“Our confidence was rolling high,” said Hidalgo. “Our coaches kept us low-key. They let us know that we can get beat anytime. Coach O’Shea was really good at that. He kept us in check. We were getting after it . Back then, we didn’t have pro pads. We were in full pads except for Monday. Even Thursday was a tough practice.”

As games were in that rivalry, they were highly-anticipated. This one was certainly no different.

“Everybody was talking about it,” said Abel. “Even the teachers gave us a bit of space. There were really no tests that day. Things were pretty loose. This might’ve been one of the bigger crowds I’ve ever played in front of.”

“Friday night football, the town of Merrillville was unbelievable,” said Hidalgo. “It always has been. There’s always a line for tickets, but I remember the line being super crowded for that Hobart game.”

“That was the one game that kind of had a small college atmosphere,” said Storey. “Everyone in the town cared. Everyone knew the team. Everyone cared about the team and it was the same thing for Hobart.”

Hobart started with the football. The stout Merrillville defense held their ground and forced a punt, which was not a good one for the Brickies. After the quick stop, the Pirates were in prime field position to strike first – which they did.

Storey added another touchdown to his already impressive season tally midway through the first quarter. The ensuing PAT for the Pirates was blocked, but Merrillville had an early surge of momentum.

“The Merrillville fans were really revved up,” Storey said. “Early in the game, I had a pretty long run down the sidelines and I started jumping in front of the crowd. It was the first time I thought, ‘Wow, these people may want this more than we do.’”

The Brickies would respond later to the tune of a field goal from John Batistatos to narrow the Pirate lead down to three. After two unsuccessful drives from each side, the Brickies once again failed to do their job on the punting unit, putting Merrillville in a short field situation for the second time tonight.

When the Hobart Brickies give you a chance to score – you must capitalize. Merrillville did once again.

On a fourth and manageable for the Pirates, Storey found paydirt for the second time from roughly 21-yards away. This time the PAT was good, as Merrillville went into the half up 13-3.

It was quite the spectacle through 24 minutes of play – so much so that Abel, who was playing both ways, had a few moments to stop and smell the roses.

“I was one of the few that played both ways,” he said. “So when they changed, I would just stand there and be kind of alone while everyone else was running on or off. That gave you some time to take it all in. You don’t usually look around and check out the stands but during those changeovers it did allow you some time to pinch yourself.”

After a scoreless third frame, the Brickies, in a very similar fashion to 1985, did not go away easily. Quarterback Jeff Ford led an impressive drive capped off by his short touchdown run with about eight minutes to go in the fourth. Ford then found Mike Golarz on a pitch and catch for a two-point conversion to bring the score to 13-11.

The next drive, as most of the drives in the second half were for the Pirates, were stagnant. With very little time coming off the clock, Merrillville would give the ball back to Hobart with just about five minutes to go.

At this given moment, the Pirates’ backs were against the wall. A team that they have not beaten in almost ten years, in a game where they won for three quarters and some change, may let it slip away once again.

Abel recalled hearing some murmurs from his sideline before Hobart’s final drive.

“I remember conversations before that last defensive stand about, ‘Don’t let the previous year happen, we got them. We need to step on their throats.’”

The co-captain took those words to heart.

After a few plays, the Brickies found themselves with a first and ten near midfield. With Hobart only needing a field goal with Batistatos, who has shown he can connect from around 40-45 yards out, not much more was needed.

To start that set of downs, both Abel and Richards got to Ford in the backfield. Two plays later, Abel put his stamp on the game with his second sack in three plays.

While Abel had quite the three play sequence, Richards had the game of his life. The senior defensive end wound up with five sacks to his name on the night according to multiple news articles.

When asked about that impressive feat, even Richards was a bit surprised.

“I had a good day,” he said. “Our defense had a good day. But five sacks? Maybe there were some assists in there.”

The Brickies, who late in the game initially were thought to pin the Pirates back and hope to stop them one more time, decided instead to run a fake punt with Grant Liechty.

It was to no avail for the Brickies.

With a few kneel downs, the Pirates finally plundered its rival.

For those with family ties revolving around this matchup, a win of this magnitude meant a little more – especially for Brian Storey.

“I remember being on the field in the last minute,” he said. “My dad was on the chain gang for Merrillville for about 25 years. He had emphysema at that point and could hardly get up and down the sidelines, but he wanted to do it until I graduated. He was on the Hobart bench. It made it really special for me. We got to celebrate together. He wasn’t able to come over and hug me since he was on the chain gang, but it was special.”

For others who were not born into the rivalry and were not able to grasp the full understanding of the Brickie lore starting from a young age, this win was a coming-of-age story, if you will.

“Everyone was going crazy,” said Hidalgo. “People in the stands were going crazy, they came on the field. The seniors were elated, and they should be. I didn’t even know what was going on to be honest with you. I was young. I was just happy we won.

I do remember my coach coming up to me after the game and he said, ‘you’ve grown up today, kid.’”

Even the higher ups in the Merrillville football program and beyond could not contain their excitement.

“You know how your coaches act after games,” said Richards. “But that game specifically, you could tell that they were extremely happy. There was a lot of celebration. These guys have been wanting to beat Hobart for a long time. Even all the way down to the Athletic Directors. They were giggly about it.”

And rightfully so, as the Pirates 13 to 11 victory over the Brickies was the first for Merrillville in as we mentioned before, since the 1978 season.

More importantly, that Duneland streak we talked about earlier? The 55-game Duneland conference game winning streak? That was also no more.

A quote in a post-game news article from the late Hobart coach Don Howell just about sums up how large this feat of Beating the Brickies during this time was – especially in the Duneland.

“The streak’s got to come to an end sometime. People make a big deal out of it, but I’d like to see someone else win the conference eight straight years, because it won’t be done.”

Coach, you could not be more correct.