BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
August 22, 2021
#21sports1team
24 years ago, the American boy band Backstreet Boys released "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" as the first single from their 2nd studio album. Larry Flick from Billboard commented that "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" contained a "contagious dance/pop beat and catchy hook that perfectly showcases this talented group's voices". I know ... you're probably thinking, "what in the world does this have to do with sports?"
Well, since the Brickies also seem to have a "contagious fight/song and 21 different sports that perfectly showcase a talented group of student athletes & coaches", I think it's only appropriate that we "sing" in the 2021-2022 sports season with a little help from the Backstreet Boys! I guess they're more like the Middle-aged Boys now, but whatever :)
Everybody
Cheer the BrickiesEverybody
Cheer the Brickies tonight
Our Bricks are shining alright!
Oh my gosh we're back again ... it's time for BricksCenter!
Football
The 1st quarter featured some excitement, but no scoring as each D-D-D-DEFENSE looked to set the tone early. The highlight was a fumble recovery by senior Dakota Vanderberg to halt a Trojan drive in Hobart territory. Senior linebacker Ryan Flores caused the fumble as he HAMMERED the ball carrier after a short gain! Early in the 2nd quarter, Chesterton found the endzone on a 37-yard pass play. After missing the extra point, the score was 6-0 Trojans. Neither team was able to generate much offense the rest of the half and Chesterton went into the halftime break with the lead.
With Hobart still trying to find it's rhythm on offense, the Trojans were able to capitalize twice ... once in the 3rd and once again early in the 4th quarter ... to take a commanding 20-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Remember what I just said about Hobart trying to find its rhythm? Consider it FOUND!! The Brickies CHARGED back into the game with a 64-yard drive that resulted in a TOUCHDOWN by junior Trey Gibson on a 1-yd run! Senior Miki Djankovich nailed the point after and all of a sudden our boys had new life! After Hobart's D-D-D-DEFENSE caused a Trojan punt, freshman quarterback Noah Ehrlich went to work completing long passes to junior wideout Cody Johnston and senior Braydon Carlson to get the Brickies back inside the RED ZONE!! Gibson and the offensive line did the rest to cap off another scoring drive with a 6-yd TOUCHDOWN run!! Another extra point sailed through the uprights and the score was 20-14! Believe it or not, the Brickie D stopped the Trojans AGAIN and Hobart got the ball back with just under a minute to play and 60 yards from a potential game-winning score. Unfortunately, the clock ran out before our boys could complete their incredible 4th quarter rally and the Trojans headed back Porter County with a 20-14 win.
It was such a HARD FOUGHT game ... our boys battled their butts off ... unfortunately, victory was just beyond our reach. This is a unique group for Hobart - one with experience in some areas and youth in others. There is no doubt that they will learn, grow, and show improvement EVERY WEEK trying to #play15 ... and that's the goal. To GET BETTER and to BE BETTER each and every time out!
The Brickies will travel to Merrillville this coming Friday night to play class 6A #7-ranked Merrillville @ Demarree Stadium. LET'S GO BRICKS!!!
#PLAY15
Boys Tennis
Anyone for tennis?
The Brickies have been WORK WORK WORKing hard to prepare for the 2021 season! Our boys are replacing 5 of 7 starting positions, which means these youngsters should get better and better as they gain experience and grow some varsity whiskers!
Coach Walsh had this to say after the match, "They all fought so hard ... it was such a great match!"
Thursday's scheduled match against neighborhood rival River Forest was postponed due to an unexpected shower that soaked the courts making them unplayable.
The Brickies are 0-1 on the young season and will be ROAD WARRIORS this week as they travel to Hammond Academy on Wednesday and Kankakee Valley Thursday for the first NCC contest of the fall. GOOD LUCK BOYS!!
