Merrillville’s Trey Stephens planned to head home, take some medicine and go to sleep.
He wasn’t feeling well for the Pirates’ Class 5A sectional championship game against Morton, although that doesn’t mean he didn’t play well.
“All I know is I have to perform on the stage when the lights come on, whether I’m sick, whether I’m hurt,” Stephens said. “I know I have to perform.”
The 6-foot, 200-pound senior certainly did that, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries during Merrillville’s 42-18 win in Hammond.
Behind Stephens, the Pirates (9-2) advance to a regional against Duneland Athletic Conference rival Valparaiso (9-2) for a matchup of teams ranked in the top 10 in the state.
Stephens, a safety/running back, has primarily been a defensive player in his career. He was picked for the Indiana Football Coaches Association’s Class 5A junior all-state team last season and started at linebacker on Andrean’s Class 2A state championship team in 2021.
But Stephens received more carries against Morton (6-5) with JQ Johnson easing back into action after returning from an ankle injury suffered during the regular-season finale against Chesterton.
Stephens’ 45-yard burst set up his 1-yard plunge for the first score of the game, and he also had a 29-yard TD run.
“Trey actually is really sick,” Merrillville coach Brad Seiss said. “He’s not feeling very good — bad cold and all that. But he stepped up. He’s a great defensive player for us, and he’s had to step up and play more running back. He’s a good running back on top of it.
“Nowadays, just playing one, you don’t do that. You play multiple guys so you’re fresh. That helped us because they played a lot of guys both ways.”
Indeed, Johnson ran for 86 yards and a 15-yard TD on eight carries, having entered the game with 1,032 yards and six TDs. Javeoin Gills scored three TDs, eclipsing his previous season total of two. Gills had 15-yard and 18-yard TD runs and a 53-yard TD catch on which he took a short pass from Dontae Pope, broke a tackle near the line of scrimmage and sped away.
Seiss liked the way Merrillville’s offensive line blocked and how its skill position players, including Gills, broke tackles.
“(Gills) plays a lot of positions for us,” Seiss said. “He plays receiver, he plays running back, he plays H. He’s done a really nice job of just accepting his role of being that guy who’s a jack-of-all-trades.
“I’m sure he’d like to run the ball more. I’m sure he’d like to catch the ball more. But obviously we have a lot of players you need to do things with. I’m happy for him stepping up in his role.”
For the Governors, Holland Harris threw a 25-yard TD pass to Demario Spence, Dontell Harris Jr. had a 36-yard TD run and DaVierre McNair added a 9-yard TD run.
The Pirates have won five straight sectional titles.
“We’ve had a nice run of success here when you’re looking at double-digit win seasons, deep tournament runs,” Seiss said. “It speaks volumes about the players we have, the job our coaching staff does, the job the kids do in the offseason in the weight room.
“We have a bunch of awesome kids who do a great job. They’re fun to coach. For them to have the success they have, it’s nothing but great for them because that’s who it’s really about.”
Standing in the way of further success is Valparaiso, which edged the Pirates 26-24 on Sept. 29. The Vikings also won 15-14 in the regional on their way to the state championship last year.
“We have to play much better to beat Valpo next week. … Coach (Bill) Marshall does a great job,” Seiss said. “Ultimate respect for their program. They’re the defending 5A state champs. We’re happy to play them at home. We’re looking forward to playing a really good team.”
Stephens agreed that a challenge awaits the Pirates.
“As a team, we need to be laser-focused,” he said. “We have to be ready for whatever they throw at us.”