Week Eight of the prep football season in Northwest Indiana kicks off tonight, with some key match-ups between teams ranked in the Region Sports Network's Top Ten. This week, the RSN has previewed three of the best games.
RSN No. 2 Munster visits No. 8 Lowell tonight in a pivitol Northwest Crossroads Conference game, with the loser being all but eliminated from conference championship contention.
"If the Munster rush defense improves and they are able to find some offensive success outside of the run game against a Lowell defense with an improved defensive front, they could get the win and keep the deficit with Andrean at one game," the RSN's Nathan Laird wrote. "For the Red Devils, not only will the rushing attack have to be as good as it’s been all season, they’ll have to win the special teams battle and make sure the dangerous Munster offense doesn’t have short fields to work with." See full RSN preview here.
Another showdown between top ten teams takes place at Demaree Stadium when No. 3 Lake Central visits No. 10 Merrillville.
"Merrillville unveiled the kind of explosiveness last week against Valparaiso that had been highly anticipated, but previously unseen, this season. We’ll find out this week whether that game is more of a statement about the Vikings’ problems or a signal that the Pirates are starting to figure things out," the RSN's Dennis Churilla says, predicting a 17-10 victory for Lake Central. See full RSN preview here.
No. 5 Crown Point will look to defend the "Bulldog Turf" tonight against a 4-3 Chesterton team that was shutout by Lake Central last week.
"The Crown Point defense turned up in a big way last week, putting the clamps on Charles Salary of La Porte...Chesterton’s defense is no slouch either as the Trojans allowed just two field goals in their loss at Lake Central. Chesterton is now surrendering less than 10 points per game to their opponents," Churilla writes, selecting Crown Point as a 20-14 winner. See full RSN preview here.
RSN Top 10 - Week Eight
1. Andrean, 7-0
2. Munster, 6-1
3. Lake Central, 6-1
4. Rensselaer Central, 7-0
5. Crown Point, 6-1
6. Morton, 6-1
7. Whiting, 7-0
8. Lowell, 4-3
9. Wheeler, 6-1
10. Merrillville, 4-3