Pierce, Merrillville stomp LaPorte

MERRILLVILLE | Merrillville took control of the Duneland Conference race Friday with a 31-0 win over LaPorte at Demaree Stadium.

After beating Michigan City last week, the Pirates' victory puts them alone atop the conference.

"This has been a great group of kids," Merrillville coach Zac Wells said. "They really have just looked at one game at a time. We'll enjoy this for the weekend and then get ready for Valpo."

And there will be plenty to celebrate.

"Our team came out ready to play," running back Denzel Pierce said. "We just wanted to make a statement. We did a pretty good job of doing that."

The Pirates made a statement, indeed, totaling 437 yards while holding the Slicers to only 98. Pierce rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns alone.

But Wells was still not 100 percent satisfied with his team's performance.

"I think we had a good second half," Wells said. "We had our fair share of mishaps throughout the game."

Merrillville (5-1, 4-0) got on the board first with Pierce's 27-yard run out of the wildcat formation. Despite moving the ball, rather easily for most of the half, the Pirates didn't score again until a Mike Enghofer field goal with 37 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Merrillville opened up the second half with a quick drive that culminated in a 67-yard Pierce touchdown run. When the Slicers got the ball back, they seemed to move the ball on the ground for the first time all night.

But after two first downs LaPorte turned the ball over on a fumble. After keeping the next drive alive with a fake punt, Merrillville scored again when Zach Raspopovich found Christian Mathews for a 22-yard touchdown pass.

Pierce found the end zone again on a 48-yard scamper just before the start of the final quarter.

The lone bright spot in the game for LaPorte was a blocked Enghofer field goal attempt early in the second quarter. The Slicers (4-2, 2-2) were forced to punt nine times in the game.

"Our running was poor. Our receiving was poor. Our punting until our last punt was poor," Slicers coach Bob Schellinger said. "We did a lot of things to ourselves. I don't know the answer to that."

PREP FOOTBALL

No. 2 Merrillville 31, LaPorte 0

Denzel Pierce had 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the Pirates.