Crown Point senior quarterback Noah Ehrlich crunches the numbers.
Despite all his success, Ehrlich doesn’t necessarily calculate a favorable result.
“There’s a million other kids just like me who play high school football and are very successful,” Ehrlich said. “So I’m always trying to find the step that separates me from the general crowd.”
As Crown Point (9-0) prepares for a sectional semifinal against Portage (4-5) on Nov. 1, Ehrlich was asked what could separate him. His face briefly lit up and then turned stone-cold serious.
“The biggest thing is doing something that hasn’t been done, and what hasn’t been done in the Region is obviously to win a state championship,” Ehrlich said. “Only one team gets to do it.
“So rather than, ‘Oh, he has good stats, they went undefeated in the regular season, but they lost in state like last year,’ you want it to be, ‘Oh, he has good stats, they won every game and they won the state championship. They could get the job done.’ So just kind of hearing it and thinking about it in your brain, it’s a little piece that’s missing. That’s the only way I could really feel satisfied — we did what we were supposed to do, and we got the job done.”
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Ehrlich, a Miami of Ohio commit, has already helped Crown Point make history. Last season, despite losing to Indianapolis Ben Davis, the Bulldogs became the first Region team to reach the Class 6A state championship game since the expansion to six classes in 2013 and the first to do it in the largest class since Valparaiso was the 5A runner-up to Ben Davis in 2001.
Valparaiso (1975), Merrillville (1976) and Portage (1977) each won a state title in 3A, then the largest class.
Crown Point coach Craig Buzea, a member of multiple halls of fame, also crunches the numbers. He doesn’t believe Ehrlich needs to add a state title to the equation.
“Quarterbacks like him don’t come around very often,” Buzea said. “I’ve been in the Region 40-something years, away for 11, but it’s hard for me to imagine a kid who’s played the quarterback position at the high school level as good as he has. Maybe somebody just as good, but none better. He’s the entire package.”
Buzea said Ehrlich’s efforts behind the scenes distinguishes him from other players.
“His work ethic is unparalleled,” Buzea said. “It’s unmatched with anything I’ve seen. He lives the game. He knows the game.
“He’s what I want from a quarterback, which is an extension of me on the field. He’s gotten to the point where he’s seeing the field better and recognizing and recommending plays to us that he sees because he has that perspective that we don’t have on the field. It’s been a pleasure to be able to coach someone like that.”
This season, Ehrlich has completed 117 of 156 passes — a sizzling 75.0% clip — for 1,897 yards and 24 touchdowns with only one interception. He rarely played after halftime as Crown Point ran the table in the Duneland Athletic Conference for the third straight year and did it in a dominant fashion.
Asked about that touchdown-to-interception ratio, Ehrlich crunches the numbers again.
“It gets a little difficult seeing stats and seeing these guys have a ton of attempts and playing full games and throwing for a ton of yards,” he said. “But winning is the most important stat for a quarterback. I could throw five picks in a game. As long as we win, it doesn’t really matter. As long as I’m putting in the work and doing the stuff I’m supposed to do during the week, the stats will follow. I’m not too bothered by it, not too worried about the stats. But it’s nice to be able to win.
“Sometimes it gets hard playing only half a game. Mentally, it’s a little challenging because I want to play football as much as I can. But I’m also extremely grateful I’m able to only play two quarters and let some guys who don’t usually play get some playing time.”
Ehrlich recalled his Week 7 interception at LaPorte.
“It was a deep post,” he said, shaking his head. “Our wideout beat him, and I just plain-out underthrew it. I knew as soon as I let it go it was underthrown. I was very disappointed with myself. But it happens. What are you gonna do?”
All Ehrlich did last season, his first at Crown Point after transferring from Hobart, was set program records with 166 completions for 2,452 yards and 27 TDs, with nine interceptions. A 6A junior all-state selection and the DAC offensive MVP, Ehrlich also ran for 374 yards and 10 TDs.
Buzea crunches the numbers again.
“It’s hard to believe that somebody would take another step from what he did last year because he had a marvelous year last year,” Buzea said. “But he’s taken it up a definite notch, and not only stats. His stats are not what other people’s stats are because he’s only played in two second halves, so he’s played essentially the equivalent of four games. So his stats are a little misleading.
“But his leadership, his ability to make the right reads — there are times when he’s distributing the ball to eight to 10 different receivers, which is unheard of at this level. He has definitely taken his game up to the next notch, and hopefully we get to keep him around here for another few games because it’s a pleasure to coach him and it’s even nicer to watch him play.”
