Football Game Preview: Merrillville Pirates vs. Lake Central Indians

Merrillville has gone 8-2 against Lake Central recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Pirates will challenge the Indians at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Merrillville has four straight wins, Lake Central has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Merrillville is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 48-21 victory over Valparaiso. The Pirates might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by 21 points or more this season.

Michael Hill Jr

Rushing Yards (Career)

10/03/25 @ Valparaiso	241
09/19/25 @ Michigan City	75
08/29/25 vs Loyola Academy	57
11/15/24 vs Valparaiso	53
11/01/24 vs Hammond Central	47

Michael Hill Jr continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 241 yards and two scores on only 12 carries, while also throwing for 345 yards and four TDs while completing 73% of his passes. Those 241 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Mikel Smoot was in the mix too, providing Merrillville with two touchdowns.

They were just one part of a punishing run game: Merrillville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 300 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Lake Central played a tough matchup on Friday in which they were outscored in every quarter. They lost 27-6 to Chesterton.

Merrillville's win bumped their record up to 5-2. As for Lake Central, their loss dropped their record down to 2-5.

Everything came up roses for Merrillville against Lake Central in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, as the team secured a 43-10 victory. In that game, the Pirates amassed a halftime lead of 36-3, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.