BricksCenter
DaDaDa DaDaDa
October 4, 2020
21 Sports ... 1 Team ... WE ARE HOBART!
Well, it's safe to say the Brickies were reading carefully and taking it to heart because this week in Hobart sports was simply AMAZING!! On the court, across the field and throughout the course ... our student athletes were LAYING IT ON THE LINE and competing with EVERYTHING THEY HAD!! A HUGE road contest on the gridiron, final regular season contests on the soccer field, volleyball digging pink to raise funds for a worthy cause, harriers racing for a championship, and a boys tennis sectional title up for grabs all dotted the landscape of Brickie sports over the last 6 days.
Excited yet? It's time for BricksCenter!
LET'S GO BRICKS!!
Football
Let's look at some of the numbers, shall we?
Senior Zach Vode - 7 catches for 229 yds and 1 TD
Junior Marc Enslen - 3 catches for 101 yds and 1 TD
Senior Riley Johnston - 13/17 passing for 346 yds and 3 TDs, 9 carries for 114 yds and 2 TDs
Overall, Hobart amassed 511 yds of total offense and scored 6 TDs against a Kankakee Valley squad that was 5-1 on the year, ranked #7 in the area, and only allowing 9.5 ppg coming into the game!! WHOA NELLY INDEED!! On more than one play, you could hear another Hall of Fame announcer, ESPN's Chris Berman, saying "WHOOP" as Vode and Enslen left Kougar defenders in the dust with RIDICULOUS spin moves and field reversals ... and once they saw nothing but green in front of them, "HE COULD .. GO .. ALL ... THE ... WAAAYYYYYY"!! The O-line played it's best game of the year in protecting Johnston and opening up holes to keep the chains moving and allow Hobart to bring a HUGE NCC road victory back to H-town!
Senior Tyler Turley led the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE with 10 tackles on the night! The BEASTS OF THE BRICKYARD were once again FANTASTIC in disrupting the opposition as they totaled 8 tackles for loss and spent as much time in the Kougar backfield as their own players did!
The Brickies are 4-2 overall, 1-1 in conference action, and will play their final home contest of the regular season against Highland next Friday. BE THERE!
#PLAY15
Check out what the NWI Times had to say about Friday's VICTORY!
Soccer
This past week wrapped up the regular season for both boys & girls soccer before sectional play opens on Monday ... and WHAT A WEEK IT WAS!!
Girls
On Tuesday, the Lady Brickies welcomed Highland to town for an NCC showdown. The Lady Trojans, ranked in the area's top 10 and sporting a 10-2 record coming in, appeared to be a clear "favorite" to leave the Friendly City with a "W" ... and after going up 1-0 in the first 10 minutes, it looked like it might be a long night for Hobart. On the contrary, our Lady Brickies CLAWED and FOUGHT like CHAMPIONS for the next 30 minutes and trailed only 1-0 going into the halftime break! The 2nd half showed more of the same with our girls simply OUT PLAYING Highland all over the field!! Unfortunately, Hobart just could not get one past the Highland goalie and lost a tough one 2-0 when the Lady Trojans put one in around the 70th minute of play. Sophomore Rylee Cotton had 15 saves in goal to help keep the Lady Brickies in striking range.
Thursday, Hobart hosted Merrillville in The Brickyard in the final home game of the season. The Lady Brickies dedicated the game to former teammate Lauren Romeo, who tragically passed away in January. It was an emotional night to say the least, but one that brought a special inspiration that ignited the Lady Brickies attack and carried them all the way to an IMPRESSIVE 7-0 VICTORY!! Seniors Faith Kietzman and Samantha Paterson each scored twice for Hobart ... classmates Emma Lewis and Hayley Borman, along with sophomore Viv Garcia ... also added goals for Hobart in the win!
On Saturday, Hobart traveled to Portage to face the Lady Indians. Portage netted 3 goals in the first half to gain the advantage. Senior Cecelia Provins scored for Hobart to give the Lady Brickies some much needed momentum, but it wasn't enough as neither team was able to score in the second 40 minutes of play and the Indians prevailed 3-1.
