Pirates rally to beat Lake Central

ST. JOHN | As Zach Raspopovich was standing on the sideline with his team trailing 13-0 in the second quarter, the Merrillville junior quarterback told his offensive unit it needed to play with more urgency in order to avoid a huge upset.

Pirates coach Zac Wells also decided to change his game plan -- which commenced with two straight three-and-outs due to passing to the outside -- and decided to put the ball in the hands of his playmakers in the backfield.

Merrillville took a shot in the mouth from the underdog and responded with 20 unanswered points to defeat Lake Central 20-13 at Friday's Class 5A Sectional 1 semifinal at the Burial Grounds.

"We had to pound it in there and keep our feet moving. We couldn't make the cuts that we usually make so we had to play hard-nosed football," Raspopovich said. "Some areas in the field we were ankle-deep in mud, and the suction and mud were pulling off my shoes, so it was harder to run obviously."

The Bucs' junior signal caller took it upon himself to make the crucial plays and gutted his way to 120 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with just under a minute left in the third quarter.

"There was a lot of plays there where guys had an arm on Zach, or maybe he escaped a tackle and then he did it all from there on," said Wells, whose team will host Portage next week in the sectional final. "I'm very proud of the fact that we took the punch and then battled back."

On the Indians' second play from scrimmage, quarterback Ryan Hennessey found Adam Brown on a play-action pass that Brown caught for a 64-yard touchdown.

Following the second three-and-out by the Bucs (10-1), L.C. (2-9) scored on a 30-yard Tony Albomonte counter run.

After Denzel Pierce touchdown runs of 2 and 4 yards in the second quarter to even the score heading into the break, the Merrillville defense shut the door and held L.C. to only one first down the rest of the way.

Pierce finished with 59 yards on 24 carries.

"We saved our best football in the end and we're proud of that," L.C. coach Bill Melby said. "In my opinion they are definitely the best team in the area, and that quarterback did a helluva job and willed that team to victory."

PREP FOOTBALL

Class 5A Sectional 1

Semifinals

Merrillville 20, Lake Central 13

Bucs quarterback Zach Raspopovich had 120 yards on 19 carries, and he scored the game-winning touchdown.