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Merrillville ends Lake Central’s bid for perfect record
Updated: October 8, 2011 3:32PM
ST. JOHN — Zac Wells wanted to see more from his special teams.
In a crucial Duneland Athletic Conference clash against Lake Central Friday night, the Pirates’ head coach loved what he saw.
Michael Dicken blocked a punt in the first quarter — and teammate Jared Earwin returned it 7 yards for a touchdown — and Eric DeLuna blocked another late in the third period — setting up a 1-yard TD run by Courtney Berry — to help the Pirates knock off Lake Central, 27-24.
“We worked hard this week on our punt block,’’ said Wells, who credit special teams coach Mark Schellinger for getting his crew ready. “We weren’t really happy with what we were getting out of them before tonight, but you have to give them credit, they responded to it.’’
DeLuna’s and the ensuing TD by Berry gave the Pirates (5-3, 5-1) the lead for good at 20-16.
“Our coach (Schellinger) saw that they weren’t blocking hard in the middle, so we blitzed hard to the middle, everyone did their job and we got a good block,’’ DeLuna said. “It was huge. It felt great. We just did something good as a group. The coaches really pushed us about it all week, and we pushed harder and harder, too, and it paid off for us.’’
The first loss this season by the Indians (7-1, 5-1) could be attributed to turnovers and miscues.
Lake Central quarterback David Yancey threw two interceptions and the Indians lost the ball twice on fumbles in addition to the blocked punts.
“Special teams and turnovers killed us tonight,’’ LC coach Brett St. Germain said. “When you play big games, special teams will show up. Last week against Chesterton, we made a big block on a kick that turned the game in our favor. Tonight, the role was reversed. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes in big games — you just can’t do that and expect to win.
“They (Pirates) were constantly playing on our side of the field. Merrillville was on a short field most of the night. We gave them too many breaks, too many opportunities. We didn’t do enough to win the game.’’
The Indians still have a chance to earn at least a share of the DAC title if they can beat Valparaiso on the road in their last regular season game next week.
The Pirates, meanwhile, host Chesterton. A win over the Trojans and a Lake Central loss, would give Merrillville the title outright.
“At the end of the day, we still wanted to be in position to win a championship and we’ve still got a chance to win one,” St. Germain said.
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