[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=40853.54

In Scully, The Wolves Should Trust
Adam Parkhouse
Sports Editor, The News-Dispatch

I arrived at Ames Field a bit early Saturday, as is typically the case for me. I'm nothing if not prompt.

I decided to walk onto the field about 30 minutes before City's blue-gray scrimmage officially started. Immediately, I saw two quarterbacks running drills.

One of the two grabbed my eyes for a couple reasons. For one, he was wearing No. 53, and that kind of stuff always hits you immediately. It's like seeing an offensive lineman wear No. 5. It just looks weird.

The second thing was, this kid was throwing the ball hard and with remarkable accuracy. At first I thought this was sophomore Rodney Washington, one of two quarterbacks I wanted to look at Saturday. The other QB was wearing No. 10 (Scully's regular-season number), leading me to believe I was watching Washington.

After a while, I realized I was duped. No. 53 took off his helmet and revealed himself to be none other than Scully.

Fool me once ...

For the rest of the scrimmage, I was fixated on Scully. Not in a creepy way, mind you, but in a "does City finally have a quarterback?" way.

The scrimmage lasted nearly two hours, and during that time I rarely saw Scully have a misstep. He stood tall in the pocket, delivered the ball confidently and with some zip to it. There was a drop here and there, but not because of anything Scully was doing.

So, here's the thing, and I don't think I'm overstating here: Nathan Scully could very well be the most important player Michigan City football has had on its roster since the consolidation. That includes the tremendous, remarkable Ryan Fics.

For years, the Wolves have been scrambling for a QB they could rely on. Tony Freitag was certainly a serviceable signal-caller, and also probably the program's tallest in 12 seasons. That's also why I like Scully.

I spoke with the senior after the scrimmage and he appeared to be a bit taller than me with cleats on (I go a shade under 6-2). Since I've been covering the team, the Wolves had plenty of try-hard guys (Kevin Collyard, Derek Devereaux, Matt Buell, etc.) who had the hearts of lions and plenty of ability, but were simply limited by their physical stature. It's not fair to those guys, but it's just more difficult for a QB who is shorter than 5-10 to do the kinds of things the leader of an offense needs to do.

Scully, at or around 6-2, is able to do those things. He has the arm strength a high school quarterback needs to have, and he flashed some athletic ability, too, rolling out and gaining yards on the ground.

It was the arm strength that impressed me most. It's one thing to deliver a ball to your receiver accurately. It's quite another to do it accurately and with speed. Saturday, Scully had both.

"I've been working on that all offseason," Scully said. "I have to step my game up."

Besides the obvious benefits of having a physically sufficient person under center, it's also nice for coach Craig Buzea to be able to focus his energies on other facets of the team where real position battles are taking place.

If you don't think that's a big deal, ask Bears coach Lovie Smith what it's like to enter camp without knowing who your quarterback is.

"Nathan's the one guy we shouldn't have to worry about," Buzea said. "The only thing keeping him from being one of the best quarterbacks in the state is mental. He just makes some mental mistakes."

If Scully can indeed make strides in the mental portion of the game, he could lead a renaissance in Michigan City football.

Hey, let's face it. There's nowhere to go but up.

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=16591

Getting An Idea
City takes to the field in preparations for upcoming season

Adam Parkhouse
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - On the first play of the blue-gray scrimmage, Michigan City senior quarterback Nathan Scully dropped back and found tight end Ryan Sosinski for a long gain.

It was the first glimpse local football fans had of the 2008 Wolves, and the early returns were good Saturday at Ames Field.

"I thought it went well," second-year City coach Craig Buzea said. "But when you're playing against each other, you just don't know."

City's first-team offense did eventually punch the ball into the end zone - after a handful of penalties - as fullback Jeremy Harris found paydirt from a yard out.

However, the fact that the Wolves were even called for penalties was one of several departures Buzea took from his typical scrimmage setup. He decided to hire four officials to work the game, and instructed them to throw a flag "on anything that's close to being a penalty."

They complied, flying flags on a high percentage of plays.

"We had a couple penalties that bogged us down on that first drive, but to me that was good," Buzea said.

