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Merrillville at Valpo


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Does Valpo stand a chance in this one? Merrillville handled them earlier in the season. Valpo just defeated the team that clobbered the Pirates a few weeks back. Sagarin has them with almost identical ratings. Thoughts from The Region?

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7 minutes ago, scarab527 said:

The Merrillville loss to Chesterton is a head-scratcher but IMO if the Pirates have a prayer against Snider they'll win this game handily. This is by-far the most mediocre team Valpo has had in Marshall's tenure. 

Snider needs to beat Mishawaka first

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From afar, (just looking at box scores) it looks to me like Merrillville has not been the same team since their beat down of Valparaiso five weeks ago.

Combine that with some of the excuses and player attitudes mentioned by our “Merrillville insider” and I’d be shocked if this one is not much closer than the last meeting and actually give Valparaiso a great chance.

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One would think Merrillville is a 10 point favorite in this game despite what Sagarin says. This is coming from someone who has seen neither play, just looking at their schedule. Curious what Region folks think. 

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17 hours ago, scarab527 said:

The Merrillville loss to Chesterton is a head-scratcher but IMO if the Pirates have a prayer against Snider they'll win this game handily. This is by-far the most mediocre team Valpo has had in Marshall's tenure. 

 

17 hours ago, Komets2727 said:

Snider needs to beat Mishawaka first

 

17 hours ago, scarab527 said:

Yes, and I'd be shocked if they didn't.

 

16 hours ago, temptation said:

From afar, (just looking at box scores) it looks to me like Merrillville has not been the same team since their beat down of Valparaiso five weeks ago.

Combine that with some of the excuses and player attitudes mentioned by our “Merrillville insider” and I’d be shocked if this one is not much closer than the last meeting and actually give Valparaiso a great chance.

 

15 hours ago, BTF said:

One would think Merrillville is a 10 point favorite in this game despite what Sagarin says. This is coming from someone who has seen neither play, just looking at their schedule. Curious what Region folks think. 

 

14 hours ago, psaboy said:

I think Valpo has gotten better as the season has progressed from little that I've heard. Thin the game will be closer than before and being at home helps. I'm going with a toss up here. 

So the pirate insider here… long story short. We are a different team since Valpo last time, so the good and the bad..

the attitude of the team has seem to change since our beat down by Chesterton. 2 of our seniors gave an interview on the radio and said we didn’t watch film at all since week 3 (loss to crown point.) and the last two week they did but it was Munster and Hammond central. Nither game was competitive. But both those teams are going in the right direction growing there programs so hats off to them! The last time we played Valpo merrillville dominated the game. But we also had a lot of penalties I believe it was 15 for almost 150 yards while Valpo only had 30 yards of penalties. Valpo has gotten better since the year has gone on. But they couldn’t do anything to counter the merrillville speed in secondary and linebacker level. Also in that game you guys can look back justin Marshall and Phillip roche both were hobbled. Marshall had sat out tue week before against Laporte and had a brace on his knee for a few weeks after. And roche was in  and out with a hamstring and he sat the week after Valpo. The team is as healthy as we been all season. 

 

the Chesterton loss well that’s counted up to a lot of things. Chesterton came in with a great game plan and executed they also had there stud come back after being out most of the season. We were caught off guard by that. The wind was another factor not sure how fast the wind was but with there field in the open it was hard to throw anything down the field. Almost all throws both ways came on short little slants and screens. Merrillville also had a terrible game with punting and turnovers I think Chesterton avg starting foles possession was the merrillville 40… Chesterton won the game. We also had a few people walk away from the team at halftime of that game but I think the ones that stepped in are better. But I did notice the last 2 games merrillville defense was actually playing aggressive again which they hadn’t since week 1 and you could hear the hits(hard hits) up in the top of bleachers even when ball is at other end of field. The senior class has the team focused again. Back to back games the varsity offense put up 42 points right around the half. And the varsity defense only gave up 8 points in 2 games. We also have 3 pick 6s, 3punt blocks for TDS in last 2 games. If they carry this momentum forward…..
Merrillville also the last 2 games has found a RB by committe approach. We have 5-7 different people who are running the ball depending on situations. Of course Marshall,stephens,young are gonna be the 3 major names but others have stepped up and we will see if it continues forward. 

Valpo is always improved under coach Marshall. I’m not saying this game will be a wash but from what I have seen on both sides..

Valpo still can’t throw consistently. And there defense can’t contain the speed of justin Marshall or our super sophomore John peters. But on the other hand merrillville at times has had issues with the run defense. Below is the stats from merrillville/Valpo a few weeks ago. 
 

prediction: it’s always dangerous going to Valpo to play. There is a lot of history with officiating and things of that nature. But I think merrillville makes a statment and continues there momentum and wins 42-10

79449D51-D730-41B8-B4EA-E8BC65609F92.png

21728C35-7C7D-4248-AC14-07572294E27D.png

447B09D2-B9BA-46C5-94EC-2635EDB90F5B.png

17 hours ago, scarab527 said:

Yes, and I'd be shocked if they didn't.

