Famed British author Charles Dickens penned the following line to open his 1859 historical novel A Tale of Two Cities ...

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

These 12 words written together summarize this past week of events at HHS. Action in athletic competition was exciting, intense and saw the Brickies compete with everything they had for a shot at some CHAMPIONSHIP hardware for our fall sports. At the same time, emotions surrounding the loss of one of our own were almost too much to bear.

It's times like these that I am thankful to be a Brickie. This community is a special family. The joy & celebration surrounding our successes and outpouring of support & love shown this week for such a terrible loss illustrate and confirm it.

An unforgettable week ... ends with this edition of BricksCenter.

This past week, the 29th Annual IHSAA Tournament Series began for both our girls & boys soccer teams. In Hobart, we call it Fall Madness!

Girls

On Tuesday night, the Lady Brickies traveled to Portage, which is serving as the host school for the IHSAA Sectional, to play a 1st round game against Merrillville. Back on September 29th, our girls defeated the Pirates 5-0. Would this time around yield the same result? Well ... YES!! In fact, after leading 3-0 at the break, Hobart sent two more shots into the nylon in the 2nd half to earn another 5-0 VICTORY!! Seniors Rylee Cotton & Viv Garcia ... junior Kaitlyn Roscoe ... and sophomores Laila Perschau & Alicia Salamanca all scored GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLS for the Lady Bricks in the quarterfinal win!

Thursday, Hobart was back at Portage again ... this time the opponent was Crown Point, who defeated Valparaiso in 1st round action. Our girls needed a colossal effort against the sectional favorite Lady Bulldogs and that's EXACTLY what they gave! Unfortunately, CP was dialed in right from the start ... took a 4-0 lead into the halftime break and went on to win 7-0. Even though the final score wasn't what we hoped for, the Lady Brickies literally left it all out there on the field and we are SO PROUD of them for it!! Coach Provins, his staff, and our entire team walked off that field for the last time in 2022 with their heads held high. Crown Point went on to win the IHSAA Sectional championship on Saturday afternoon.

Hobart finished the 2022 season with a record of 8-7-3 and showed tremendous growth both individually and collectively from a year ago. If their improvement in the last year is any indication of where they might be a year from now, things are going to be exciting! GREAT JOB THIS FALL LADIES!!

Boys

Hobart is serving as host for the 2022 IHSAA Boys Soccer Sectional - a first in the last 25 years. The draw pitted our boys against the Crown Point Bulldogs on Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round. Hobart last played Crown Point in the 2020 Sectional ... a 4-0 win for the dawgs. A number of Brickies on this year's squad played that day back in 2020 and were ready to put the Bulldogs on a leash! In a physical 1st 40 minutes of action, Crown Point held a 2-1 advantage even though Hobart controlled the ball most of the half. Whatever Coaches Weinman & Harris said at halftime worked because our boys came out like gangbusters and junior Liam Deel sent one into the nylon for a GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALL just 90 seconds into the half!! Tied at 2-2, the next 36 minutes were INTENSE as both teams tried desperately to seize control. The EFFORT was amazing! With just under 3 minutes left in regulation, junior Carson Bell got the ball in the open field ... attacked the goal while staving off CP defenders ... and sent a PERFECT pass to freshman Adrian Stojkoski, who was sprinting in from the right wing ... and Stojkoski booted a shot past the Bulldog goalie for another Brickie GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALL and a 3-2 Hobart lead!!! Crown Point was frantically trying to score in the final moments, but our boys stood their ground and held on for a THRILLING VICTORY!!! Sophomore Gavin Guess scored the lone goal for Hobart in the 1st half and junior Parker Glass recorded 9 saves in goal to help secure the win!!

On Thursday, our boys faced Portage in the IHSAA Sectional semifinals. Back on September 10th, the Brickies defeated the Indians in a close one by a 2-1 score. The rematch turned out to be even more intense with a shot to advance to the championship. Portage got on the board with a late 1st half goal and after 40 minutes, Hobart trailed 1-0. The Indians crowded the defensive box all night long and made things extremely difficult on the Bricks to get many good looks at the goal. After an emotional & physically draining victory on Tuesday night, our boys just could never quite gain control on Wednesday. They played with the PRIDE of a CHAMPION and gave every ounce of energy they had, but Portage had an answer each time the Brickies attacked. In the end, the Indians would tack on two more scores and advance to Saturday's championship by a 3-0 score.

