FOOTBALL: Merrillville 2023 Team Preview

OUTLOOK:  Similar to Crown Point, Merrillville had a successful regular season with a disappointing postseason. Finishing 2nd in the DAC, the Pirates were closely defeated by the eventual 5A State Champions and conference foes in Valparaiso in a 15-14 slugfest, after beating them handily a month prior. 

The Pirates are losing some of their key pieces from their highly potent offense from 2022, graduating 1,980 all-purpose yards from Colorado State commit Justin Marshall and All-State OL and Indiana Wesleyan commit Morris Smoot. 

On the bright side, Brad Seiss’ Pirates may be the most consistently successful program in the area over the last few years, as they have not had a season under seven wins since 2017.

In addition to that, Merrillville’s soon-to-be Senior defensive core is as gifted as they come, as the Pirates return three All-State players in Eastern Michigan commit Terrell Elmore, fellow DL RoShaun McGee, and a two-way threat in Tre’Von Stephens. 

One thing is for certain: the Pirates will compete and could be on the brink of making more noise in 2023.