With its offense slowed for much of Friday night’s Class 6A Sectional 1 final against Portage, Merrillville turned to Isaiah Thornton at crunch time.
The senior running back had eight carries for 45 yards on the decisive drive, and Myles Taylor capped the 80-yard march with a 1-yard touchdown with 1:46 left as the Pirates topped the Indians 28-21.
“I knew we had to move the ball on the ground effectively and run hard every play,” said Thornton, who had 123 yards and a TD on 20 carries.
Merrillville (7-4) will play Penn in regionals next week, after winning its second straight sectional title and third in four seasons.
“We didn’t play our best,” first-year Pirates coach Brad Seiss said. “We had some breakdowns defensively and too many penalties offensively (11 in all).
“But the thing I’m probably most proud of our guys, they just found a way.”
Portage (1-10) nearly pulled off its second straight significant upset, despite committing five turnovers (three interceptions) and having a 97-yard TD run called back because of a sideline interference penalty.
Adam Neal had an interception and fumble recovery for Merrillville, and Anthony Tucker two interceptions.
“No moral victories, but I’m proud of our kids and proud of our coaches,” Indians coach Wally McCormack said. “Two months is a long time to go through what those guys have been through. It shows a lot about their character the way they’ve played the last two weeks.”
Jeremiah Ratliff ran for 141 yards and a TD on 19 carries for Portage. Sophomore quarterback Anthony Maceo had 95 yards and two TDs on 20 carries.
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Maceo’s 43-yard TD run with 4:19 left in the third quarter drew the Indians to 20-14, and Ratliff’s 31-yard TD anf the ensuing PAT with 10:20 left in the fourth gave them the lead.
But the Pirates got a stop midway through the quarter, and went ahead in the final two minutes on Taylor’s second TD of the game.
Merrillville quarterback D.J. Wilkins completed 6 of 18 passes for 94 yards with two interceptions.
“We had our way with them throwing the ball the first time we played them, and they were going to make us run the ball,” Seiss said. “They made our running backs and line play big, and they did.”
Carl Stokes scored for Merrillville on a 29-yard fumble return with 7:13 left in the first quarter on an errant Portage snap on fourth down.
Tucker’s first interception preceded Thornton’s 3-yard TD to make it 12-0 with 2:53 left in the quarter.
Trailing 12-7, Portage appeared poised to move ahead on Ratliff’s 97-yard TD with 6:02 left in the half. But the Indians wound up with the ball at their own 40 after the sideline interference penalty. On the next play, Neal came up with an interception.
“The official who was running 3 yards out of bounds down the field ran into somebody 45 yards behind the play,” McCormack said when asked about the penalty.
“But at some point, you have to tip your hat to D.J., who’s pretty good and has been doing it for a long time. You give a guy like that opportunities, at some point, he’s going to get you. Our defense played really well, but they have a pick-your-poison offense. If you load up to play run, they’re going to throw for 500 yards; if you drop back and play pass, they can run.”
Twitter: @MichaelOsipoff