On Saturday night, Portage defeated Valparaiso 3-2 to win the title.

They say "Success is a Journey, not a Destination". The journey this program has been on over the last 6 years has been impressive. Hobart has improved in the win column each year ... 1,3,7,9,13 & 15 - INCREDIBLE! This year's squad won a 2nd consecutive Northwest Crossroads Conference Championship and boasted a 13-game winning streak before falling to Portage in the sectional semis.

The Brickies finished 15-2-1 - WOW! WHAT A RIDE they took us all on over the last 2 months!! CONGRATULATIONS to the coaching staff and all of our boys for such a memorable 2022 season!!

#IAMACHAMPION

#WEAREONE

Hearts were heavy Friday night on Don Howell Field as coaches, fans & student athletes were trying to celebrate seniors while remembering & honoring the loss of a loved one. When times are tough, FAMILY helps us through ... and that's exactly what provided the crutch to stand on @ The Brickyard.

After recognizing Brickie football, cheer & band seniors prior to varsity warmups, all in attendance paused for a moment of silence to honor the life of 2022 HHS graduate Elizjah Wilson. Understandably so, our boys were a little slow out of the gate ... no doubt in part due to the circumstances surrounding the loss of one of our own ... and the first 12 minutes ended with the scoreboard showing zeros for both teams. Senior Colton Charo did make an INCREDIBLE interception to bring some excitement to an the subdued crowd during the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, Hobart started to regain their focus and collective energy! Senior Ryan Pimentel got things going with a 27-yard FG to make it 3-0. Over the next 10 minutes, sophomore QB Noah Ehrlich would score 2 rushing touchdowns, junior Bradley Gibson would recover a FUMMMMBLLLEE, and Pimentel would add another FG to give the Bricks a 20-0 halftime cushion!

In the 2nd half, Highland found the endzone to cut the Hobart lead to 20-7, but it was ALL BRICKIES after that!! Ehrlich found classmate Connor Stafford for a 23-yard TOUCHDOWN and senior Trey Gibson rushed for 2 more scores to deliver a 41-7 SENIOR NIGHT VICTORY!!!

On the offensive side of things, Ehrlich completed 16/25 passes for 178 yds and a score ... Gibson carried the pill 25 times for 177 yds and 2 scores ... and Pimentel was perfect on every kick! For the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE, B.Gibson led the attack with 10 total tackles & a fumble recovery ... junior Gavin Miller-Lane had 4 SACKS ... and senior Noah Miller added 6 tackles and another sack to help the BRICKWALL hold Highland to just 119 yds of total offense! PHENOMENAL!!

Hobart is now 5-3 on the year and 3-1 in NCC play. The Brickies will wrap up the regular season next Friday @ Munster.

#PLAY15

On Saturday, the Brickie harriers were racing at the IHSAA SECTIONAL hosted by Hebron High School. In order to advance as a team, Hobart would need to place in the top 5. In order to advance as an individual (if the team does not advance), our girls or guys would need to be one of the top 10 finishers from a non-qualifying team. Here we go.

Girls

It was "Ladies First" on Saturday morning and our girls took advantage of an AMAZING day to race! As the course wound around the east side of the Hebron campus, the Lady Brickies were pushing HARD to get back to the IHSAA Regional after missing a top 5 finish by a mere 4 points in 2021. Freshman Cassie Cohen sprinted to the lead and never looked back to WIN the individual crown in a LIFETIME BEST performance of 18:58!! WOW THAT'S FAST!! In fact, ALL 7 Hobart runners at the sectional ran a LIFETIME BEST to give our girls a 4th place team finish and punch their ticket to next week's REGIONAL!!! WHAT A PERFORMANCE!!! Freshman Joanna Cantu (12th place) earned ALL-SECTIONAL HONORS by joining Cassie in the top 20 ... classmates Millie Massey (28th), Delaney Williams (37th), Audrey Turley (42nd) & Alissa Trail (46th) - along with senior Haylie Skripac (48th) - rounded out the Lady Brickie lineup that was at its BEST when its BEST was needed!! UNBELIEVABLE!! ... and yes, you read that right ... 6 of Hobart's 7 runners on the day were freshman!

