Merrillville High School - Merrillvue Yearbook (Merrillville, IN)

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J.V.ers Improve , Finish .500 Under coaches Greg Pierson and Dennis Conley, the 1977 Junior Varsity football team finished with a 2-4 Dune- land Conference record and a 4-4 record over all. Three of the four wins coming in the last three games of the season. Their biggest win was over cross town rival Andrean, 21-7. The J-V offense racked up a total of 91 points while the defense held opponents to 89; a big improvement over last year. Left: Sophomore halfback. Kerry Gaboyan breaks through the Andrean line. Lower left: The Merrillville defensive line prepares to take on the Andrean attack. Lower right: Merrillville soph- omore Chris Roark chases after the Portage ball carrier. Bottom left: Scott Richter (15) runs into interference while trying to get to the Andrean quarterback. Bottom Right: The Pirates in forma- tion against Portage. Junior Varsity Scoreboard MHS OPP. 8 LaPorte 12 12 Hobart 14 14 Lake Central 7 7 Chesterton 21 7 Portage 14 21 Andrean 7 8 Rogers 7 14 Valparaiso 7 Junior Varsity Football 17

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Nothing Lasts Forever The highly ranked and favored Pi- rates were upset by the number ten Portage Indians 3 to 0 in the sectional football playoff game. In front of 7,000 fans, the Pirates played an all defen- sive game only to be scoreless until less than a minute left in the fourth quarter. The Indians recovered a fumbled punt by the Pirates leaving the game open for the Indians. The Pirates were soon to see their first defeat of the season in eleven games. Three plays later with only fifteen seconds remaining, the Portage kicker hit a completed twenty- five yard field goal. Even though the Pirates lost, they totally dominated the game on offense and defense as they outnumbered Portage on offense 235 yards to Portages 88 with a respectful secondary allowing a total of eight yards on the passes. Top right: After taking the kick off at 15 yard line, Tom Szmagaj gets some blocking from; Bob Soohey (14), Kirk Vickroy (81), Mark Meechia (23), and Brian Woodward (33). Above left: Se- nior quarterback Mark Dakich attempts to get off a pass as senior Tim Lynch wards off a Portage lineman. Top right: Tim Seneff skirts a blocker to get at the Portage ball carrier. 16 Varsity Football

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Girls gain Sectional title Once again Coach Joanne Schafer led a girl’s athletic sport to a sectional crown. The girl’s varsity basketball team worked hard to achieve their 13-5 season record, and 4-2 conference record. Sectionals were next on the agenda. The girls won the first game against Lake Station and then had to face highly favored Andrean. Despite a loss to Andrean in the regular season, the girls went on to defeat the Niners and to take the sectional crown. MHS Varsity Scoreboard OPP 72 River Forest 34 43 LaPorte 38 46 Munster 59 51 Portage 37 32 Andrean 37 44 Jimtown 36 43 S.B. Riley 40 46 Whiting 38 41 Chesterton 40 53 Hobart 40 56 Lake Station 23 63 Gary Wallace 57 51 Valparaiso 66 49 Calumet 40 49 M.C. Rogers 61 59 Sectional Lake Station 54 47 Andrean 41 47 Regional Valparaiso 57 Upper Right: Senior forward Peggy VanDenburgh goes up for a breakaway lay-up against Lake Sta- tion in the first game of the sectionals. Right: VanDenburgh shoots over Valpo defenders. Top Right: Senior Daria Sawochka jumps against a Viking opponent. Far Right: Guard Kim Seit- zinger just gets a shot off over the Valpo center. Bottom Right: Senior Carol Hancock and Junior Sue Meschede fight for rebound position under the basket. 18 Girls Varsity Basketball