MICHIGAN CITY -- The best Duneland Conference team ever?
As Crown Point has run roughshod through the seven-game schedule, blowing away every team in its path, the debate has arisen again.
"It's hard to measure eras," Bulldogs coach Craig Buzea said after Friday's 35-8 win over Michigan City, its closest game of the season. "We're not going to lay stake to the best team in the Duneland. Obviously, they didn't have running clocks back then. For a single season, I don't think anybody's won by the margin we did since this conference has been intact."
By the numbers, Crown Point's total margin of victory in DAC play of 236 points surpassed the previous high total (219) for seven games, fashioned by the 1994 Portage team, which also happened to be Buzea's first as a head coach. The total would be appreciably higher if the 35-point mercy rule wasn't in effect.
Hobart's dominant era started in 1977 and ended in 1986, spanning 55 Duneland games. The Brickies had held the highest average winning margin (31.8) dating back to 1983, when the conference had seven teams, until Crown Point (33.7) exceeded the mark.
"People make a big deal out of it, but I’d like to see someone else win the conference eight straight years, because it won’t be done,” late Hobart coach Don Howell said after their streak ended in Oct. 10, 1986, against Merrillville. “The streak’s got to come to an end sometime."
Since the Brickies run, no one had won the league more than twice in a row, C.P. securing its third straight Friday with its 21st straight regular-season Duneland victory.
"A lot of people were saying we were going to get big heads, we lost a lot of good players, the Clarks, how are you going to replace them?" Buzea said. "To do it three times in a row, you can't fathom. You'd think you're going to overlook somebody at some point. As many points as we have scored, I think the real story of our team is our defense. Our first-team defense, seven out of nine times, has shut someone out until we took them off the field."
The Michigan City game marked just the second time Lucas Szymborski had played in the second half of a conference game, all of which had running clocks. The Wolves were the first team to take CP to the fourth quarter before it kicked in.
"It was nice," Szymborski said. "I think we needed it going into the postseason, not really having anybody give us a run. On a couple plays, we did look flat. I had to pick up my guys when something bad happens, tell them, hey, get 'em the next play. I always make sure my teammates aren't thinking about that. You don't want anything to come down the line and not be ready. We're expecting to win, but what happened last year, what's happening this year, we can't expect teams to just fall down for us. We've got to earn it. It's getting back to the practice, working every day, taking it one week at a time, too, not looking forward. Right now, we've got to look at Portage."
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Szymborski, a Ball State commit who moved to Crown Point from Tennessee in February, picked off a pass, while Trevor Gibbs and Logan Rodriguez both recovered fumbles. Jayden Rodriguez and Larry Ellison divided four rushing touchdowns, with Noah Ehrlich tossing a TD pass to Jacob Soley (six catches, 93 yards).
"We've got so many weapons, it's crazy," Szymborski said. "It's great. We can rotate in, coach calls our number, he can call me in, call Jacob in, call Trevor in, we're gonna get the job done. It's our physicality for sure, pushing piles back, everyone getting to the ball as fast as they can. Overall, getting 11 guys doing their job, everything's going to be positive for you. We always talk about big plays happening, sudden change, our offense gets a fumble, they're starting on the 20-yard line, we get a stop. We practice for that and we're ready for anything that comes our way."
After having this week off, the 6A No. 2 Bulldogs will open the state tournament against Portage, eyeing a return trip to the state finals, which would be the crowning achievement of Buzea's hall of fame career and enhance that case for greatest Duneland team ever.
"It's been a nice run," Buzea said. "But it won't get us anything going into the playoffs."
Lucas Szymborski and Josh Miller of Crown Point team up to tackle Michigan City's Jamorieon Gee in Friday's game. Photo by Barb Buzea
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