Also, Buzea elected to have his first-team offense play against the first-team defense. Typically in scrimmages, teams will mismatch, playing the first-string offense against the second-string defense and vice versa.

One of the true bright spots in the scrimmage, and even during last year's 2-8 campaign, was the continued emergence of Scully. When the tall, graceful signal-caller released a pass, it was typically on target and had a little zip on it.

"It went pretty good. We learned some stuff," Scully said. "That's what we wanted today was to learn where we're at with full contact."

Saturday was the first day so far that City players had gotten to hit one another in a scrimmage situation. While the team tackles during individual or group drills, scrimmages are the only chance the team has to hit during 11-on-11 situations.

Given that, Buzea was looking at positions where obvious question marks are present. While he knows his quarterback is Scully and that his likely running back is Adam Harmon, he knows there are questions at receiver and other key defensive positions.

After the scrimmage, Buzea seemed happy with players like Phil Taylor at cornerback and the 6-foot, 5-inch Blake Surface at safety.

He also was happy to see Sosinski back on the field after he missed most of last season with a knee injury and thought linebacker Scott Boeckling gave the team some needed versatility in the offensive backfield.

Buzea and everyone else will get another good look at the squad Friday when the Wolves travel to New Prairie to scrimmage with the Cougars.

The first real game will take place one week later, Aug. 22, when City hosts Gary Roosevelt in the season opener.

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dl...60345/-1/SPORTS

Bad to worse: Elmhurst now loses football coach
Greg Jones
High school sports editor

Advertisement

It’s not like the Elmhurst football program needs more bad news, but three days before practice was to officially start, the Trojans lost their head coach. Last Friday, Trent Grider held a team meeting to inform the players that he was leaving to take an assistant coaching position at Michigan City.

“It was a last-minute thing, and it wasn’t a last-minute thing,” Grider said Tuesday. “It has been in the works for the past month. We weren’t sure it was going to get worked out the way we wanted it to. It finally did.”

According to Michigan City head coach Craig Buzea, Grider will coach defensive backs and wide receivers.

Practice officially began for high school football teams around the state Monday. According to Grider, Elmhurst will be led by an interim coach in assistant Kyle Beauchamp.

“Kyle will do a good job,” Grider said. “I think we left it in good hands, and our numbers were good. The kids had a great summer and had worked hard. Hopefully that will continue.”

Grider was 0-20 in two seasons with the Trojans after replacing Roosevelt Norfleet. Elmhurst, in the midst of a 35-game losing streak, opens the season Aug. 22 at Wayne. Elmhurst also is the holder of the state’s all-time losing streak at 64 games, snapped in 2003.

“It was horrible (timing),” Elmhurst senior defensive tackle Desmond Kenner said. “It threw me for a loop. (Grider) let us know at the team meeting. That was it.

“The last couple of days, we have had a couple assistant coaches leading us that were assistants last year. They are switching up things a little bit.”

Grider said the offer to coach at Michigan City came in mid-July, and he has traveled back and forth in interviews, negotiations and house-hunting.

“We kind of knew we wanted to go up there, but it was a matter of whether things were going to get worked out,” he said. “We wanted them to get all our years of experience, and if that wasn’t going to be involved, we weren’t going to go. It all came down, and it all worked out the way we wanted. Obviously, we had to look out for us first.”

Grider came to Elmhurst after coaching in Indiana for 15 years and Ohio for the previous four seasons. The Fort Wayne Community Schools board is to act on Grider’s resignation during a board meeting Monday.

Complicating matters is the fact that Elmhurst still doesn’t have an athletic director after Tim Burton went to Wayne to take over AD duties there.

“Right now, we have two options,” Kenner said. “We can take one of the coaches we had last year (Beauchamp) or another coach (reportedly Churubusco assistant coach Tom Bailey).”

[Ang]

Mmmm.....

Football.

Me like football!

[Roger Kaputnik]

On WIMS this morning, it was reported that Gary Roosevelt may not be able to play on Aug 22 because they do not have helmets. Any good info on this?

