BricksCenter

#23sports1team

Former men's college basketball coach and Naismith Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who led the Villanova Wildcats to six Big East Conference Championships, 16 NCAA tournament appearances, four Final Fours, and two National Championships in 21 seasons as head coach, knew how to create a championship culture ... one that helped build a structure that enabled student athletes to excel in the classroom, on the basketball court, and in life. Coach Wright had this to say about culture:

"Culture and doing things the right way should be the focus every day. Your daily habits are what you lean on when things get hard."

Culture is who we are ... it's the way we do things around here. In the Land of the Brickies, core principles focus on ENERGY, SACRIFICE & DIRECTION. Those principles help guide the decisions we make and the approach we take. The way we do one thing is the way we do everything ... and this past week our student athletes were bringing ENERGY at the IHSAA Cross Country Regional, SACRIFICING for each other in the IHSAA Class 4A Football Sectional opener, and working hard with mission, purpose & DIRECTION as both Girls Wrestling and Girls Basketball began official practice for their winter seasons!

Now let's focus our energy on reading ... it's time for BricksCenter!

Football

On Friday night at The Brickyard, the Brickies hosted New Prairie in a Class 4A Sectional 17 Quarterfinal contest. Gametime temps were in the upper 30s/low40s ... just the way we like it in late October!!

Remember the statistic we reported last week?

For those of you who like sports history & matchup details, the Cougars have ended the season for Hobart in each of the last 3 years.

2022 = New Prairie 49, Hobart 28 (Sectional Championship)

2023 = New Prairie 49, Hobart 14 (Sectional quarterfinal)

2024 = New Prairie 15, Hobart 14 (Sectional semifinal)

2025 = ???

This is a new year with new teams, but there is no doubt that our boys will be looking for some redemption. GO GET 'EM BOYS!!

Well Brickie fans, OUR BOYS GOT 'EM!!!! Less than 4 minutes into the game, junior quarterback Aleks Tatum hit classmate Bryce Tolliver over the middle for a 25-yard TOUCHDOWN!! After the two teams traded turnovers, the Cougars tied the score with a 68-yard run ... and that was as close as it got. Over the next 3.5 quarters, the Brickies outscored New Prairie 43-7 en route to a CONVINCING 50-14 VICTORY!!! WOW!!

First, it was a 33-yard scamper by Tatum (14-7) ... then a 22-yard score by junior Nathan Sobczynski (21-7) ... and then a 50-yard heave from Tatum to classmate Stephen Miller (28-7)!! After a Cougar score, Hobart KEPT ROLLING with scores by senior Max Pickett (9-yard run) and another by Tatum (14-yard run) to make it 42-14 ... AT THE HALF!! INCREDIBLE!!!

Early in the final period, Pickett rumbled into the endzone for the final Brickie score and senior Josh Diaz blasted in for a 2-pt conversion to make it an even 50 :). WHAT A PERFORMANCE by our boys that left no doubt!!!

On offense, Tatum finished 9-for-15 through the air for 184 yds & 2 TDs and 7 rushes for 88 yds & 2 TDs ... that's 272 total yards & 4 TDs!! Pickett had a MONSTER night with 24 carries for 163 yds & 2 TDs!! Tolliver was ON FIRE with 4 catches for 119 yds & 1 TD!! AWESOME!!

For the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE ... a squad that is only surrendering 13 ppg this year, Diaz led the way with a WHOPPING 13 tackles - WHOA!! Classmate Logan Peters & sophomore Terry Earvin each collected 9 tackles and junior Aiden Kasch finished with 8 tackles - 4 of them for loss!!

Hobart will travel to Kankakee Valley on HALLOWEEN to square off against the Kougars in one of two IHSAA Sectional 17 Semifinals. Lowell will face East Chicago in the other with the two winners set to compete for a Championship on Friday, November 7th. Back on September 12th, the Brickies defeated KV 40-7. This is different ... this is the post-season ... STAY FOCUSED, BE PREPARED and DON'T STOP NOW BOYS!!!

