Two dominant signal callers in Michael Hill Jr and Jacob Davis are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Merrillville Pirates will face off against the New Palestine Dragons at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Merrillville is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They breezed past Concord to the tune of 41-14. The victory was familiar territory for the Pirates, who have now won ten matchups in a row.
Jacquarious Johnson
| 11/21/25 vs Concord | 214 |
| 11/07/25 vs Munster | 150 |
| 08/22/25 vs Andrean | 130 |
| 10/10/25 @ Lake Central | 126 |
| 10/31/25 @ Hammond Morton | 118 |
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Jacquarious Johnson and Cameron Jordan. Johnson rushed for 214 yards while picking up 9.7 yards per carry while Jordan rushed for 178 yards on only 12 carries. Those 214 rushing yards gave Johnson a new career-high.
Merrillville was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 439 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Meanwhile, New Palestine faced Bloomington South in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. The Dragons' defense stepped up to hand the Panthers a 42-0 shutout. The Dragons pushed the score to 35-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Panthers had no chance of recovering from.
New Palestine's win came from a few key players Merrillville will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Caden Jacobia, who rushed for 85 yards and a pair of scores. Mason Oglesby did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 92 receiving yards.
New Palestine didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. Leading the way was Cameron Rollyson and his one interception.
Merrillville's record now sits at 11-2. As for New Palestine, their record is now 13-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