[Southsider2k12]

On WIMS this morning, it was reported that Gary Roosevelt may not be able to play on Aug 22 because they do not have helmets. Any good info on this?

http://www.post-trib.com/sports/highschool...velt.highschool

GARY -- One hundred and eighteen days before the first scrimmage of the season, Roosevelt football coach Kennedy Hannah -- fresh off an alarming inspection by a representative of the Riddell sports equipment company -- went on Riddell's Web site and got a price quote for 24 new helmets and 29 reconditioned helmets, then promptly sent it up the chain of command in the Gary school system.

Three days before the scrimmage, Hannah still doesn't have those helmets.

"At this point, we're going to have to skip the O'Rama on Friday, and maybe forfeit our first game (at Michigan City) next week," Hannah said. "Just when I think I've got my program going and doing some things right and getting kids interested in what we're doing -- I get a setback like this. And it doesn't help my program at all."

Hannah said he's been in contact with those above him -- from Roosevelt athletic director Michael Protho, to school principal Charlotte Wright, to city athletic director Earl Smith -- to expedite the process.

Hannah said his most recent conversation came on July 26 with an administrator he declined to name.

"The answer they gave was, 'How are we going to pay for it?'" Hannah recalled. "I said, 'I don't know. I don't do the budget. I'm just the football coach. I'm just trying to get my kids the equipment they need to play football, like any other football coach.'"

Smith said Tuesday evening that he would be going to Roosevelt today and couldn't comment without looking into the situation. School board president Nellie Moore said she was unaware of the situation.

A representative from Riddell came out to inspect the helmets -- standard procedure in the offseason -- in April, Hannah said. Twenty-five of the helmets were ruled outdated (they're allowed a lifespan of 10 years, and had been there since Hannah's first season in 1999), and 25 others needed reconditioning because of various problems such as missing chin-strap snaps and loose facemasks.

None of them was deemed safe for play. So on April 16 -- Hannah produced the dated forms from Riddell's Web site -- Hannah priced all the equipment he'd need for the upcoming season.

n Twenty-four new helmets and 12 pairs of shoulder pads at a cost of $4,947.45.

n Twenty-nine reconditioned helmets at $851.

n Fifty white road jerseys at $1,838.43.

n Fifty black home jerseys at $1,590.03.

"Jerseys, especially white ones, usually last about three seasons, max, with guys grabbing on them and tearing them up," Hannah said. "We're on our sixth year with these."

He passed the price quotes "up the chain," he said, and waited for a reply that never came.

Hannah said the constant turnover in the administration -- Protho is the school's third athletic director in three years, and Wright is the third principal in three years -- probably has exacerbated the situation.

"If you haven't been through this before, you don't know the procedure," he said. "You can't just take the budget and split all the money evenly. You could probably dress an entire basketball team for what it costs to dress one football player. But these aren't every-year expenses. Next year, I might only need some chin straps and thigh pads. It changes year to year."

The players, who gathered for practice Tuesday evening -- non-contact, of course -- expressed frustration, too.

"Seems like they're taking their sweet time doing nothing," said senior Khiry Gary. "They'd probably pay a lot more attention if it was basketball. They got new practice uniforms -- practice uniforms! -- last year right when they asked for them."

Now, with the annual football O'Rama -- at Roosevelt, no less -- on Friday, Hannah said he has "maybe seven or eight" helmets that can be salvaged and made safe for play.

Even if the team could secure a few more helmets for 11 -- the bare minimum to field a team -- Hannah wouldn't put his players out there. Sharing helmets is not an option.

"We did that nonsense when I played in the '60s," he said. "With the skin diseases out there today, and who knows what else, I'm not taking a sweaty helmet off one kid's head and putting it on another kid's head. That's a big no. I can't take that risk."

Hannah was initially reluctant to speak out about the situation, reluctant to ruffle too many feathers.

"But at some point, I felt I had to do something," he said. "You can't play football without a helmet. We're not asking for something extra here, just the basics we need to play football, and play football safely."

Contact Mark Lazerus at 648-3140 or mlazerus@post-trib.com

[Roger Kaputnik]

Appalling. I wonder if THAT school board was on any junkets this summer...

[Southsider2k12]

Appalling. I wonder if THAT school board was on any junkets this summer...

As bad as our situation is, that is just insane. I would hope we would get rid of our programs before we put our kids in danger like that.

