Logan carries the load
South Dakota State commit’s 269 yards and 3 TDs on 40 carries help Merrillville hold off Crown Point
With Merrillville tested for the first time all season, South Dakota State commit Lavarion Logan helped close out the game.
The senior running back’s third touchdown of the rainy Class 6A sectional semifinal on Friday night put the finishing touches on the Pirates’ 29-13 victory against visiting Duneland Athletic Conference rival Crown Point.
Merrillville (10-0) appeared poised for another blowout, scoring on each of its first three possessions against the Bulldogs (5-5) to lead 21-0. But after Crown Point drew to 23-13, the Pirates embarked on the game-sealing drive.
Merrillville took possession with 9:52 left, and Logan scored on a 2-yard TD run with 3:13 left.
“Being able to face adversity, every team wants to win in the playoffs. … We told each other, ‘We have to get it. It’s crunchtime. We have to go all out,’ ” Logan said.
Merrillville coach Brad Seiss liked the way his team responded.
“We jumped out to the lead, and they did a really good job of playing keep-away,” he said. “That frustrated us some. … Bottom line, when they got within 10, we needed a drive, and we pounded the ball and punched it in on third down.
“It’s good for us. We hadn’t seen a whole lot of adversity. We hadn’t seen a whole lot of bad weather. We saw it all against a team we handled pretty well the first time we played them. For us to fight back was very good.”
Indeed, Merrillville topped Crown Point 50-13 on Sept. 3 in the teams’ conference game. The Pirates’ smallest margin of victory had been 26 points, before the Bulldogs acquitted themselves well in the rematch to close Craig Buzea’s first season as coach.
Logan finished with 269 yards and three TDs on 40 carries, as senior quarterback Angel Nelson attempted only eight passes.
Merrillville ran on all 12 of its plays on the opening possession, with Logan carrying 11 times for 70 yards, capped by an 8-yard TD. He had 15 carries for 103 yards in the first quarter.
“With this weather like this, I did a little bit,” Logan said when asked if he expected to have such a heavy workload. “We have good receivers. It’s not like we can’t pass the ball. But being able to run it with a good offensive line, they did a great job.”
Justin Marshall ran for 104 yards on nine carries. His 39-yard TD was Merrillville’s third score of the first quarter, after the Pirates blocked a punt following a low snap.
In between, Logan had a 17-yard TD run following Phillip Roche’s strip and fumble recovery.
Senior running back Elijah Tiawhan had 143 yards and two TDs on 22 carries for Crown Point.
To start the third quarter, Tiawhan had a 5-yard TD run to finish an 85-yard drive. Raymond
Santiago recovered an onside kick for the Bulldogs, but the Pirates held.
Merrillville extended its lead to 23-7 on a safety by Rondell Latiker. But Crown Point recovered the free kick and turned it into Tiawhan’s 4-yard TD run with 10:04 left in the game, making the score 23-13.
Senior defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, a Michigan recruit, kept it a two-score game when he dropped back into coverage on the Bulldogs’ two-point conversion attempt and broke up the pass.
The Pirates followed with their clinching drive, setting up a sectional final at Lafayette Jefferson (7-3).
“We have good leadership,” Seiss said. “We got a stop when we needed it. We pounded it when we needed it. Obviously it wasn’t in the normal fashion where we’re able to be 50-50 throwing the ball and running the ball. You have to win ugly sometimes. We did that (Friday night), and I’m really proud of our kids for that.”