*Side note - Cassie's 18:58 is the 3rd fastest 5k time for a Lady Brickie in SCHOOL HISTORY!!

With such a fantastic race, the Lady Brickies earned another week of training and a chance to race next Saturday at Lemon Lake County Park in the IHSAA REGIONAL! GREAT JOB LADIES!!

Boys

The Hobart boys were next in line to race for the Regional and the competition for those top 5 spots would be FIERCE with Hanover Central, Merrillville, Hebron & Hobart chasing that coveted spot! Early on, the Brickies were WORK WORK WORKing HARD to put themselves in position to advance, but so were their competitors in what ultimately was a THRILLING race to watch!! Sophomore Felix Lopez was the first Brickie into the chute in a LIFETIME BEST time of 16:46 - a full 25 seconds faster than he had ever run in his life - to place 8th overall!! Junior Owen Stankich was next in 25th ... then a pair of freshmen, Durgon Click (30th) and Lu Cohen (33rd) flew into the finish - each also running a LIFETIME BEST!! Classmate Ethan Murchek (40th) was Hobart's #5 and juniors Vinny Gutierrez (41st) & Quentin Stengel (48th) rounded out the top 7. Like I stated earlier, this competition was FIERCE and as the announcer began reading the results, everyone knew it would be close.

"In 7th place, with 136 points, Hebron. In 6th place, with 135 points, Hobart. In 5th place - and qualifying for next week's regional - with 132 points, Merrillville."

The collective hearts of all Hobart fans, coaches & athletes present were broken. The 4th place team, Hanover Central, finished with 129 points, which means there were only 7 places total between the 4th & 7th place teams - WOW that was a close race. It was a tough pill to swallow ... finishing so close to advancing, but our boys handled it with class and 4 will still get to race next week as Lopez, Stankich, Click & Cohen all advanced as individuals! Felix will be making his 2nd straight trip to the regional and Owen will be there for the 3rd time!!

Hobart will have representation at next week's IHSAA REGIONAL by both the girls and boys. The race is hosted by Crown Point High School and will occur at Lemon Lake County Park. Same rules apply to advance again ... top 5 teams or top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team. GOOD LUCK!!! WE BELIEVE!!!

#PRIDEANDTRADITION

The 2022 SECTIONAL CHAMPIONS traveled to Munster High School this past week to compete in the IHSAA REGIONAL!

1st round action took place on Tuesday afternoon with the Brickies squaring off against the Hammond Morton Governors ... winners of the East Chicago Sectional. It was a PERFECT night for some high school tennis and our boys SHINED! Hobart picked up right where they left off at the sectional as the Bricks PLAYED WELL and advanced to the FINALS with a HARD FOUGHT 4-1 victory! Hobart earned wins from senior Cam Gonzalez (#1 singles), junior Jacob Lewis (#2 singles), sophomore Levi Snyder (#3 singles) and the tandem of senior Conner Niemann & freshman Cash Salunga (#1 doubles) to advance!

On Wednesday afternoon, Hobart made the trek back to Munster for the REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP against the host Mustangs. Back on September 8th, Munster shut-out the Brickies 5-0. Our boys BATTLED with EVERYTHING they had and this time the score was much closer between the lines! Unfortunately, the end result was the same ... a victory for Munster, NWI's #1-ranked team, by a 5-0 score. Still, this was the first time since 1972 that the Brickie boys have advanced to an IHSAA Regional final! That's right ... 50 YEARS! INCREDIBLE!! That 1972 Brickie squad won Hobart's only Regional championship.

This unfortunately closes the book on another great season of boys tennis in H-town ... one that started slow ... saw our boys win 5 out of 6 to finish the season, win the 5th boys tennis sectional in school history, and advance to the regional finals for the first time in 50 years ... WOW, AMAZING!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Coach Walsh, Coach Brumley and all of the Brickies who WORKED WORKED WORKED so hard all year ... we are VERY PROUD of you and all you accomplished!

#ACES

This week wrapped up the regular season for our Lady Brickies and provided an opportunity to honor our SENSATIONAL SENIORS. It was QUITE A WEEK!