[JHeath]

I'm sure the IHSAA has some regulations that would help enure that the kids are safe when playing on the field. The equipment has to somehow be mandated. But for their administration to hold up the process like this...it's embarassing to the coach and to the kids who are on that team. Too bad the equipment company didn't or couldn't step in and help out here.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Exactly! How do you expect a head coach to get assistants (and assistance!) when the program comes to a crashing halt because of lack of safety equipment?

[Ang]

I don't know about other school corporations, but MCHS football does fundraising for new equipment, and they get help from the Athletic boosters. The athletic department pays what the football team and boosters can't raise. You know when you go to the school for some big event and the football team parks the cars and you have to pay to park? Well, that money buys equipment for the team. Also, when you go to a game and buy concessions, the profit goes to pay for equipment when the football parents run concessions, and when the cheerleading parents do it, they get the money for uniforms and such.
Why can't Roosevelt do the same thing?

[Southsider2k12]

I don't know about other school corporations, but MCHS football does fundraising for new equipment, and they get help from the Athletic boosters. The athletic department pays what the football team and boosters can't raise. You know when you go to the school for some big event and the football team parks the cars and you have to pay to park? Well, that money buys equipment for the team. Also, when you go to a game and buy concessions, the profit goes to pay for equipment when the football parents run concessions, and when the cheerleading parents do it, they get the money for uniforms and such.
Why can't Roosevelt do the same thing?

I am guessing that there is zero community support from the sounds of it.

[Roger Kaputnik]

On WIMS, Riddell is reported to be rushing helmets in time for the lads to get in a few days of contact before the MC game.

On WIMS, Riddell is reported to be rushing helmets in time for the lads to get in a few days of contact before the MC game.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=34906.19

eason-opening splash

Adam Parkhouse
Sports Editor, The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - The bad news? Michigan City's football team was outscored by Gary Roosevelt in Friday's second half.

The really good news? The Wolves had a pretty sizable cushion after two quarters. It was so big, in fact, that the final two quarters were played with a running clock.

City had its way with Roosevelt, taking a commanding 54-0 lead into the halftime locker room on its way to a 60-8 rout of Roosevelt.

"It this program is going where we think it's going, we should come out and dominate these teams," second-year City coach Craig Buzea said. "But we had a lot of silly things that we'll need to improve on."

This game was never close. Roosevelt quarterback Keenan Davis threw an interception to City's Tyree Wright on the first play from scrimmage, and junior running back Adam Harmon had a 12-yard touchdown run on the second play. Four minutes later, Harmon scored again, and less than two minutes after that Scott Boeckling's 11-yard touchdown run gave City a 20-0 led midway through the first quarter.

But, as Buzea said, there are definitely things to work on in advance of next week's game at South Bend Washington. The Wolves were flagged seven times for 43 yards and lost a couple of fumbles, including one on a muffed punt.

"A lot of those things are typical (for a first game), but we had experienced kids making those mistakes," Buzea said. "That's what we don't want to happen.

"At halftime we had a list of eight to 10 things that are not going to be acceptable when we get into next week and then the Duneland Conference."

Even with those mistakes, Friday was still a bona fide coming out party for the 2008 Wolves.

"It always feels good to get a win like that," senior quarterback Nathan Scully said. Scully completed 7 of 11 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns. One of those scoring passes went to Harmon on a 35-yard screen pass, Harmon's fourth and final touchdown of the night.

City's second string played most of the second half, which was over quickly with the running clock. Buzea said he offered it to Roosevelt.

City's Stephon Ashley scored late in the third quarter to make for a 60-0 score. Roosevelt got on the board late in the fourth and converted the two-point conversion to account for its only scoring.

"I told the kids if we're supposed to win, let's go out and take care of business in the first half," Buzea said.

City's first-team defense was ferocious Friday, just as it was a week ago in a dominating performance against New Prairie in a scrimmage. At the half, Roosevelt had very few plays that went for positive yards, and were in the red offensively through two quarters.

"Whenever you face a team that spreads it out like they do, it makes you unsure," Buzea said. "But we had some good coverages and we executed."