The Lady Brickies finished the regular season with a 3-11 mark, but have played their best ... I mean their best soccer of the season over the last 2 weeks! IHSAA Sectional play begins Tuesday over at Chesterton High School as Hobart faces Michigan City at 5pm. GOOD LUCK LADIES!!
Boys
Monday night, the River Forest Ingots visited The Brickyard for a non-conference game between neighborhood rivals. This one was ALL-BRICKIES right from the start as 4 different players found the back of the net and Hobart cruised to an easy 4-0 VICTORY!! Goals were scored by freshman Liam Deel, sophomore Lucas Kietzman, and seniors Ryan Schuffert & Brian Daniels Jr.
On Wednesday, Hobart was on the road over at Highland for their last NCC contest of the season. Over the last few years, this one has developed into quite a rivalry and the 2020 version was no different! Each team played LOCK DOWN D-D-D-DEFENSE and after 80 minutes of INTENSE competition, the scored remained knotted at 0-0 ... and you know what that means - OVERTIME! After another 15 minutes of play, it was still a 0-0 tie and a sudden victory SHOOTOUT would determine the winner. Ultimately, the Trojans would find the net more than the Brickies in the shootout and send our boys home with a TOUGH 1-0 defeat. WHAT AN EFFORT by our boys.
Saturday, Merrillville came east of I-65 for an afternoon contest to close out the regular season for both teams. Less than 4 minutes in, Brickie freshman Luke Weinman scored after rebounding his own corner kick to give Hobart an early 1-0 lead!! In the 35th minute of a physical 1st half of play, senior Jonathan Hernandez-Valdez launched one into the back of the net to give Hobart a 2-0 halftime cushion!! Weinman tacked on one for good measure in the 89th minute ... his 2nd goal of the day ... to help deliver the Brickies a 3-0 VICTORY!!!
Hobart is 8-4-2 on the year and finished 2-3 in the NCC. Our boys will play a rematch with Merrillville on Monday over at Crown Point in an IHSAA Sectional 1st round contest. GOOD LUCK BOYS!!
#WEAREONE
Cross Country
Girls
In cross country, there are zero regular season conference meets, which means the NCC CHAMPIONSHIP race is for ALL THE MARBLES! The Lady Brickies were fully aware of the stakes on Saturday and ran like CHAMPIONS! Hobart put 3 runners on the ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM ... freshman PHENOM Ella Hornak placed 4th overall to earn 1st-team ALL-NCC, junior Mikayla Fuentes was next in 14th, which was good enough to garner a 2nd-team nod ... and freshman Adriana Arauz clocked in at 22 flat to place 17th to obtain honorable mention status!! Junior Sydney Belk and senior Lilly Butler rounded out the top 5 scoring spots for Hobart. Overall, the Lady Brickies finished 3rd as a team! Our girls look to be peaking at just the right time and can hopefully make a deep post-season "run" starting at next weekend's IHSAA Sectional! GREAT JOB LADIES!!
Boys
The Brickies brought 11 competitors to KV on Saturday and bested the girls by notching 4 ALL-CONFERENCE performances!! Senior Bruce "Almight" Leipart placed 5th overall and was joined in the top 10 by junior Joe Meagher who finished 10th ... both earning 1st-TEAM honors!! Freshman Ryan Mattel finished 13th for a 2nd-team ALL-NCC spot and senior Mark Perez came in 18th to obtain honorable mention status! Hobart's #5 on the day was freshman Thomas Martin, but the 5th fastest was classmate Owen Stankich in the JV race ... who both hustled back to HHS to play in the soccer games that afternoon! WOW!!
The Brickie BOYZ matched the girls with a 3rd place overall finish behind perennial powers Munster & Lowell.
The boys also begin the post-season next Saturday @ Hebron High School. These guys seem to run their BEST when their BEST is needed! Based on how our front-runners are performing, it looks like we might end up with some representation in Terre Haute for the 4th consecutive year! DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!
#PRIDEANDTRADITION
#GRATEFULLYDEDICATED
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ALL-NCC RUNNERS!!
Boys Tennis
Due to COVID-19 shutdowns, the IHSAA realigned schools into different sectional sites to even out the playing field. The Hobart sectional, normally composed of 6 teams, was reduced to only 4 this year. On Wednesday, the Brickies played Lake Station in semi-final action and made quick work of the visiting Eagles. Hobart won 5-0 and did not drop a single set in the match ... defeating Lake Station 60-13 in the lopsided contest!! Thursday's scheduled championship against arch-rival Merrillville was postponed until Friday thanks to Mother Nature turning the water on right as warm-ups began :).
