By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
Carmel
The Greyhounds are at home this week to face one of their biggest rivals during its days in the MIC. Warren Central (3-4) is having one of those seasons, trying to find their identity. The Warriors took their worst loss of the season at Lawrence North last Friday, 48-7. Carmel leads 22-19 all-time against Warren Central. The two perennial powers have gone back and forth with Carmel going 11-12 in those games since 2006.
No. 14 Carmel (4-3) lost at No. 2 Ben Davis last Friday, 45-16. The ‘Hounds defense held its own in the first half, down just 10-0. The second half became a different story. There were two quick BD scores and before Carmel knew it, it was a 24-0 deficit, and the host Giants were on their way to a four-touchdown win over their former MIC rival. Norvil Tucker carried the ball 10 times for 99 yards and a score to highlight the offense for Carmel.
Tucker is in the top 10 on the county rushing list with 333 yards for a 6.8 yard per carry average and has four touchdowns. Nick Rodgers leads the team in receptions with 23 for 174 yards, catching his first touchdown from Anthony Coellner. Jimmie Winbush took over the lead in tackles (59), with Charles Marsh (58) and Artemas Bryant (57) right behind to anchor the Greyhounds defensively.
Fishers
This week, Fishers will get another road test, heading to the western part of the county to face No. 7 Westfield (6-1, 4-1 HCC) in a top 10 battle. Losing three straight in the series, Fishers hopes to end that skid. Prior to that, the Tigers had won three in a row against the ‘Rocks, splitting the regular season matchups the last six years and also lead the all-time series 13-7.
The No. 8 Tigers are right back to winning ways again with a win at home over Franklin Central, 29-23. Fishers has won back-to-back games after losing two straight to Hamilton Southeastern and at Brownsburg and right in the middle of the HCC race. They had a comfortable 22-3 halftime lead, but the Flashes came back to make it interesting in the second half. Fishers’ lead grew to 29-3 before FC made a 20-point comeback, but the Tigers were able to hold on for the win. Before leaving with an injury, Bennett Gorak threw for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Khobie Martin was back after being out against Avon and ran for 170 on 27 rushes and JonAnthony Hall caught seven passes for 104 and a TD. Millen McCartney also grabbed a touchdown.
Martin is back in the rushing lead in the county with 938 yards and has 12 touchdowns on the season. JonAnthony Hall also leads Hamilton County with 777 receiving yards on 48 catches for four scores. Bennett Gorak is now second in the county with 1,499 yards, completing 62.9 percent of his passes for 13 touchdowns.
Guerin Catholic
Tom Dilley’s squad is back home for their final home game of the regular season and it’s Homecoming at the Eagles’ Nest. Terre Haute North (0-7) comes to Noblesville on Friday to face Guerin Catholic for a 7:30 kickoff. This will be the first meeting between the Patriots and Golden Eagles.
Second-ranked Guerin took a long road trip last Friday and came back with a victory over 4A Northview, 29-24. Trailing 24-13 at halftime, the Golden Eagles made the adjustments to shut out the Knights in the second half to secure the win, snapping their short two-game losing skid. Peter Rooney paced the ground game with 106 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Malcolm Houze caught seven passes for 104 yards and had a pair of scores. Ryan Zimmerman passed for 219 yards, going 20-for-30.
Zimmerman now has 1,160 yards passing and 11 touchdowns. Rooney is fifth in the county with 732 yards on 132 rushes with four touchdowns. Alex Gibbs is also fifth in the county in receiving with 26 receptions for 376 yards and four TDs. Hayden Cler has 240 yards on 15 grabs, while Jack Cherry has 20 catches for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Aaron Keller leads Hamilton County with 94 tackles (62 solo). Dylan Vargas also has 64 stops and Elijah Taylor has 10 tackles for a loss.
Hamilton Heights
The Huskies are back home at Husky Stadium on Friday where they are 4-0 and will play host to 4A South Bend Washington (2-5) for a 7:30 kickoff. This will be the first ever meeting between the Panthers and Heights. Washington began the season on a three-game losing streak to Hammond Central, Bremen and South Bend St. Joseph’s. Their two wins in a row over Calumet and South Bend Clay are sandwiched between another two consecutive losses to South Bend Riley and Jimtown.
No. 7 Heights (7-0) is off to its best start since 2010 when the Huskies rattled off 12 wins in a row. Hamilton Heights has also outscored its five September opponents by an astounding 177-0 margin. Last Friday, it was Tipton that became Heights’ latest shutout victim. The Huskies scored four times into the first half, jumping out to a 29-0 lead at halftime. Two more in the third helped them cruise to a 43-0 blanking of the Blue Devils. Bodie Derrer connected on 79 percent of his passes for 285 yards. Those mainly reached the hands of Tyler Champion (118) and Jaylyn Pugh (105) to highlight their offense.
Derrer now leads Hamilton County in passing yards with 1,585. He’s completed 69 percent of his throws and has 15 touchdowns. Owen VanHaaren is sixth in rushing with 641 yards on 140 carries with six scores. Champion sits third with 32 catches for 521 yards and also has six touchdowns.
Hamilton Southeastern
The Royals are staying home for the second game in a row. HSE will host the Franklin Central Flashes (4-3, 2-3 HCC) in a crucial conference tilt. This is the Flashes’ sixth school year in the HCC and Southeastern holds a 3-2 edge, having won the last three.