Notes: A handful of players sat out Friday's game with minor injuries, including starting fullback Jeremy Harris and linemen Jeff Bibb and Scott Kalvaitis. Buzea said all three should be ready to go next week. ... By design, Buzea used three different kickers on extra points. Chris Henderson, who also handled kickoff duties and even had a couple of touchbacks, converted both of his extra-point attempts.

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=16929

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8/24/2008 11:00:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
What does it all mean?
Is City's huge win over Roosevelt a sign of things to come?
Adam Parkhouse
Sports Editor, The News-Dispatch

Talk to me in two weeks.

Michigan City's 2008 football season got off with a bang Friday at Ames Field. City racked up an incredible 54 points in one half, blowing Gary Roosevelt right off the field.

But, here's the thing: It's Gary Roosevelt. This wasn't Portage or Lake Central or even South Bend Riley. I had a member of the Wolves coaching staff tell me after the game, "that's what should happen."

He was right. If City's arrow is really pointing up, then wins like this should be expected. In fact, after the game second-year coach Craig Buzea was more critical of the few mistakes the team did make than he was complimentary for the plays it did.

He realizes that, in the end, beating Roosevelt 60-8 is a fairly insignifcant step.

Talk to me in two weeks.

Next week City goes on the road to play South Bend Washington. A step up in competition? Sure. Is it the level of what City will play in the Duneland Conference? Absolutely not.

Truth is, it's not fair to get too excited or place expectations on this group of kids or any other group after a win over Roosevelt or even after a win over Washington. For this school, the true test in any sport always lies with the DAC.

Talk to me in two weeks.

That's when City opens up DAC play, on the road at Chesterton. That's when you'll really find out what this team is about. Colleagues of mine at other publications throughout Northern Indiana are predicting good things for Year 2 of the Buzea era.

I know of one reporter who regulary covers the DAC that thinks the Wolves can win six or seven games.

Seem outlandish for a team that's coming off a 2-8 season? Well, there's reason for optimism. The Wolves do have a lot of starters back and the talent at several key skill positions is above average.

Factor in a truly legitimate coaching staff and it's not difficult to see why some folks might think Buzea and the Wolves might have something.

It bears mentioning that over the last few years, City has occasionally had problems with Roosevelt. The outcome of the game has rarely been in doubt, but the Wolves have had a little trouble putting away the Panthers. So from that standpoint, it was nice to see City put Roosevelt away immediately. Three touchdowns in just more than six minutes will put a game away pretty quick. Five more by the end of the half will certainly do the trick.

Still, talk to me in two weeks. Right now all we have is a team that beat a perennially bad team. While there were certainly good things to take from the win, this team has bigger fish to fry.

At least that's the hope. See you in two weeks.

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.

[Roger Kaputnik]

How was the WIMS coverage?

[JHeath]

How was the WIMS coverage?

We went to the game--it was a total blowout, so we left after the third quarter, and listened to the rest on WIMS. I give the Roosevelt players a lot of credit for playing with such heart after only having received their helmets not too long before the season opener.

Parkhouse & Woerkema did a great job without too much bias (as I'd expect). Definitely the right combo for sports coverage.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Do they go over the PA system, or would you hafta have a radio and earphone to hear them?

[JHeath]

Do they go over the PA system, or would you hafta have a radio and earphone to hear them?

Radio & earphone

[Johnny Rush]

Radio & earphone

Perhaps we are going overboard with the Michigan City football games...but...we are going to replay each game Sunday morning from 10am to noon and also Weds night from 6 to 8pm. We want friends and family to be able to go to the games and enjoy talking to their neighbors, and STILL be able to hear their kids name on the radio one of the other days.

Also, if you have to work late, or the game is too far away...listen live on AM 1420!

If you wanted a brief clip on how Matt and Adam sounded, we have a youtuber up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH0Dl1XTB0I

hit "watch in high quality" if you wanted to see the video as the director intended. Thanks for keeping our name out there!!

Johnny

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=51018.18

Buzea: City's Arrived

Adam Parkhouse
Sports Editor, The News-Dispatch

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. - Prior to Friday, Michigan City's football team lost 19 consecutive games to Duneland Conference opponents.

None stung quite as bad as this one.