I think we will all be shocked if they don’t 

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7 minutes ago, Piratefan101 said:

 

 

 

 

 

So the pirate insider here… long story short. We are a different team since Valpo last time, so the good and the bad..

the attitude of the team has seem to change since our beat down by Chesterton. 2 of our seniors gave an interview on the radio and said we didn’t watch film at all since week 3 (loss to crown point.) and the last two week they did but it was Munster and Hammond central. Nither game was competitive. But both those teams are going in the right direction growing there programs so hats off to them! The last time we played Valpo merrillville dominated the game. But we also had a lot of penalties I believe it was 15 for almost 150 yards while Valpo only had 30 yards of penalties. Valpo has gotten better since the year has gone on. But they couldn’t do anything to counter the merrillville speed in secondary and linebacker level. Also in that game you guys can look back justin Marshall and Phillip roche both were hobbled. Marshall had sat out tue week before against Laporte and had a brace on his knee for a few weeks after. And roche was in  and out with a hamstring and he sat the week after Valpo. The team is as healthy as we been all season. 

 

the Chesterton loss well that’s counted up to a lot of things. Chesterton came in with a great game plan and executed they also had there stud come back after being out most of the season. We were caught off guard by that. The wind was another factor not sure how fast the wind was but with there field in the open it was hard to throw anything down the field. Almost all throws both ways came on short little slants and screens. Merrillville also had a terrible game with punting and turnovers I think Chesterton avg starting foles possession was the merrillville 40… Chesterton won the game. We also had a few people walk away from the team at halftime of that game but I think the ones that stepped in are better. But I did notice the last 2 games merrillville defense was actually playing aggressive again which they hadn’t since week 1 and you could hear the hits(hard hits) up in the top of bleachers even when ball is at other end of field. The senior class has the team focused again. Back to back games the varsity offense put up 42 points right around the half. And the varsity defense only gave up 8 points in 2 games. We also have 3 pick 6s, 3punt blocks for TDS in last 2 games. If they carry this momentum forward…..
Merrillville also the last 2 games has found a RB by committe approach. We have 5-7 different people who are running the ball depending on situations. Of course Marshall,stephens,young are gonna be the 3 major names but others have stepped up and we will see if it continues forward. 

Valpo is always improved under coach Marshall. I’m not saying this game will be a wash but from what I have seen on both sides..

Valpo still can’t throw consistently. And there defense can’t contain the speed of justin Marshall or our super sophomore John peters. But on the other hand merrillville at times has had issues with the run defense. Below is the stats from merrillville/Valpo a few weeks ago. 
 

prediction: it’s always dangerous going to Valpo to play. There is a lot of history with officiating and things of that nature. But I think merrillville makes a statment and continues there momentum and wins 42-10

79449D51-D730-41B8-B4EA-E8BC65609F92.png

21728C35-7C7D-4248-AC14-07572294E27D.png

447B09D2-B9BA-46C5-94EC-2635EDB90F5B.png

I think we will all be shocked if they don’t 

“Also had a few people walk away from the team at halftime.”

Love how you just slip this little tidbit in the middle of your manifesto as if it’s no big deal.

NOTHING to see here…perfect culture at Merrillville, lol.

Edited by temptation
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5 minutes ago, temptation said:

“Also had a few people walk away from the team at halftime.”

Love how you just slip this little tidbit in the middle of your manifesto as if it’s no big deal.

NOTHING to see here…perfect culture at Merrillville, lol.

I was being honest. We had a OL walk away because he got benched for not making a block. The culture at merrillville is not perfect and I never said it was. Every school and program has there flaws. And it was a shock that it happened. But we move on and move forward. We reshuffled the offense line and though it was Hammond and Munster it actually looks better at making a pocket for throwing. But the run block got a little less. I’m being open and honest. If merrillville would not of fallen to Chesterton the spread in this game would probably be closer to 17 like it was in sagrin before the loss. 

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6 minutes ago, temptation said:

“Also had a few people walk away from the team at halftime.”

Love how you just slip this little tidbit in the middle of your manifesto as if it’s no big deal.

NOTHING to see here…perfect culture at Merrillville, lol.

To be fair, if someone walks away due to their own personal attitude when a team is down, and someone else steps into their shoes and does better, I spend my focus in the moment on the guy willing to sit the bench and support the team as he can until his time arrives and then step in and perform when the team needs him.  Doesn't mean I abandon the guy who walked away and it doesn't mean that I don't try to work with him to see if we can perhaps get him back on track, but a lot of times character shines through in adversity ... both ways.

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12 minutes ago, foxbat said:

To be fair, if someone walks away due to their own personal attitude when a team is down, and someone else steps into their shoes and does better, I spend my focus in the moment on the guy willing to sit the bench and support the team as he can until his time arrives and then step in and perform when the team needs him.  Doesn't mean I abandon the guy who walked away and it doesn't mean that I don't try to work with him to see if we can perhaps get him back on track, but a lot of times character shines through in adversity ... both ways.

