came in and competed at a high level at the quarterback position when his number was called, and our receiving corps played very well. The defense swarmed all night and played well for the majority of the game. We’re looking forward to a battle Friday night against a talented and well-coached West Side team.”
Schreiber also is looking forward to the game.
“Calumet is a great program and are the defending Sectional 25 champs for a reason,” he said. “Coach French has those boys rolling, and it doesn’t look like they’ve skipped a beat. They’ve reloaded, and I’m sure they’ll be ready to play. … It’s going to be a tough game for us, but that’s why we put them on the schedule.”
Successful starts: Rick Good, who led Calumet to that sectional title, won his first game as Lake Central’s coach.
The Indians topped Munster 28-0 after canceling their scrimmage against Andrean due to COVID-19 protocols.
Robert Kania also won his first game as Wheeler’s coach. The Bearcats defeated River Forest 39-12.