Ehrlich played his first two seasons at Hobart, a school and community to which he and his family have strong and long-standing ties.
Ehrlich was born in West Virginia, his mother April’s home state. But Hobart became his home. He moved to the Region when he was too young to even remember the Mountain State. Ehrlich’s father Rich, 30-year-old brother Jake, 28-year-old sister Savannah and 24-year-old brother Sam all graduated from Hobart.
Ehrlich went to school in Hobart’s system through sixth grade. Then his family relocated to the Milwaukee area when his father got a new job. But they returned to Hobart after Ehrlich finished seventh grade.
“I made a ton of really good friends, but a year later, we moved back to Hobart because my dad didn’t like where he was,” Ehrlich said. “I loved it there. My mom loved it there. But you have to do what’s best for the family. As long as we’re together, it doesn’t really matter where we are.
“It took a little bit of adjusting with the community. Everyone was like, ‘Pick a place. You went away for a year, then came back?’ But it was good. I’m glad we did it.”
In the process, Ehrlich wound up repeating seventh grade in Hobart.
“My dad asked me, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I think it will help me out, not just with sports, but with school as well,’” he said. “It slowed it down for me a little bit, helped me understand, and now I’ve been a straight-A student ever since the reclass.”
Ehrlich started at quarterback for the Brickies as a freshman, making a splash by throwing for 1,813 yards and 16 TDs with only one interception. As a sophomore, he threw for 1,662 yards and 14 TDs with 10 interceptions, and he rushed for 348 yards and four TDs.
Shortly before winter break of that school year, Ehrlich’s family moved to Crown Point.
“Initially, it was rough because you grow up in a place that you call home for so long,” he said.
But Ehrlich adjusted soon enough.
“We love where we are right now,” he said. “I’m very grateful for the situation I’m in. Thank God they were very welcoming when I got here. They kinda sorta knew who I was, but they really weren’t sure. It was like, ‘Oh, he’s the kid from Hobart, the quarterback.’ I didn’t really have a name when I came here.
“It was cool, but it also was very stressful. It was a new environment, out of your comfort zone. I gained a lot as a person as well, as a human, transferring. I’m very thankful we did it, and I appreciate what the coaches and the kids and my buddies have done to make it a smooth transition.”
Ehrlich joined Crown Point’s boys basketball team that winter, which helped him make the transition.
“As soon as I got in a competitive environment, a sports environment, something I was comfortable with, it was natural to make friends in a place where I was comfortable and was able to compete and talk with other guys and get to know everybody on the team,” he said. “Once I got to know everybody on the basketball team, it branched out to football and baseball.
“You make friends in class too. It got better. It was a little rough at first, but with time, I knew it would happen. It was hard thinking about it at first. But with time, I knew it would get better.”
Buzea noticed Ehrlich making an impact almost immediately.
“It took him about two days to really assume a leadership role of this program,” Buzea said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. His leadership skills, his competitiveness, his academics, all of those qualities, it’s just the top of the top. It doesn’t get any better than that, at least from where I am or what I’ve seen. It’s a tribute to him.
“He’s a winner, and he’s a competitor. The team follows him. Sometimes you get guys who are rolling their eyes, but when you work as hard as he does, people see that and they say, ‘You know what, what he’s saying is probably right, and we need to get in line.’ It’s pretty cool to watch.”
Crown Point junior safety Dominic Fantin noticed Ehrlich’s early influence too.
“He’s a really good leader,” Fantin said. “He stepped up to the role right when he got here. He did a good job of that. He blended in right away. It didn’t take much time for him to become friends with everybody.”
Crown Point junior tight end/linebacker Trevor Gibbs also praised Ehrlich for his contributions both off and on the field.
“He’s a good leader vocally, but he’s also a great leader by example,” Gibbs said. “Getting guys to follow you, that’s how the best teams are built, having players who other players want to follow. Player-led teams, that’s what we have with him.
“We’ve all gotten better this year, connection-wise and with chemistry, just working with him and spending more time with him in the offseason.”
Ehrlich was a reserve in his first basketball season at Crown Point. But he has been a starter in every other season he has played in football (four), basketball (as a freshman at Hobart) and baseball (three). He opted not to play basketball as a junior in order to focus on his football recruitment, but he’s planning to return in the upcoming season.
“I didn’t want to have any regrets, like thinking what if I would’ve worked harder in football,” Ehrlich said. “I used that time to get better at football and baseball.