#ACES
Cross Country
Girls
Sophomore Ella Hornak, 2020 IHSAA semi-state qualifier, is back to lead an intriguing group of Lady Brickies into the 2021 season! Our girls are young, but have just enough experience to be dangerous! Racing on the 10K race (each partner runs a 5K), Hornak partnered with junior Gianna Rodriguez and placed 3rd overall! In the 8K race (each partner runs a 4K), the team of senior Olivia Garcia and sophomore Adriana Arauz ... also a 2020 IHSAA semi-state qualifier ... WON 1st place!! No team scores were kept, but these girls have some serious post-season potential with 5 returning letter-winners from 2020 and the addition of both Rodriguez & Garcia! Once this group gets all of the pieces in place and can run at full strength, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with!
Boys
On the boys side, senior Joe Meagher partnered with sophomore Ryan Mattel ... both 2020 IHSAA semi-state qualifiers ... to finish 5th overall on the 10K course! The team of sophomore Owen Stankich and freshman Felix Lopez finished just 2 spots behind Meagher & Mattel in 7th! Seniors Kaiden Click and Jonah Wells, along with a contingent of newcomers also ran well and should provide some much-needed depth to an already solid core! These boys will be fun to watch develop as the season progresses!!
#PRIDE&TRADITION
Girls Golf
FOOOOOORRRRE!
The Lady Brickies were the first Hobart sport to compete this fall when they hosted the 15th Annual Hobart Invite at River Pointe Country Club on August 3rd. In the 8-team field, our girls placed 2nd overall with a team score of 38 in the 9-hole scramble! Portage won the team title after scorching the beautiful course with a 33.On both Wednesday, August 4th, and Friday, August 6th, the Lady Brickies swung the wrenches plenty as they played in 18-hole invitationals at Crown Point and Lake Central. Each contest provided an opportunity to compete against some of the area's best teams and enabled our girls to really get into the swing of things :).
After a week off from competition, Hobart was back at it on Friday, August 13th, with a Northwest Crossroads Conference opener against Kankakee Valley. The Lady Kougars looked strong and left town with a hard-earned 190-238 victory. Hobart's top finisher was senior Brooke Blanchard with a 54.
This past week was another busy one for Hobart playing 3 matches in 5 days! On Monday, the Lady Brickies traveled to Highland for their 2nd Northwest Crossroads Conference match of the season. Led by a strong contingent of seniors - Blanchard, Sydney Belk, Morgan Sanchez and one freshman, Laila Perschau, Hobart collectively dropped 17 strokes and shot a 221 over 9 holes to earn their first victory! On Tuesday, led by top finisher Sanchez, our girls split a triangular meet with Valpo & Highland. Friday, the Lady Brickies finished off the week with another NCC contest ... this time against arch rival Andrean. In the heat, Hobart was defeated by the '9ers 225-250.
Head Coach Gary Roach always says, "The best motivation comes from within" . Hobart will be back in action twice this week. Let's keep the ball rolling and keep those scores dropping!
#NANANANANANANANA
Soccer
GOOOOAAAAAAAAALL!
On Wednesday, the Lady Brickies faced Wheeler for their home opener of the 2021 fall season. Wheeler has been one of the most DOMINANT forces in Region girls soccer for the last 5 years, including appearances in the IHSAA State Finals in both 2017 & 2018. The Lady Bearcats entered Wednesday's contest with a 2-0 record and having outscored their opponents 16-0. Roughly 10 minutes into the game, Wheeler scored their 17th goal of the season to take an early 1-0 lead, but that's all the offense they could muster over the 1st 40 minutes of play as our girls HELD THE LINE behind some great D-D-D-DEFENSE and EXCEPTIONAL play in goal by junior keeper Rylee Cotton! Hobart held Wheeler without a score for over 45 minutes of play before a shot slipped by and into the back of the net for a 2-0 Bearcat lead. With just under 7 minutes remaining, a shot by Hobart freshman Piper Ellenberger got deflected and sophomore forward Ella Freimuth picked up the rebound and sent one in for a GOOOOOOAAAAAAALL!! The lead was down to 2-1!! Hobart stayed on the attack ... desperately trying to tie things up in the waning moments, but ultimately could not come up with another score. Our girls gave a GREAT EFFORT and lost a heartbreaker 2-1. Cotton finished with 12 saves in goal.
