BEATING THE BRICKIES – Article #6 /

PLUNDERED!

Pirates Pillage Past Hobart, Bucs Best Brickies to Bust DAC Streak

Article Written by Mike Dywan / Region Sports Director

It was getting to the point where it was tough to call it a rivalry, at least on Friday nights.

Through 26 decided meetings between the Merrillville Pirates and the Hobart Brickies at the varsity level, the Brickies came out on top in 19 of them, including the last eight dating back to the 1978 season.

The two then-Duneland schools sectioned off by Interstate 65 and separated by less than seven miles were constant foes throughout all levels of organized football.

“I played Pop Warner about as early as I could put pads on,” said defensive end Jamie Richards. “We played Hobart all the time. It was just a rivalry that was always there. Fortunately, in my era, we never lost to Hobart.”

But when it came to the varsity level, the Brickies were often triumphant.

Six of these previous eight games during the Hobart-against-Merrillville winning streak were decided by single digits. Although Hobart had the upper hand in this rivalry, Merrillville could not have been much closer in these select number of games.

The matchup of 1985 was one of those six decided by less than ten points. It was also one of four games within that near-decade stretch that came down to a deficit of a touchdown or fewer.

Again, the Pirates were just not able to get over the hump.

It was a game that the Pirates led 7-0 going into the final frame, at the Brickie Bowl. That was uncharted territory for just about anyone during that time, as Hobart was in the midst of a mind-boggling Brickie Bowl winning streak at the time, a streak that would last until the 1988 season.

But after a Hobart score, a Merrillville turnover, and another Brickie touchdown, history repeated itself once again. Hobart came out on top over their neighboring Pirates, in what would be now their 50th consecutive victory against a Duneland conference opponent.

Yes, you read that right.

In a conference where Hobart, who was playing up to 5A schools as the lone 4A, had not lost to a Duneland conference opponent since 1977. Who was Hobart’s last loss? Portage. The same Portage team that beat Evansville Reitz in the 3A State Championship of that season.

It was evident that if you wanted to beat the Brickies, especially within the conference, you needed to play all four quarters to consider yourselves as a team with even a slim chance.

Nonetheless, the Pirates smelled blood in the water come next autumn.

“We were probably the better team ,” said Chris Abel, a junior at the time of the 14-7 loss at the Brickie Bowl. “We made a much deeper playoff run. We just let up the gas. kind of broke the mystique for me for our senior year. It made me realize they were human.”

Brian Storey, another junior at the time, scored the lone touchdown in that loss at the Brickie Bowl.

“We had a really good team in ’85,” he said. “I would guess that just about everybody on our defense was seniors while just about our entire offense was sophomores and juniors. The defense sort of led in 85. Going into the 1986 season, we were going to have a pretty green defense and a really seasoned offense. We were a run-heavy team and we understood what we had.”

It was certainly a talented Merrillville team in 1985. That Pirate squad did end up winning a sectional title that year.

However, although winning trophies is great, something seemed to be missing for the Pirate faithful.

Moving forward to 1986, this upcoming Pirate team was now more experienced on the offensive side of the ball in comparison to the few returners on defense. That did not seem to matter as the Pirates outscored its first six opponents 157 to 47.

More importantly, they were unblemished through those first six games. After what was remembered to be a muddy but victorious meeting against their crosstown rivals Andrean, all eyes were on Hobart – a game of which many were thinking about for some time.

Mark Hidalgo, who was one of the lone sophomore starters on the ‘86 team, was quite unfamiliar with the Brickie lore and the magnitude of this matchup. He caught on quickly.

“I was a young guy in the huddle,” he said. “I didn’t really know too much about Hobart. I wasn’t really from around here. I got to Merrillville around fourth grade. Watching them on film however, they were a good team. We had to take them seriously, as we took everyone seriously. But they were the team that was circled on our calendar.”

For some of the Pirates, they were born into this rivalry.

“I’ll be honest, as one of the captains, we really did that year focus on one game,” said Storey. “Growing up you go through this rivalry and our biggest rivalry was Hobart, no matter what.

Once that game is over, we go into the locker room and the coach says, ‘The week has come.’ Coach O’Shea knew the right buttons to push. We got through Andrean and everybody knew it was the week.”

“I’m the youngest of five and my brother Dave played football for Coach Haupt,” said Richards. “Anytime we played Hobart, it was about 8 to 10 thousand people coming to those games. It was always a big deal. We always were ready to play Hobart.”

“I’m the youngest of seven,” said Abel. “All of them went to Merrillville. My oldest brother played football for Merrillville in the late 60s. I had a cousin who was on the Merrillville state championship team in ‘76.

I knew of Hobart’s win streak and that they’ve been really good and always seem to be in state. I remember that Merrillville hadn’t beat Hobart in 10 years. That was more in my brain than their 55-game Duneland streak.”

And yes, you read that right once again. Hobart’s Duneland streak has now ballooned up to 55 consecutive games without a loss since the two sides last met at the Brickie Bowl in ‘85.

Besides all of the streaks and all of the success that came with the Hobart Brickies, the Pirates were ready to set sail.

“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.