No doubt I don’t disagree. But talking to other parents I had heard the kid doesn’t want to come back and he is focusing on his winter sport. (I’d assume wrestling) 

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7 minutes ago, Piratefan101 said:

No doubt I don’t disagree. But talking to other parents I had heard the kid doesn’t want to come back and he is focusing on his winter sport. (I’d assume wrestling) 

I wonder how the wrestling coach and his wrestling teammates feel. Kid walked out on his teammates when the going got tough. Not the kind of guy I’d expect to have my back when push comes to shove.

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11 minutes ago, Bobref said:

I wonder how the wrestling coach and his wrestling teammates feel. Kid walked out on his teammates when the going got tough. Not the kind of guy I’d expect to have my back when push comes to shove.

When times get tough... oh well you know the rest!  If the walkers were not Seniors it would be the last time they played for me. Talent or no talent, you don't let your team down that way. I'm sure there are many that will disagree with me. To bring them back violates the trust of the team and teaches them NOTHING! 

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1 hour ago, Goose Liver said:

When times get tough... oh well you know the rest!  If the walkers were not Seniors it would be the last time they played for me. Talent or no talent, you don't let your team down that way. I'm sure there are many that will disagree with me. To bring them back violates the trust of the team and teaches them NOTHING! 

Stuff happens I guess. I’m not in on the inside of that. I just see from a. Fan perspective it seems they became more of a team after this person walked. But it’s all good. Everyone has opinions and I don’t know the whole story so no reason to speak any further on it. Not gonna focus on the kid when there are two talented teams vying for a state title!! 

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2 hours ago, foxbat said:

To be fair, if someone walks away due to their own personal attitude when a team is down, and someone else steps into their shoes and does better, I spend my focus in the moment on the guy willing to sit the bench and support the team as he can until his time arrives and then step in and perform when the team needs him.  Doesn't mean I abandon the guy who walked away and it doesn't mean that I don't try to work with him to see if we can perhaps get him back on track, but a lot of times character shines through in adversity ... both ways.

At halftime?

Come on.  It’s a culture problem and why I’ll refuse to believe in Merrillville in a big game.

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Valpo will make it interesting on Friday night.

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6 minutes ago, temptation said:

At halftime?

Come on.  It’s a culture problem and why I’ll refuse to believe in Merrillville in a big game.

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Valpo will make it interesting on Friday night.

Yep, I've seen it in programs and I've seen it across sports where a kid might "quit" mid-game.  Yes, it can be a culture program, but I've also see it when it's not culture.  I'm not familiar with Merrillville as a program, so I can't speak to their culture, and it's also why I mentioned specifically "personal attitude" rather than team culture in my statement of response. 

 

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31 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Yep, I've seen it in programs and I've seen it across sports where a kid might "quit" mid-game.  Yes, it can be a culture program, but I've also see it when it's not culture.  I'm not familiar with Merrillville as a program, so I can't speak to their culture, and it's also why I mentioned specifically "personal attitude" rather than team culture in my statement of response. 

 

Tell me about those programs and their success on a statewide level.

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4 minutes ago, temptation said:

Tell me about those programs and their success on a statewide level.

Actually, without divulging names, because it pulls kids/coaches into the mix for speculation, they've been pretty successful.  Others more of the verge of success.  Some of them, not very good in terms of their records, but nonetheless, coaches and kids, for the most part, with very good hearts.  Of course, it also happens in teams that aren't successful because they don't have good leadership or culture.  Even teams that I myself played on back in the day ... back before there were facemasks and tackling a QB was still allowed ... and probably most of us at one time or another have seen it, had a kid on a team who believed that the coach just wasn't "seeing his potential" and walked off or threw the helmet/bat or just didn't show one day.  Of course, there are some of those other situations where the coach informs the player that his services are no longer required before he gets that opportunity to let the team down.  In either case, the issue of kid walking off is actually more common than a lot of folks think.  Not that I condone it or would let it slide if it were my team, but it's actually not as rare as might be expected. 

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Merrillville is very talented, but the attitude issues have plagued this program for a long time. Lack of discipline fits as well. They probably have enough to get by Valpo this week, not sure it would be enough if they play Snider if the Panthers are able to beat Mishawaka

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     Valpo is one dimensional, and have great size up front, and their QB reads the run well. They are disciplined. Merrillville can run and pass, their QB let one completion fly 60 yds in the air vs Chesterton. It will bode well for Valpo to score first, and the secondary will have its hands full in their zone coverage, especially if they dont keep the game in front of them. I like Merrillville's chances, with their big play potential, but they have to play disciplined ball, regardless of where the game is played, or whatever Cody's " Officiating history" comment means. Sad to hear a Merrillville OL decided to let the team down at half time of the Chesterton game, while it was tied at 7's, apparently it had a significant impact in the unwillingness of Merrillville to score in the 2nd half. Unsure why Cody has to offer unnecessary information regarding game specifics, was some rain in 4th qtr, not much wind, didnt bother Chesterton much, and they didnt bother with any slants or screens. What high school team doesnt watch upcoming game film? It's all on HUDL, and coaches can see how often their players view it.....and I agrree, the overall culture of a program is in jeopardy if starters are walking off at halftime and players admit in public that they dont watch film. Perhaps I dont like Merrillville's chances.

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