Numbers tell unusual story
A look back at the high school football season in Northwest Indiana
Ten takeaways — by the numbers — from the 2020 high school football season.
Seventy-seven. That’s the percentage of regular-season football games played by the 32 teams in the Post-Tribune’s coverage area. The coronavirus pandemic made scheduled games a week-to-week proposition. Of 280 scheduled games, 216 were played. It was a victory just to get to the end of the season.
Three. That’s the number of regional champions from Northwest Indiana. Valparaiso, Hobart and Merrillville each won a regional for the second straight year. That has happened just five other times: 2005 (Griffith, Lowell and Merrillville), 2010 (Valparaiso, Morton and Rensselaer), 2013 (East Chicago Central, Andrean and Rensselaer), 2014 (Andrean, Rensselaer and LaPorte) and 2019 (Valparaiso, Andrean, Hobart and Merrillville). The 2019 season was the only time four teams from Northwest Indiana won regionals in the same year.
Six. That’s the number of years it had been since a player last committed to Notre Dame. Merrillville’s JoJo Johnson will be the first Notre Dame recruit since Andrean’s Josh Barajas committed in 2014. Johnson plans to enroll at Notre Dame for the 2021-22 school year. Merrillville’s James Aldridge played at Notre Dame beginning in 2006, and Valparaiso’s Jeff Samardzija played there from 2003 to 2006. Johnson previously committed to Northern Illinois and then Cincinnati before deciding on the Irish.
Four. That’s the number of private schools that won state titles. Every year, there is yammering about making private schools play up a class or banishing them to their own tournament. Ask the players, though, and they don’t want to water down the playoffs. After Hobart’s 49-7 loss to Roncalli in the Class 4A state final, Zach Vode said he wants to play the best. “I liked the way they played football,” Vode said of Roncalli. “I always want a challenge. I’d play them 10 times in a row.”
Nine. That’s the number of regional titles Andrean has won. The 59ers’ jarring 24-21 loss to Pioneer in their quest for a 10th regional championship is one of those games they’ll never forget. Andrean senior wide receiver Nick Flesher lost a battle for a jump ball with Pioneer’s Addai Lewellen in the end zone with 1:12 left in their Class 2A regional. Andrean was the Northwest Indiana team most likely to win a state title, in my opinion.
One. That’s the number of sectional titles Calumet has won after it defeated Hanover Central 38-21 in the Class 3A Sectional 25 final. The Warriors were the feel-good story of the season. The school district decided not to play football because of the pandemic but then reversed itself, leaving Calumet with a three-game regular season.
Twelve. That’s the number of Hobart’s appearances in state finals. No Northwest Indiana team has more. Andrean is second with six appearances. The Brickies have been runner-up eight times and have won four state titles. The only other team in Northwest Indiana with more than one state championship is Andrean, which has two.
Eight. That was Valparaiso senior quarterback Maximus Grimes’ uniform number. Grimes transferred from Lafayette Jefferson, where he passed for 1,886 yards in 2019. He played part of Valparaiso’s opener against Penn before a lower leg injury knocked him out for the season. It was a critical loss for a team that was poised to possibly return to the Class 5A state championship game.
One-hundred thirty-one. That’s Andrean senior Joe Cimino’s quarterback rating. Cimino completed 69% of his passes and threw for 24 TDs in his first full season starting at the position. Cimino had played one game at quarterback at Marian Central Catholic in Woodstock. He was a huge reason for the 59ers’ success.
Seven. That’s the number of losses Lowell finished with this season. The Red Devils were one of the best 4-7 teams ever in Northwest Indiana. Lowell forfeited its first five games, all victories, because it used an ineligible player.