City dominated the first half against perennial DAC power Merrillville, but the Pirates' kicker vindicated three earlier misses with a clutch, 37-yard field goal with no time remaining to give his team a dramatic, come-from-behind 17-14 victory Friday.

"I wanted the opportunity not for me to kick it, but for our team to get it down there and win the game," Ryan Stokes said. The 5-foot, 8-inch, 160-pound senior had earlier near misses from 41, 47 and 39 yards, the last of which would have been the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter.

"It was just one of those games where no matter what you do," Stokes said, "it never goes between the posts."

Michigan City's players sat dejected on the field turf at Demaree Stadium, but afterward, second-year coach Craig Buzea did his best to fire them up and put a positive spin on a devastating turn of events.

"This is a great day for Michigan City football," Buzea said. "When Merrillville High School has to celebrate a victory like this, then Michigan City High School football has arrived.

"Obviously I'd like to win, but it's not about wins and losses. We played our fannies off."

Merrillville, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A to start the season, came into the game with a 1-3 mark and was winless in the Duneland Conference - a far cry from lofty preseason expectations.

Yet, instead of playing with a chip on its collective shoulder with the return of starting quarterback Dolapo Macarthy (suspension), the Pirates bowed to a fired-up, suddenly formidable Wolves team.

City took the opening kickoff and marched up the field to the Merrillville 13-yard line. When faced with a fourth down, Buzea elected to go for it. However, quarterback Nathan Scully's pass into the end zone to Ryan Sosinski fell incomplete, forcing the turnover on downs.

But City's defense, suddenly playing rather stout, forced three-and-outs on Merrillville's first two possessions. The Pirates didn't have a first down until the 9:42 mark of the second quarter, but that drive also stalled. By halftime, Merrillville had just two first downs while City racked up 13.

With 8:55 left in the second quarter, City's Tyree Wright intercepted a screen pass from Macarthy, giving City the ball at City's 45-yard line.

Three minutes later, City converted on third-and-13 with a 20-yard screen pass to Adam Harmon, who punched the ball into the end zone on the next play from 1 yard out to give City a shocking 7-0 lead.

Merrillville returned the ensuing kick to City's 41, but couldn't get anything going and was forced to punt, giving City a chance to extend its lead. The Wolves didn't disappoint.

Adam Harmon had a 30-yard run into Merrillville territory, setting up Scully's 30-yard touchdown strike to Sosinski a few plays later, leaving the Pirates' faithful stunned at the 14-0 halftime score.

"I felt we needed to get one more score," Buzea said of his feelings at halftime. "We just didn't."

The tables completely flipped on City in the second half. The Wolves had just one first down in the final two quarters, compared to 10 for the Pirates.

City's rushing attack, which had racked up 144 yards in the first half, netted just 15 in the second half.

On the flip side, Macarthy began to dominate with his legs. He gained 107 of his 126 yards after halftime, and single-handedly marched his team downfield for two touchdowns, both 2-yard runs for Dionte Day - his only two carries of the night.

With the score tied 14-14, City's offense continued to sputter. After getting sacked on third down, Scully uncorked a 12-yard punt from City's own 12-yard line, giving Merrillville golden field possession on City's 24.

Macarthy immediately fought his way into the end zone for what appeared to be a 24-yard touchdown run, but it was called back on an illegal block. Several plays later, Stokes missed his third field goal of the night - a 39-yarder in the face of immense City pressure.

City was forced to punt after yet another three-and-out, but this time Scully's punt went 32 yards to the Merrillville 45. However, on the first play from scrimmage, Denzel Pierce rumbled 29 yards to the City 26, and the Pirates immediately began setting Stokes up for his shot at redemption.

The Wolves' special teams unit did apply some pressure, but Stokes' kick was true, giving the Pirates the emotional win.

"It was a huge relief," said Stokes, who also kicked a last-second game-winner in his freshman year against Portage. Coincidentally, Stokes called those games his "two worst games ever." In that Portage game, he missed two earlier field goals.

"If you could say that you'd come here and see this scene ... it just wouldn't happen," Buzea said, referring to Merrillville's celebration. "We weren't playing a bunch of chumps here. We just got out of sync."

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.