Barta blocks bad vibes
Star linebacker/tight end shifts to interior of OL at critical time for short-handed but unbeaten Lowell
Spencer Barta learned how to play guard in one hour of practice time before Lowell played Kankakee Valley last week.
It was broken up into two 30-minute sessions, Barta said.
“It was fun,” he said. “I thought everyone filled their spots pretty well.”
The Red Devils were faced with perhaps one of their biggest and oddest challenges in their history.
They went into the game against the Kougars without 20 players, including 10 starters, according to Lowell coach Keith Kilmer.
All of them — including three starters on the offensive line, all the starters in the secondary and two starters on the defensive line — were in quarantine after a Lowell player tested positive for COVID-19, according to Kilmer. Lowell had to cancel its game against Hobart on Sept. 18 because of the situation.
For most schools, that sort of roster depletion would have been an excuse to cancel the Sept. 25 game.
For Lowell (5-0), it was an opportunity to test its depth and ingenuity.
The Red Devils rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit and won 28-21 on a touchdown by Joey Heuer with 39.5 seconds left.
Barta, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound junior linebacker, is Lowell’s leading tackler.
Kilmer calls him one of the best linebackers in the area. Barta has 50 tackles, including five for loss and two sacks. He usually plays tight end as his second position.
“He started every game last year for us,” Kilmer said. “He’s our play caller on defense. He’s tough to handle. He’s big and physical
with a motor that doesn’t stop.”
Barta is one of those players who can be slotted just about anywhere and he’d make a difference.
He is going to play offensive tackle against Highland on Friday. The Red Devils still are missing players because of the quarantine, though not as many as they had out against Kankakee Valley, Kilmer said.
The game plan for the offensive line was
distilled to two blocks for running plays and pass protection.
Lowell rushed for 141 yards against Kankakee Valley.
“Coach Kilmer did a good job of simplifying what we did,” Barta said. “It worked out for us.”
It’s hard to overstate how much a win
under those circumstances can do for a team’s confidence.
Barta believes the team could use the game as a springboard.
“This just opens our mind to what we could do if we are at full strength,” Barta said.
Rescheduling: Merrillville (5-0), which will play Indianapolis Chatard (5-1) at 6:30 p.m. Friday, had been scheduled to play Valparaiso. But the Vikings had to cancel the game because of a positive COVID-19 test last week. Chatard is the defending Class 3A state champion and is ranked No. 1 in 3A in the Associated Press poll.
Valparaiso (3-0) has had the most disruptions because of the coronavirus pandemic of any team that started the season on time in Northwest Indiana. The Vikings had to move their season opener against Penn back a day because of a positive COVID-19 test; missed a game against Griffith because the Panthers decided to start the regular season on Sept. 4; and had to cancel their game against Crown Point on Sept. 25.
Nineteen of the 33 schools in the Post-Tribune’s coverage area have not played a full schedule because of the pandemic.
Rankings: In the AP polls, Andrean is ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, Lowell is ranked No. 6 and Hobart is ranked No. 9 in Class 4A, Valparaiso is ranked No. 2 and Michigan City is ranked No. 8 in Class 5A, and Merrillville is ranked No. 2 in Class 6A.