The Crown Point Bulldogs will take on the Merrillville Pirates at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Last Friday, Crown Point humbled Arizona College Prep with a 42-7 victory. Given the Bulldogs' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked eighth in Indiana, while the Knights are ranked 46th in Arizona), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Merrillville had already won seven in a row dating back to last season (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.3 points), and they went ahead and made it eight on Friday. They blew past the Brickies 36-0 on the road. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Pirates just coasted through the last quarter.
Merrillville wouldn't let Hobart keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Trenton Nixon, Jalen McAlister, and Josiah Horton picked up one apiece. Nixon didn't just play on offense: he also picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and made a tackle (1.0 for loss).
Crown Point pushed their record up to 2-0 with that win, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Merrillville, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 2-0.
Everything came up roses for Crown Point against Merrillville when the teams last played back in September of 2023 as the squad secured a 39-6 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Crown Point since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
