Football Recap: Merrillville's Luck Takes a Turn for the Worse on Friday

Pirates

Previous 5 Games

11/28/25 vs New Palestine	17-38
11/21/25 vs Concord	41-14
11/14/25 @ Michigan City	34-14
11/07/25 vs Munster	45-14
10/31/25 @ Hammond Morton	28-7

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Merrillville can now relate to. They came up short against the New Palestine Dragons on Friday, falling 38-17. The Pirates' defeat signaled the end of their ten-game winning streak.

Although Merrillville took the loss, they still got scores from Michael Hill Jr and Mikel Smoot.

Merrillville didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Keith Edwards. Edwards is also crushing it when it comes to total tackles: he's made at least five every time he's taken the field this season. Merrillville got some further help from Stanley Freeman: he made nine total tackles (4.0 for loss).

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead New Palestine to victory, but perhaps none more so than Caden Jacobia, who rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Ranes was another key rusher, rushing for 48 yards and a pair of scores.

Merrillville's loss dropped their record down to 11-3. As for New Palestine, the win keeps them at an undefeated 14-0.

As of now, neither Merrillville nor the Dragons have any future games scheduled.