After Tragedy, Andrean Football is Still Standing

By Steve Hanlon
Heartland Sports Network
MERRILLVILLE – The shoes that once skipped through Andrean High School's hallways as a student now shuffled through them decades later. But this visit was different. Dramatically so.
Chris Skinner was in complete shock as he walked into Andrean High School on June 12, a frightening Friday morning.
“Tears came to my eyes,” said Skinner, the head football coach of the vaunted 59ers program.
Shattered glass was everywhere. Broken pieces of what had once been a school lay scattered across the floor. Water poured through a hole in the ceiling.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Skinner continued. “I was in shock.”
The night before, an EF-2 tornado had ripped through Northwest Indiana, leaving a path of destruction across much of the region. But it seemed to have targeted 5959 Broadway in Merrillville.
Trees were snapped and uprooted. Roofing tiles were everywhere except on top of the building that opened in 1959. It seemed as though nothing had been untouched by the storm.
Skinner had received a text the night before after the winds moved east. It was simple and straightforward.
“It’s bad.”
At a time like this, preparing to defend the Class 2A state championship won last November seemed a long way away.
“Once the initial shock passed,” Skinner said, “I kept walking around and started to see something different — almost mini-miracles.”
The crucifix that had stood in front of the building for decades was surrounded by shredded trees and leaves. But the devastation hadn't won in this spot.
“It was still standing,” Skinner said. “Just like it always has.”
The traditions of the program are many and time-tested. On Friday afternoons in the fall, the players attend Mass together before taking a prayer candle to the grotto. Each player lights a candle and says a prayer for themselves or someone else.
Some of those prayers seemed to have been answered.
“Everything around the grotto was shattered,” Skinner recalled. “But the candles and the glass around them hadn’t been touched. They were all still standing.”
Walking to the back of the school, Skinner saw the baseball scoreboard had been ripped in half, with debris littering much of the 59ers athletic complex.
He then looked up at the iconic “Touchdown Jesus” mural above the entrance to the gymnasium. A sense of comfort rushed over him.
“Not one tile from the mural was gone,” he said. “Not one.”
The 59ers had held an afternoon football workout at the school just hours before the tornado struck. Every player had made it home before the destruction occurred. The campus has remained closed ever since.
But the stories of survival and faith have spread throughout the community.
“It proves that God is real,” senior Ethan Reyna said of Touchdown Jesus still standing tall.
“It’s a sign,” added classmate Carson Cavalcante. “We know we can get through this as a team. It’s been cool to see how everyone has come together for a common cause.
“But it was shocking to see what had happened.”
Two weeks after the tornado, more than 100 Andrean students joined others in the community to help their neighbors. They spent a day in a neighborhood off 61st Avenue cleaning up wreckage that still remained. Bag after bag and dump truck after dump truck were filled and hauled away.
“Our team works hard,” Reyna said. “But I’m not sure we’ve ever worked this hard in one day.”
“It was great to help so many people,” Cavalcante added. “They were very grateful that we came to help. It made us feel good to give back.”
At first, no one was certain how the upcoming school year would unfold. Skinner said more than 100 construction workers have been at the school each day, racing against the calendar. There was so much to do and so little time.
The football team has not been able to use its weight room since June 11. Instead, the players have been working out at the Dean and Barbara White Community Center just blocks south of the school.
Skinner said the team's strength and conditioning program has not been able to take place as a full group. As a result, the 59ers have adjusted their preparation leading into the official start of the season Monday.
School is scheduled to reopen Aug. 13 in the same building that was hammered just two months ago.
The bleachers at Father Eckert Field have been inspected and approved for home games. Andrean’s first home game is Sept. 11 against Munster.
New lights are also being installed in time for Friday night football.
The 59ers will not be able to practice on their home field until Aug. 8.
Make no mistake: this program still has lofty goals for the upcoming season. But those ambitions have been shaped by everything the players, coaches and community have endured together.
“I think it’s made us stronger,” Cavalcante said. “We know what we want to accomplish.”
“It’s all about finding a way,” Skinner said. “All things considered, I’m very grateful. I have a lot of gratitude just being a part of this community.”
So, just as they have for more than half a century, large crowds will gather on Friday nights to watch high school football at Andrean High School.
And after the final whistle, as fans head home, they'll be able to look up and see Touchdown Jesus still standing.
Just like the football program.