“Now I don’t want to have any regrets in another way. When I’m done, I want to be able to say I did everything I love because I do love the sport. I’m going to give it a go for my senior season.”
Ehrlich developed his passion for a variety of sports at an early age. His father played baseball for the Brickies and later for the independent East Chicago Conquistadors for a season. Ehrlich’s brother Jake also played baseball, and his brother Sam was a quarterback for Hobart and also played basketball.
“I really come from a baseball family,” Ehrlich said. “That’s my dad’s sport. He loves it. He’s very smart when it comes to baseball. He’s a great coach — he coached all three of the boys.
“I grew up seeing them play all different sports. All of the seasons, we were going to all of the practices and all of the games. So I grew up naturally with a love for all of the sports. There was competition in the house constantly with me and my brothers.”
Now Ehrlich enjoys being an uncle. His brother Jake has three children, and his sister Savannah has three.
“I love hanging out with the kids,” Ehrlich said. “They’re a lot sometimes, but I love it.
“It’s kinda crazy to think, I remember watching my brothers play sports in high school. It’s crazy my brothers and my sister were helping take care of me when I was a kid, and now they’re all grown up and taking care of their own kids. My oldest brother is an amazing father, my sister is an amazing mother and my closest brother is my best friend. I’m very thankful for how they’ve turned out.”
Ehrlich’s future also is aligning. He committed to Miami — the first college to offer him a scholarship, the summer between his freshman and sophomore years — while on an official visit in January.
“They were the first ones to really see something in me and give me the opportunity to go to college for free,” Ehrlich said. “As a younger kid, it was like, ‘Wow, this is what I dreamed of. I dreamed of going to play Division I football.’ You got that feeling they were really the first ones to see me, and we just continued to build a great connection over the past three years.
“It was a very hard decision. Recruiting is very stressful, but it’s a privilege as well to be in that position. Miami of Ohio kept building that connection even when I wasn’t having the best season sophomore year. They kept believing in me and just were like, ‘We know what you can do. Just keep going out there and being yourself.’”
Ehrlich also received offers from Toledo, Central Michigan and Marshall. He got the offer from Marshall while he was visiting Miami of Ohio.
“I just fell more in love with (Miami), and by the end, I was ready to commit,” he said. “But it was pretty difficult. Marshall called me the night that I was staying there. We have family in West Virginia. We visit sometimes, and it’s beautiful. My parents met near the Marshall campus when they were in college to be court reporters, and they’d always go to the games.
“So originally, they were like, ‘Wow, we have to go to see. We have to go visit.’ But I was like, ‘Guys, look where we are. We have it pretty good.’ After careful thought and consideration, they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ It was cool getting another offer. It was reassuring that I was worth what I was showing. It was nice to get it. But ultimately Miami of Ohio was the best option for me and my family.”
Buzea isn’t surprised Ehrlich stuck with the RedHawks.
“The place he’s going, he can be very, very effective and do some things,” Buzea said. “There are times when I see college games or go to a college game like I did last Saturday (Wisconsin at Northwestern), which is a little higher level than he’s going, and say, ‘This kid could play at this level.’ I would not take anyone over him — he can do it all. If he would’ve opened up some things after he made his commitment, there were plenty of people who were interested in him.
“But the fact that he’s loyal to Miami of Ohio, that just shows the type of character he has. He’s going to a great program. I respect (coach) Chuck Martin tremendously. Miami University is very, very happy to have him, and he’ll thrive under (Martin’s) system. I can’t wait to watch him.”
Buzea believes Ehrlich’s best football is ahead of him.
“It was different for him when he first got here, and obviously I had to get to know him,” Buzea said. “Our offense is a little bit different than most. We ask our quarterback to do a lot. We give the car keys to our quarterback and tell him to drive it. We coach him up during the week, but he has the car during the game.
“Once he got used to it, our offense got better. And obviously this year it just took off from the get-go because he was well into what we were doing and what we were expecting him to do. It’s been a nice maturation process for him. Hopefully he can look back on it when this is all over and say this got him ready to go to the college level. We’re doing a few things that they do at the college level that hopefully will help him.”
Ehrlich has been planning to study business management. But he might not be as certain about that as he once was.
“I’ve wanted to get a business degree for as long as I can remember,” he said. “But maybe I want to get into teaching and coaching to be around the game because I love it.
“Being around the game for so long and kinda seeing it coming to an end and how special it really is, it kinda made me switch my thought that maybe I want to be around this when I’m older and coach kids and hopefully make an influence on the younger generation.”
