The Region Sports Network always previews the top prep football match-ups slated for Friday night, but have now added an "Around the Region" feature that provides a brief outlook on every game featuring a team in Northwest Indiana. See the RSN's "Around the Region" outlook for Week Five.
This week, "Around the Region" takes a look at 14 games that aren't covered in the game previews section. Among the ones of local interest are Chesterton at Valparaiso, Michigan City at Merrilllville and what the RSN's Nathan Laird is calling the "Jay Novak Bowl," where East Chicago Central head coach Jay Novak will face his former squad, Hammond Clark, at home.
But the bigger games will still get their own previews, and the RSN is just as thorough in providing detailed information on those.
This week, the Portage High School Indians look to get win No. 1 at Crown Point in one of the featured games.
"This game will feature two of the top big-play running threats in the Region in Crown Point quarterback Artie Equihua (Uh-key-waa) and Portage’s Nathan Cherry," Laird wrote on the contest, predicting Crown Point as a 24-17 winner. See full RSN preview here.
Top-ranked Andrean, fresh off a victory over No. 2 Munster, hits the road for a meeting with Hobart at "The Brickyard." The 59ers last regular season loss came two years ago to the week, to this very Hobart team. However, Steve Wartman is not expecting another upset like in 2012, selecting Andrean as a 42-20 winner.
"There’s difficulty in believing Hobart can legitimately compete this week is in considering their two losses, against a pair of good teams, but not quite the Region’s elite. Well, this Friday, there’s no questioning the strength of their opponent, and level the Brickies will need to rise to in all game phases to keep this close," Wartman said. See full RSN preview here.
A Lake Central team riding a three-game win streak hosts La Porte in the RSN's third featured game.
"(La Porte running back Charles) Salary is the real deal and probably the best offensive player Lake Central will face this regular season," writes Dennis Churilla. "But unlike Munster, who beat Lake Central with multiple weapons, La Porte might be forced to be more one-dimensional." Churilla picks the Indians to hold off the Slicers, 28-14. See full RSN preview here.
