Merrillville junior Jeremiah Howard said his teammates used to call him the “old man.”
“That’s because I ran like an old man,” he said. “But this offseason, I ran track. I got stronger, faster, and got my hands right.”
Because of that, no one is calling the 5-foot-11 165-pound wide receiver an old man anymore.
Howard has been the most dangerous of the big-play threats for a Pirates offense that has scored 65 points in the last two weeks, including Friday night’s 39-0 blowout of Portage.
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Merrillville coach Brad Seiss said the work Howard put in between his sophomore and junior seasons was crucial.
“He finally had a good offseason,” Seiss said of Howard. “He lifted hard and got faster because he ran track. He’s always been a good athlete who can jump up and get the ball, but now he can get some separation too because he got faster.”
Against Portage (2-2, 1-1), Howard had five receptions for 139 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and a 58-yard catch in the third quarter that was the biggest play of the game for Merrillville (3-1, 2-0).
During Merrillville’s Week 3 win over Crown Point, Howard added three receptions for 87 yards, including TD catches of 34 and 31 yards.
All three of his TD catches have been contested, but Howard attributed his success on those plays to a practice drill simply called “jump ball.”
In the drill, Merrillville’s receivers go up for high lobs with defenders hanging on to them — exactly what happened on Howard’s three scores.
When asked who had the most success in the drill, Howard smiled widely and said, “Me.”
“That’s because I played football and basketball,” he said.
Howard doesn’t play basketball anymore, though, opting to focus on football during his offseason workouts. Howard also said his father, Jason, helped refocus his attention to training.
“Last year, I was slacking and missing workouts,” Howard said. “I was taking basketball more seriously.”
That’s not the case now. And the benefits of that narrowed focus have caught the attention of Howard — and his coach.
“We’ve had a lot of big-play opportunities that we just hadn’t cashed in on,” Seiss said. “We got all of them (Friday).”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.