Friday afternoon, Hobart squared off against Merrillville for the 2nd consecutive year with a title on the line. Just over a week ago, the Pirates defeated the Brickies 3-2 in one of the more exciting matches of the season ... and the championship was no different. These two teams BATTLED for almost 2 hours ... each showing PHENOMENAL individual play on both sides of the net!! Junior Ethan Cover won in 2 sets at #3 singles and the combo of junior Jaydon Hence and sophomore Cameron Gonzalez won a THRILLING 3-set match at #2 doubles to get Hobart within one match of a victory!! Despite a TREMENDOUS EFFORT from the Brickies across the board, Merrillville was able to secure wins at the other 3 spots and earned their 4th consecutive title in another 3-2 victory over Hobart to end the season.
A tough end, but a GREAT SEASON! Seniors Max Jancich, Carter Mohr, Chad Tomaga and Nick Kolopanis were absolutely FANTASTIC in leading this crew and representing the purple & gold with PRIDE!
#ACES
Volleyball
With the regular season winding down, this week provided our Lady Brickies an opportunity to honor some special groups ... our SENSATIONAL SENIORS and those who have COURAGEOUSLY fought cancer. It was QUITE A WEEK!
Tuesday, Griffith visited the Friendly City for SENIOR NIGHT. Six WONDERFUL seniors were honored before the varsity contest ... #1 Sasha Thomas, #4 Abby Dumbauld, #7 Haley Pint, #8 Emma Misecko, #11 Jessica Fazekas & #15 Ava Martinez. I can't think of a better way to send these fine student athletes out than with a victory over Griffith ... and our girls DELIVERED! After Hobart won the 1st two sets, Griffith found a way to steal #3 and prevent a clean sweep on SENIOR NIGHT. The Lady Brickies quickly regrouped and DOMINATED the 4th and deciding set ... winning with all 6 seniors on the court at the end!!
On Thursday, Hobart hosted Lowell for DIG PINK night! The Lady Brickies lost a tough fought contest in 3 sets, but the night was a VICTORY in the fight against cancer. Baskets were set socially distant on the south balcony of the gym, a 50/50 raffle was conducted, and all funds raised went directly to the American Cancer Society! Players from both teams were able to recognize friends & family members who have battled this disease before the game and play in their honor. CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Yanez and all of our Lady Brickies for contributing to such a great cause!!
Hobart has two games remaining this season ... @ Munster on Tuesday and @ Andrean on Thursday ... before sectional play begins over at Valpo. GOOD LUCK LADIES!!
#BRICKIEPRIDE
Athlete Of The Month
As former Dallas Cowboys head coach and current FOX NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson might say, "How 'bout them Brickies!"
Congratulations to our September Athletes of the Month!
Rylee Cotton - Girls Soccer
Claire Duca - Girls Golf
Ella Hornak - Girls Cross Country
Cameron Smith - Football
THANK YOU to our coaching staff for nominating these fine student athletes for their OUTSTANDING WORK WORK WORK!!
#ALLMYLIFE
In need of some new items for your fall wardrobe? CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW FOR ALL NEW BRICKIE GEAR!!
Sports Schedule This Week
Boys Soccer vs. Merrillville @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 6PM (Hosted by Crown Point HS)
Tuesday
Girls Soccer vs. Michigan City @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 5PM (Hosted by Chesterton HS)
Volleyball @ Munster *
Wednesday
Boys Soccer @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 5PM (*If advance on Monday)
Thursday
Girls Soccer @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 5PM (*If advance on Tuesday)
Volleyball @ Andrean *
9th Football vs. Highland *
Friday
Football vs. Highland *
Saturday
Girls Cross Country @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 10AM (Hosted by Hebron HS)
Boys Cross Country @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 10:40AM (Hosted by Hebron HS)
Girls Soccer @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 2PM (*If advance on Thursday)
Boys Soccer @ IHSAA SECTIONAL 6PM (*If advance on Wednesday)
* = NCC Opponent