By RICHIE HALL
The Friday Night Lights that the Noblesville football team will be playing under to open their season will be the lights that illuminate Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Millers will begin their season earlier than almost every other team in Indiana, as they will play the first game of the Indianapolis Colts Horseshoe Classic. Noblesville takes on Cathedral at 6 p.m., a meeting of two teams that were regular opponents in the first half of the 20th century, but haven’t played each other since 1947.
The game will be the first for Justin Roden as the Millers’ head coach. Roden is coming off of a five-year run at East Central, and his Trojans team won the Class 4A state championship last season. So he knows just what a team needs to do to be successful.
“I’m impatient, so waiting to get to a level is really hard,” said Roden. “But we’re doing a good job of learning and then grasping the system.”
One positive is that Noblesville’s injuries are limited at this point in the season, always a relief as the regular games get underway.
“I feel good where we’re at,” said Roden.
The Millers will have several returning players this season. Senior Dalton Davis is a two-way lineman, a 6-foot-2, 265-pound college prospect that Roden said is “one of the best defensive linemen in Hamilton County,” if not all of Central Indiana. Davis had 64 tackles last season, including a team-leading 17 for a loss. He also led Noblesville in sacks with four.
“He’s going to be someone who might get a chance to play a little bit of both sides of the ball,” said Roden.
Three seniors will figure prominently in the Millers’ offense. Quarterback Grant Gremel threw the ball well last year, completing 127 of 249 passes (51 percent) and totaling 1228 yards and four touchdowns. Gremel also led the running game with 366 yards and six scores.
“He has the potential to be a guy to play on Saturdays and maybe even a scholarship football player,” said Roden.
Running back Luke Blevins was right behind Gremel, running for 299 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Blevins also caught 22 passes for 210 yards, second place on last year’s receiving list. Roden said Blevins has a “great work ethic” and might also be used in other places on the field.
The top receiver from last season is also back for his senior year. Zach Gruver had 30 catches for 370 yards, that includes four touchdowns.
“He’s just an athlete and he’s going to help us in special teams, catching the football and some corner as well,” said Roden.
Junior Jayden Barrett returns as well; he had 13 receptions for 213 yards and two touchdowns.
The returning defensive leader is senior Eddie Dziennik. The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder made his mark on defense last season: He was far and away the leader in tackles with 174 total, including 92 solo stops and 15 for a loss.
“He’s a football player,” said Roden. The coach noted that Dziennik is capable of playing at guard or at running back. “We’re still trying to figure out where he fits for us, but he’s going to be one of the best, I would say, in Hamilton County. He was an All-State player last year. Playing a little bit of running back right now for us. Kind of excited about that. But he brings back some leadership.”
Senior Wyatt Blades is another key returner; he had 59 tackles last year. Roden has him slated to play strong safety and some wide receiver as well.
“He’s going to be a leader for us,” said Roden.
Another senior returning is Kenja Jenkins, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive lineman. Jenkins’ play was limited last year, but Roden has high expecations for Jenkins if he can stay healthy.
“He’s going to have a great year,” said Roden.
All this leadership will be key as Noblesville prepares for a tough schedule. After this week’s test against Cathedral, a program that has won 12 state championships, Noblesville hosts Carmel in Week 2, a program that has won eight state titles.
“It might be the hardest schedule in the state of Indiana,” said Roden. “I don’t know anybody else that wants to go out and play two perennial state championship football teams to start the season.”
After that is the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, which includes newcomer Franklin Central, a team coming off of a much-improved 2017 season. The Flashes were 8-2 last year, breaking a nine-year string of sub-.500 records.
The HCC also includes defending sectional champions in Avon, Fishers and Zionsville, with Avon also winning a regional last year.
“There’s no cupcakes, there’s no easy games for us,” said Roden. “We’ve just got to progressively get better.”
Senior Luke Blevins, seen here during Noblesville’s scrimmage last week, is one of several returning seniors for the Millers this season. Blevins ran for 299 yards and three touchdowns last season, and also caught 22 passes for 210 yards. (Kent Graham)