On Saturday, LaPorte was both the opponent and the location as Hobart traveled east for a morning tilt with the Lady Slicers. In a very physical game, the Lady Brickies stood tall and DOMINATED play from start to finish! Hobart scored twice in the first half and tacked on 5 MORE GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLS in the 2nd to earn the VICTORY by a score of 7-0!!! WOW!!! Ellenberger led the Lady Brickie attack with 4 goals (that's right, I said 4) and an assist ... Freimuth scored her 2nd goal of the season ... and junior Viv Garcia and sophomore Kaitlyn Roscoe each added goals of their own to help Hobart secure the win!
The Lady Brickies are 1-1 and are FUN to watch! Michigan City visits The Friendly City on Wednesday - BE THERE!!
Boys
On Wednesday, Hobart traveled to former NCC rival Griffith for a mid-week showdown. In a competitive 1st 40 minutes of action, the score was knotted at 1-1. The Brickies came out of the locker room for the 2nd half DETERMINED & FOCUSED as a group and DOMINATED the Panthers! Two GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLS for Hobart proved to be plenty of offense as our boys SHINED on the road and brought home a 3-1 VICTORY! Junior Ryan Pimentel and sophomore Parker Glass combined for 7 saves in goal and helped the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE hold Griffith scoreless over the final frame. Scoring goals for the Brickies were sophomores Liam Deel & Carlos Gayton and junior newcomer Owen Sasak!
Saturday, the Brickies were back home again at the Brickyard for a morning tilt with Illiana Christian. Illiana, also a 3-1 winner in it's first contest of the season, and Hobart have split this series over the last 2 years with the Vikings winning at The Brickyard 2 years ago and the Brickies winning on the road last fall. This one was for bragging rights and it was INTENSE!
After 40 minutes of physical play, it was all tied up at 1-1 going into halftime. For Hobart, it was Deel who sent his 2nd GOOOOAAAAALL of the season past the Viking goalkeeper and into the back of the net! In the 2nd half, there were more yellow cards than goals as things heated up a bit, but in the end, neither squad was able to net another score and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
The boys are 1-0-1 so far on the young season. These kids can play ... now the GOAL is to keep improving! Hammond Central and Boone Grove dot the landscape this upcoming week - WE GOT THIS BOYS!!
#WEAREONE
Volleyball
After an encouraging showing at the pre-season scrimmage against Morgan Township, this past week was the REAL THING as Hobart opened the season with 2 regular season games and hosted the 43rd Annual Lady Brickie Invite! LET'S GO BRICKS!!
On Monday, Hobart traveled to Porter County to face the powerhouse Lady Vikings from Valparaiso. One of NWI's top teams, the Lady Vikes return almost everybody from a squad that won 20 games a year ago and boast NCAA Div 1 recruit Kennedy Wagner. Hobart, on the other hand, begins this season with almost an entirely new group after graduating 6 seniors. Wagner showed why she's heading to Ole Miss as she pounded 16 kills to lead the Valpo attack. The Lady Brickies came to play, but ultimately the Lady Vikings had too much firepower and sent our girls home with a tough loss in 3 sets.
Tuesday, the Lady Brickies were in Porter County again ... this time facing Portage. The first set was a BATTLE as each squad took a turn at trying to gain control. Unfortunately, it was Portage who seized momentum and won 25-16. The Indians seized the momentum after securing victory in the 1st set and got it rolling in the 2nd to go up 2-0 with a 25-9 win. Hobart climbed back in it during the 3rd set ... scrapping and clawing to stay alive, but Portage held on 25-18 and earned the hard fought 3-0 victory. The Lady Brickies showed improvement over the previous night @ Valpo, but couldn't quite find the right mix to get over the hump.
On Saturday, Hobart finished off the 1st week of competition for the 2021 season by hosting the 43rd Annual Hobart Volleyball Invitational. After dropping their 1st two contests out of the gate, the Lady Brickies were looking to keep building ... keep gaining varsity experience ... and find that mix for some scoreboard success.
