PIRATES PREVAIL
Rodriguez rushes for 166 yards, 4 TDs as Merrillville outlasts Warsaw in Class 6A regional final
About the only thing that Merrillville’s Peter Rodriguez did wrong was stay on his feet.
The Pirates’ 6-foot, 175-pound quarterback was on his way to the end zone for a game-clinching touchdown with just under two minutes remaining in the Class 6A regional final against Warsaw on Friday. But if he’d gone down before reaching the end zone, the Pirates could’ve run out the clock.
“I just don’t know how to slide,” Rodriguez said with a laugh. “I’ll have to learn before our next game.”
Rodriguez has at least one more game left after Merrillville won 42-28 for its first regional title since 2012.
Merrillville (11-1) will travel to Carmel (9-3) for next Friday’s Class 6A Semistate championship game.
Once again, Rodriguez was the offensive catalyst for the Pirates, churning out 166 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the win. Rodriguez said it was redemption for Merrillville’s offense after scoring just 10 points against Crown Point one week earlier.
“We were very upset with ourselves from the last game,” Rodriguez said. “We came out with a vengeance and wanted to be better than we were last week.”
Junior center Jaqai Gray led a dominant performance by Merrillville’s offensive line, which paved the way for 263 rushing yards.
“We knew that, if we won on the line, we’d win the game,” Gray said.
Merrillville coach Brad Seiss said that his offensive line — with an average size of 6 feet and 266 pounds — was crucial on another frigid football night.
“(Warsaw) wasn’t real big up front, and we have some big, physical guys,” Seiss said. “It’s November. It’s cold. You have to be able to run the football.”
It was Warsaw running the ball early, though, as the Tigers’ option offense built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Merrillville rallied to tie the game at 21-21 late in the second quarter after a Warsaw fumble and then took a 28-21 halftime lead on Rodriguez’s second TD run following another Warsaw fumble.
On the final play of the third quarter, junior wide receiver Armani Glass made a sliding catch on a fourth-and-11 that gave the Pirates first-and-goal at the Warsaw 8-yard line. Two plays later, Rodriguez had his third score, and the Pirates had a 14-point lead.
The Tigers’ next drive went 65 yards on 18 plays, taking 8:53 off the clock, to make it a one-score game with 2:27 left. After Merrillville recovered the onside kick, though, Rodriguez broke through the Warsaw line one more time for his fourth TD.
“As long as we’re more physical and more intense than the other team, we can win,” Rodriguez said.