Merrillville coach Brad Seiss heard about Kenneth Grant when he was at Pierce Middle School.
Lauren Seiss told her husband there was an extremely big seventh-grader there. So big it was impossible not to notice him.
“I took it with a grain of salt,” Brad Seiss said. “Her idea of big might be different than mine.”
She was right.
Grant was big then, and he’s even bigger now as a freshman starting at nose guard for the Pirates (1-1).
The strength of this team is its defensive line. Andrean only rushed for 15 yards on 22 carries in the Pirates’ 20-14 season-opening victory.
The 6-foot-3 Grant weighs 335 pounds. He wears size-15 shoes and a triple-X jersey.
In seventh grade, Seiss estimated Grant was 6-2 and weighed 275.
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Grant’s arrival to a rotation that features Justen Ramsey, a natural nose guard who has verbally committed to Ball State, has fundamentally changed Merrillville’s defensive line.
Ramsey has moved to defensive end as the Pirates rotate in a group of players that include 5-11, 215-pound senior Drew Bailey, 6-0, 245-pound senior Anthony Outlarand 5-11, 180-pound junior Nick Price.
Grant is really hard to move. He said he’s just happy to contribute as a varsity player.
“It’s been good competition,” he said. “I thought I was going to play, but I didn’t know it would be on varsity. It’s been a big opportunity.”
Seiss said Grant was too big to play Pop Warner in Merrillville, so he played in the Crown Point League for the Junior Bulldogs, which doesn’t have a weight limit.
Seiss considered using him at the junior varsity level but decided it was more productive for him to play varsity. Ramsey has become a mentor.
Even though he’s big, Grant is not a lumbering nose guard. He said he’s considering going out for the baseball team. He’s a right fielder.
Seiss said even though Grant is “bigger than everyone else, it’s one thing to just be big. He has some explosiveness and really good athletic ability.”
Close call: Michigan City’s 33-30 overtime loss to Homewood-Flossmoor was a shock for some.
The Wolves, a Class 5A Indiana team, lost to H-F, an 8A Illinois team, 63-21 last year.
It wasn’t a shock for Wolves coach Phil Mason. His team lost in semistate last season to Kokomo.
Mason said the coaching staff approached the game differently this year.
“Schematically, we went into the game to survive it last year,” he said. “This year, we went in to win it. I think there will be some good teaching points for our kids going forward.”
The Vikings won on a fourth-and-11 touchdown pass from Dominick Jones to Isaiah Stanback.
Michigan City, which is ranked fifth in 5A in both the Associated Press and Indiana Football Coaches Association polls, looks like it has its best team in Mason’s three seasons.
The Wolves played without two starting offensive linemen. One was Collin Kienitz, a 270-pound senior who broke his foot. Mason said he could return near the end of the season.
“I feel really good about where we are at,” he said.
Back again: It’s not true that Tom Davenport has been at Whiting forever.
It just feels that way.
Davenport, a 6-1, 240-pound senior, is the only player who started on the 2015 state runner-up team, Whiting coach Jeff Cain said.
Davenport has evolved from a fullback his freshman and sophomore years to being a featured back for the Oilers (2-0). He rushed for 101 yards on 16 carries against Griffith in a 30-6 victory.
Cain called him a “bruiser” who can play multiple positions. Davenport also has played outsider linebacker and quarterback.
Whiting plays Boone Grove (2-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Oilers want to keep their winning streak alive. The Wolves beat them 19-12 last year.