Merrillville offense awaits Trojan 'D'

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Chesterton's defense came up with an unbelievable performance against an outstanding Valparaiso offense in last week's Class 5A Sectional 1 semifinal game.

Not once, but twice in a span of six weeks, the Trojans' resilient and under-appreciated defense frustrated and stymied one of the area's most prolific offenses.

The Vikings, who averaged nearly 34 points per game, managed to score only 16 points in a pair of narrow (12-10 and 10-6) losses to the stingy Trojans.

If Chesterton (9-2) hopes to accomplish something that's never been done in school history -- win a sectional title -- its defense will likely have to be at its absolute best again if it hopes to contain the speed and talent Merrillville (8-3) brings to Friday night's sectional championship game.

During the regular-season meeting between the two schools on Oct. 17, Merrillville emerged with a 28-14 victory.

"We know how good they are, and we'll have to figure out a way to win,'' Chesterton head coach John Snyder said. "The first game we played them, our offensive line played poorly. We can attribute some of that to their defensive line, but we also blocked plays wrong. We just didn't play well.''

Snyder said Chesterton lost two fumbles at its own 6-yard line in the first game against the Pirates, which led to 14 points.

Snyder realizes his team can't repeat those mistakes in Friday night's title game at home and expect to win.

"When you get in the playoffs, every mistake, every turnover is magnified,'' Snyder said. "That's going to be very important. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will be the one that comes out on top.''

This is Chesterton's first sectional championship game appearance since 2001, when Valparaiso came away with a 42-14 win.

Merrillville, meanwhile, is making its sixth straight sectional title game appearance. The Pirates, who won sectional titles in 2004, '05, and again, in '07, have won six of their last seven games and appear to be coming together when the stakes are the highest.

"We've kind of gotten on a roll, here, of late,'' Merrillville coach Zac Wells said. "We've been playing a lot more consistently and a lot more as a team.''

For whatever reason, Merrillville seems to have a real penchant for postseason success. The Pirates have really been a difficult team to eliminate.

"I think our coaches and our kids have the right mindset when it comes to tournament time,'' Wells said. "We have a familiarity with going deep into the tournament and with the time change at this time of the year. We look forward to this time of year. It's do or die, and the pressure is on. You can either respond to it, or fold under it, and I think our guys do a good job of responding to it in a positive manner.''

The Pirates are coming off last week's 37-7 sectional semifinal win over Munster. In that game, sophomore running back Denzel Pierce rushed for a career-high 265 yards on 13 carries and scored on four long touchdown runs.

"We have to be prepared for everything,'' Snyder said. "The last time, Dolapo (Pirates quarterback Macarthy) made some big plays against us.''

Chesterton's defense will have its hands full trying to contain Pierce, Macarthy and Merrillville's other playmakers.

"We have to figure out a way to control the ball, block and keep the offense moving,'' Snyder said. "They're a big, fast, strong team. I know what they're capable of and what they do, but I'm more concerned with us playing better.''

Snyder said Merrillville didn't do anything he didn't anticipate the first time the two teams met.

"We just didn't do what we needed to do and make the plays we had to,'' he said. "We're capable of playing a lot better.''

Snyder is aware his team could be on the verge of something really special.

"They're great kids -- probably the best example of a team that I've ever coached,'' Snyder said. "They're unselfish. They don't care who makes the plays as long as the plays are made. It's a very smart group. They understand what we're trying to accomplish within the group.

"We don't have any real superstars or Division I recruits, we just have a group of really good players who've played hard and believed in themselves when nobody else did.''