#DOUBTUS

Cross Country

Two years ago, the IHSAA adjusted the Post-Season tournament series for cross country. Student athletes used to compete to advance 3 times ... Sectional-to-Regional, Regional-to-Semistate & Semistate-to-State. In 2023, the Semistate level was eliminated ... making XC more closely resemble the track tournament in the spring. So ... Regional competitors now race to punch a ticket to State. In order to do that, they must be a member of one of the top 5 scoring teams ... or be one of the top 15 individuals not on a qualifying team.

On Saturday morning, the Brickies had both boys & girls competing at New Prairie High School racing for two things ... a PR and a ticket to the State Finals. The Snyder & Smith Championship Cross Country Course is LEGENDARY over at New Prairie and it was in GREAT shape for a race in late October!

At 10:30am CT, the gun fired and the boys were off and running!! Senior Lu Cohen and juniors Nolan Shaginaw & Jerry Theodorakos all qualified individually to race after placing among the top 10 individuals not on a qualifying team in the IHSAA Sectional last weekend. Our boys gave it everything they had against a REALLY FAST field of runners - the BEST in northern Indiana! Lu was the first Brickie into the finish chute with a time of 18:45. Nolan was next in 19:13 and Jerry finished in 20:39. Unfortunately, only the top 15 individuals from non-advancing teams advance to Terre Haute ... and the Brickies did not make the cut. Still ... watching our boys give it EVERYTHING they had and compete extremely well on the doorstep of the state finals gave this sports reporter GREAT PRIDE in being a Brickie! Hobart can walk off the course with chins up and heads held high for their terrific effort and outstanding representation of this blue-collar town!!!

Ok, with the boys race completed, it was the girls turn ... and we had an entire team racing for state! At 11:15am CT, the starter's pistol fired and it was GO TIME! On Indiana's 2nd biggest stage, our girls SHINED BRIGHT!! They ran like warriors ... and for the second year in a row at the Regional, ALL FIVE varsity scorers broke the 23-minute barrier! Senior Cassie Cohen was the first Brickie into the finish chute when she crossed the line in 10th place overall in a blistering time of 19:10.6 ... a SEASON BEST TIME! WOW! Cassie was in 20th place at the 2-mile mark and ran a MONSTER last mile to get in the top 10!! Classmate Aalliah Otero was next in 100th place with a time of 21:10.4 ... a LIFETIME BEST by over 30 seconds!! Sophomore Liliana Lopez (152nd, 22:13.9) and seniors Millie Massey (153rd, 22:14.5 - LIFETIME BEST) & Audrey Turley (178th, 22:41.6 - 2nd fastest race of the year) rounded out the scoring spots for the Lady Bricks and classmates Alissa Trail (194th - 2nd fastest race of the year) & Zaria Gildon (209th - LIFETIME BEST) completed the lineup for the day!

In spite of how extremely well our girls ran ... 6 of 7 ran either a LIFETIME BEST, SEASON BEST or their 2nd fastest time of the year ... our team score of 454 put us in 20th place overall. When you consider there were 53 schools represented and 242 runners, that's PRETTY DARN GOOD!! The 454 team score was also 40 points better than a year ago - WOW!! Unfortunately, it fell outside the state qualifying places effectively ending the season for our team. However, with her time & placement, Cassie was among the top 15 individuals on non-advancing teams and QUALIFIED FOR STATE!!! This will be her 4th straight trip to the IHSAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY FINALS!! CASSIE IS THE FIRST FEMALE IN SCHOOL HISTORY TO BE A 4X STATE QUAILFIER AND JUST THE 3RD EVER ... JOINING WILLIAM MATSEY ('47-'50) & BERNIE CLAXTON ('59-'62)!!! She will join the best of the best next Saturday in Terre Haute to race on the infamous LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course!! LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our harriers on a fantastic season and to Cassie for making HISTORY by punching her ticket to Terre Haute for the 4th consecutive year!! GO FOR IT CASSIE!! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!!

#GRATEFULLYDEDICATEDXC