I have to say I was disappointed by the Merrillville game. I enjoyed seeing Westfield. That’s a very good, very well-coached team. But Merrillville turned it over 3 times, and they had at least 7 pre-snap penalties, including at least 5 false starts. There was a very small crowd, due to distancing restrictions, so it certainly wasn’t crowd noise that caused those false starts. Just a lack of concentration at a critical time.
I saw the Pirates 3 times this year, and it was the same story each time. You cannot help but be impressed with their size, speed and athleticism. The first two times I saw them, they made these same mistakes, but the talent differential between them and the opponent was so great that they could overcome them. Not so when you play a disciplined, well-coached opponent who doesn’t make mistakes, and takes advantage of yours.
I didn’t know Coach Seiss before he came to Merrillville, but having seen him work now on multiple occasions, I have to say I’m impressed with him. But if Merrillville truly aspires to have downstate success, rather than just being the big fish in the relatively small pond that is 6A football in the North, he’s got to change these guys from athletes to football players. It’s great to have sensational athletes on your team. But they have to get better at playing football.