Monday night, Hobart hosted the Hammond Central Wolves in non-conference action and celebrated SENIOR NIGHT! Four WONDERFUL seniors were recognized before the varsity contest ... #1 Daeges Morgan, #3 Addy Klemm, #9 Gabby Tomich & #10 Angelina Priestly. I can't think of a better way to send our seniors out in their final home game than with a victory over Hammond ... and our girls DELIVERED!!

On Tuesday, the Lady Brickies traveled to Munster for an NCC match-up. Unfortunately, the Lady Stangs were firing on all cylinders right from the start and sent Hobart back to The Friendly City with a 3-0 defeat.

Thursday, Hobart closed out regular season and Northwest Crossroads Conference play against arch rival Andrean - ranked #27 in Indiana and #1 in Class 2A. The Lady Brickies were competitive early in each of the 3 sets ... and stayed particularly close in the 2nd game, but ultimately fell to defeat against the defending IHSAA Class 2A State Champions. Tomich led the Lady Bricks with 5 kills & 3 blocks ... Klemm had 15 digs and sophomore Kilee Hite contributed 10 assists in the loss.

The Lady Brickies finished the regular season with a record of 14-17. The 14 wins by our girls is the MOST SINCE 2012!! In fact, Hobart only won 11 games over the last 2 years combined ... which means earning 14 W's this fall is quite an improvement!!

Our girls will travel to Valparaiso High School for the Class 4A IHSAA SECTIONAL starting next week. Competition begins on Tuesday with Lowell facing Kankakee Valley. The Lady Brickies will play Chesterton ... for the 2nd consecutive year to open the sectional ... at 7:30pm on Thursday with semifinal and final action taking place on Saturday morning.

GOOD LUCK LADIES! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!

#CANYOUDIGIT

Congratulations to our Brickie Athletes of the Month for September! Thank you to our coaches for all your nominations!!

Liam Deel - Boys Soccer

Daeges Morgan - Volleyball

Levi Snyder - Boys Tennis

Jillian Wilkinson - Girls Golf

#BEEXCELLENTONPURPOSE

On October 1st, 2022 HHS graduate and current University of Southern Indiana freshman Autumn Turley WON both the 1 meter and 3 meter diving events at USI's 1st ever meet! The Screaming Eagles just started their swimming & diving program and Autumn helped them defeat Valparaiso University 188-92!! INCREDIBLE!!

USI is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference and compete at the NCAA Div 1 level.

#ONCEABRICKIEALWAYSABRICKIE

#NEXTLEVEL

Heartbroken

Elijzah Wilson was an anchor for an offensive line that helped the Brickies win NCC championships in 2019 & 2021, IHSAA Sectional and Regional championships in 2019 & 2020, and advance all the way to Lucas Oil for the 2020 IHSAA State Finals. He was also a 1st team All-Northwest Crossroads Conference selection in 2021 … but more importantly, he was an anchor for friendship, for encouragement, and will leave a legacy that will live on because of the kind of person he was …a great brother, teammate & friend.

Eli was taken too soon. There aren't words that fully express the devastation and heart-break the entire Hobart Brickie family feels … our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to Eli’s family for comfort. In the midst of sadness, we are also eternally grateful and honored for the time we shared with Eli and the impact his life made on so many others. Eli SHINED BRIGHT. His presence will never leave us and his light will undoubtedly continue to SHINE in the hearts and lives of all who knew him.

Until we meet again - May God Bless you and keep you

“The WILL of God will never take you to where the GRACE of God will not protect you”

Monday

No Events Scheduled

Tuesday

No Events Scheduled

Wednesday

No Events Scheduled

Thursday

Volleyball @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (Hosted by Valparaiso High School)

9th Football @ Munster *

Friday

Football @ Munster *

Saturday

Girls Cross Country @ IHSAA REGIONAL (Hosted by Crown Point High School @ Lemon Lake County Park)

Felix Lopez, Owen Stankich, Durgon Click & Lu Cohen @ IHSAA Cross Country REGIONAL

Volleyball @ IHSAA SECTIONAL (*If advance on Thursday)

JV Football vs. Munster *

* = NCC Opponent