No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches polls, Hamilton Southeastern (6-1, 4-1 HCC) got a big homecoming win against Noblesville. Being down 8-0 after one to the Millers, HSE responded in a huge way with a 29-0 second period to lead 29-8 at half. Evened 14-14 in the second half, the Royals were able to hold off the Millers. Ground and pound with the rushing attack helped tremendously. Jalen Alexander ran for 177 yards and two scores and AZ Wallace scored three times, rushing for 65.
Alexander is solid, ranking second in the county in rushing with 868 on 118 carries and eight touchdowns. Wallace is a steady complement with seven scores while totaling 297 yards on 64 runs. Chandler Weston has completed 66 percent of his throws for 1,049 yards and 13 touchdowns. Donovan Hamilton has 33 receptions for 701 yards and eight touchdowns for second best in the county. Judah Parker anchors the defense, leading in tackles with 69 for fifth in the county. Jack Osiecki is right behind with 64 and seven sacks and Nate Ingalls is a big contributor with 52, five for a loss.
Noblesville
The Millers will play their final home regular season game this week and it might be their toughest test to date. Third-ranked Brownsburg (7-0, 4-0 HCC) comes in touting a high-powered offense that scores 46 per game. Depending on which Bulldog defense shows up, Noblesville could exploit the Bulldogs, who give up almost 21 per outing. The two have met 30 times in the regular season with Brownsburg holding a record of 19-11. Brownsburg has won six in a row in the series. Noblesville’s last win against the Bulldogs was in 2016, scoring in the final minutes on the road for a 22-21 victory.
Noblesville (3-4, 1-4 HCC) got up early last week at Hamilton Southeastern but was not able to overcome a huge second quarter of 29 points from the Royals that allowed HSE to cruise 43-22. Logan Shoffner ran for 119 on 21 carries, but it would be Gage Gulley that would show his worth. Gulley caught two touchdown passes from Jacob Baker and ran for another score for three in the game, catching three passes for 97 yards and rushing for 23 on 10 carries.
Shoffner added to his rushing total for 796 yards on the season on 95 rushes and has scored seven touchdowns. Gulley now has 415 on 76 carries, also with seven scores. Gabe Bellan continues to provide backfield depth with 266 yards on 70 totes with four TDs. Aiden Brewer is the leading pass catcher with 15 and 282 yards. Austin Hastings heads up the defense with 80 tackles through seven games. Corbin Hornickel has 57 with 4.5 for a loss, while Cole Richardson has intercepted two passes and has three pass deflections.
Sheridan
The Blackhawks hit the road this week in the Hoosier Heartland Conference and it won’t be easy by any means. Looking to stay unbeaten in league play, Sheridan plays at Eastern, who is right behind them at 5-2 and 4-1 in the HHC. The ‘Hawks have won six of the last eight in the series and are 8-2 overall against the Comets. A win this week at Eastern would mean an HHC championship game at Bud Wright Stadium in the final game of the regular season next week against Carroll.
Class 1A No. 7 Sheridan (6-1, 5-0 HHC) took care of business at home last week over Delphi, 37-14. The two were scoreless through one period, but the Blackhawks got a pair of second quarter scores from Zach Bales to take a 14-7 halftime edge. A safety of the Oracles and three touchdowns to Delphi’s one aided Bud Wright’s squad to the 23-point win. Eli Kolb had 87 yards in 24 carries and a TD. Quarterback Owen Bell added a one-yard score and then Nolan Page sealed the win with an interception return touchdown.
Kolb is now up to fourth in the county in rushing with 740 yards on 100 carries for a 7.4 per rush average and has 13 touchdowns. Bell is continuing to help balance the offense with his arm. He’s now 64.5 percent, completing 20-for-31 for 344 yards and six touchdowns in a short amount of time behind center. Trent DeCraene is the leading receiver with 205 yards and four touchdowns, along with Page with five catches for 129 and three scores. While rushing for six TDs on offense, Zach Bales leads the defense with 63 tackles, five for a loss. Parker Williams is right up there with 61 stops, eight for a loss, including four sacks. Kolb also has six sacks to go with his 51 tackles.
Westfield
The ‘Rocks will have quite the matchup this Friday for its final regular season home game, hosting the Fishers Tigers (5-2, 3-2 HCC) in a big conference game. Westfield would like to forget their last home outing two weeks ago, a 37-7 loss to third-ranked Brownsburg. The Tiger-Shamrocks have had some really great games in this series, especially in recent years. The Shamrocks have won three in a row, but Fishers holds a 13-7 record head-to-head.
Seventh-ranked Westfield (6-1, 4-1 HCC) found its ways and pushed away for the road win at Avon last week, 38-14. Late in the first, Jackson Gilbert connected with Beau Braun on a 67-yard pass play to get the ‘Rocks into scoring position. Kendall Garnett ran in the first score on the ground. Avon tied it up at 7-7. Maximus Nosler would grab a touchdown pass from Gilbert for a 14-7 lead at half. Third period scores from Gabe Aramboles and Mikeah Webster made it 28-7. Eventually, Garnett would run another in to put it out of reach, running away with the 24-point win.
Gilbert has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 1,269 yards and 12 touchdowns for third in the county. Garnett is seventh with 605 yards on the ground, scoring five times. Gabe Aramboles (389) and Maximus Nosler (356) make for a great receiving duo with Beau Braun also accounting for 262. Mikeah Webster (78 tackles) and Anthony Feltrinelli (56), along with Andrew Lieske (50) provided a veteran presence on defense.
