Pirates break out with rout of LC

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

MERRILLVILLE -- Right from the get-go, Merrillville's promising 2008 outlook took a swift nosedive.

But as the relentless Duneland Conference calendar winds down, you can be sure the defending 5A regional champs have their sights set on rising back up.

In Friday night's DAC home finale at Demaree Stadium, the Pirates (5-3, 3-3) wasted no time and handed Lake Central a 34-3 thumping on homecoming.

After taking the opening kickoff, senior quarterback Dolapo Macarthy engineered a 63-yard, 10-play drive, capping it with a 6-yard burst for a touchdown.

It was evident that the Pirates truly won the battle in the trenches on both sides, and also on special teams, as the Indians (3-5, 1-5) found themselves trailing 14-0 as the result of a muffed punt on the ensuing possession.

"We came pretty close to having that breakout game tonight," Macarthy said. "Rebounding after a tough loss was important and I think offense, defense and special teams all looked pretty sharp tonight."

Senior Dionte Day scooped up the blocked ball in stride and raced past one Lake Central player for the 26-yard score.

"I was very pleased mostly with the way the offensive line got after it," said Merrillville coach Zac Wells. "No matter what, guys like Chris Beezhold, Jim Vislosky and Joey Nelson were causing fits and making things so much more consistent for our offense."

From a defensive standpoint, senior Chris Stokes returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown and the Pirates forced five Lake Central fumbles, which became very demoralizing when the Indians were showing signs of mounting sustained drives before turning it over.

Macarthy completed 8-of-17 passes for 88 yards and also rushed for 37 more from the spread formation, which resulted in the Pirates moving the chains on key third downs.

"We had that nice drive to start the game and that was so important because after last week this whole team wanted to come in and rededicate ourselves, especially with the postseason being right around the corner," Wells said.

The Pirates will end the regular season with next week's challenging game at Chesterton.

Erik Bisson put the Indians on the board with an impressive 37-yard field goal in the second quarter.