MERRILLVILLE -- Rain and lightning wreaked havoc across the region Friday, including at Merrillville where the Pirates were facing Duneland Conference rival Crown Point.
Multiple delays halted play for 30 minutes at a time.
But somehow they managed to get the first half in before a couple more lightning strikes in the immediate area produced more delays.
In that 24 minutes of game time, Merrillville was raining touchdowns to the tune of a 35-0 lead.
And it wasn't even that close.
After all the delays, the second half finally started at 9:50 p.m., and the Pirates poured it on some more.
In the end, Merrillville cruised to a 42-6 victory and a date with Munster in the second round of Sectional 1.
It was the fifth straight year the rivals had met in the sectional, but the outcome was quite different.
In the previous four were fairly close with Merrillville (7-3) winning three of them.
The Pirates marched down the field in several different ways.
If you like long, patient drives, then the Pirates' first one was for you: 11 plays, 80 yards, ending in a 4-yard plunge by senior running back Dionte Day.
Of course, that drive took 44 minutes of real time since it included a 30-minute delay with 7:27 left in the first quarter and Merrillville at Crown Point's 16-yard-line.
If you like drives highlighted by explosive plays, Merrillville's second drive is for you with senior quarterback Dolapo Macarthy busting through the line for a 64-yard scamper down to the 11-yard-line.
He capped off the drive with a 12-yard TD run after a holding penalty moved them back.
That was just the beginning for Macarthy.
He added a 22-yard touchdown run on the next drive, had a 42-yard jaunt on the fourth drive, which only took 45 seconds and was completed by another four-yard TD run by Day, and then Macarthy showed he's more than just a quarterback.
He finished the half with a 12-yard TD reception from Zach Raspopovich with nine seconds left.
Raspopovich is the sophomore who replaced Macarthy for a couple weeks earlier in the season.
Macarthy added a fourth touchdown with 7:27 left in the third quarter -- a 20-yard scamper -- after an almost one-hour wait at halftime for lightning to leave the area.
In that quarter-and-a-half of football, Macarthy had 13 carries for 180 yards while leading the Pirates to 18 first downs.
In that same period of time, Crown Point only had one first down and 17 total yards of offense.
The Bulldogs (3-7) managed to avoid a shutout with a nine-yard touchdown pass from backup QB Mike Lipton to senior tight end Alex Cipolla as time expired.
Merrillville will travel to Munster for Friday's second-round contest.
Contact Steve Gorches at 648-3141, sgorches@post-trib.com or visit his blog at blogs.post-trib.com/gorches.
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