The Invite consisted of 8 schools divided into two divisions for pool play. The teams with the best records from each pool played in the championship. Well, the Lady Brickies FOUND the mix they were looking for and swam through their pool with a 3-0 record!! After dispatching of Lake Station and Hammond Morton in straight sets, Hobart faced neighborhood rival River Forest with the winner advancing to play in the Championship. This was an INSTANT CLASSIC!! The first set was back-and-forth ... Ingots persevered 25-23. The 2nd set featured more of the same as each squad gave it everything they had ... this time it was Hobart that found the right mix at the right time and won 25-22. For the tournament, it was only a "Best-of-Three" scenario, so set #3 would determine who advanced to the finals! In set 3, the Lady Brickies jumped out to an early lead and appeared to have the momentum, but River Forest regrouped and cut it to 13-12. A quick time out by Coach Yanez helped calm the nerves and our girls scored the final two points in DRAMATIC FASHION to WIN 15-12!! WHAT AN EFFORT! WHAT A GAME!!
In the championship, Hobart matched up with Marquette Catholic from Michigan City. The Lady Brickies were exhausted, but played with exceptional BRICKIE PRIDE on their home floor and challenged the defending champion Blazers with everything they had! Hobart held a slim lead late in the 1st set only to see Marquette rally for a 25-20 win. In the 2nd set, it was Marquette who jumped out to an early lead only to see the Lady Brickies rally to close the gap! Unfortunately, the Hobart rally ran out of gas and Marquette earned their 2nd consecutive title with a 2-0 (25-20, 25-17) win. It was a tough end to a long, hard fought day for the Lady Brickies, but the EFFORT and ENTHUSIASM was OUTSTANDING!!
Junior Gabby Tomich was EVERYWHERE for Hobart and the Lady Brickies got GREAT contributions from all over the place! Seniors Bella Skalba, Anna Wood, Madison Shinkle and Morgan & Lindsey Schallenkamp ... along with sophomores Emma Ortiz & Abby Roper
were simply FANTASTIC!
The Lady Brickies are 3-3 on the season and getting better every time they take the court! They talk, they scrap, they dive on the floor ... and they are having some fun playing hard TOGETHER!
#BRICKIEPRIDE
Sports Schedule This Week
Volleyball vs. River Forest
Girls Golf vs. Bishop Noll
Tuesday
Girls Cross Country @ Valpo Jamboree
Boys Cross Country @ Valpo Jamboree
Volleyball @ Wheeler
Boys Soccer vs. Hammond Central
Wednesday
Girls Golf vs. Lowell *
Boys Tennis @ Hammond Academy
Girls Soccer vs. Michigan City
**American Red Cross Blood Drive**
Thursday
Boys Tennis @ Kankakee Valley *
Volleyball vs. Highland *
9th Football @ Merrillville
Friday
Football @ Merrillville
Saturday
Boys Soccer @ Boone Grove
JV Football vs. Merrillville
JV Volleyball @ Chesterton Trny
**Charity Bingo @ Moose Lodge**
* = NCC Opponent
BLOOD DRIVE
Hobart HS Athletics is hosting a Blood Drive on Wednesday, August 25th, from 2-7 PM.
For an appointment, please call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/find-drive.
Thank you for supporting the American Red Cross and our athletic programs!
CHARITY BINGO NIGHT
Please join us for Charity Bingo Night at the Hobart Moose Lodge on Saturday, August 28th. This fun event will benefit our athletic programs at Hobart High School.
$10 for 10 games - Must be 18 to play
Doors open at 5:00 PM, and Bingo starts at 7:00 PM.
Door Prizes, Basket Raffles, Moose Races, 50/50 Drawings, and much more!
The kitchen will be open!
If you'd like to donate an item for a door prize or basket raffle, please call (219) 942-8521 ext. 8035.
Thank you for supporting your BRICKIES!