By RICHIE HALL
Hamilton Southeastern played well from start to finish Friday night, and the result was a well-deserved win.
The Royals beat Class 5A No. 8 Zionsville 30-14 in their Homecoming game at Reynolds Royals Stadium. The victory pulled Southeastern’s record back to even at 3-3, and also put the Royals in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference chase at 2-2.
“I’m just happy our kids get positive results, because they’re working really hard,” said HSE coach Adam Morris. “Whether we would’ve won today or not, they’re doing a great job in the weight room. I do think we’re having good practices.”
The Royals left little doubt this game would be a positive result, as they scored the first 17 points of the game. The first six points came from an 8-yard touchdown reception, a perfect throw from Kody Sparks to Nate Haas.
Mitch Hebenstreit followed that up with an extra point. He would follow that up early in the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal to put Southeastern up 10-0. That lead became 17-0 late in the quarter when Matt Harris ran in to the end zone from 13 yards.
The Eagles got on the board with 1:06 left Gus Baumgartner ran the ball in from the 1-yard line. But the Royals quickly got the ball down the field, and got some points when Hebenstreit nailed a 26-yard field goal as the halftime clock ran out. That put HSE ahead 20-7.
“I was really proud of how we started the game,” said Morris. “Defensively, getting some stops. That’s a really, really good offense. I thought we did a good job keeping them in front of us.”
The Royals continued to cruise through the second half. Harris scored a second touchdown when he punched the ball in from the 2-yard line midway through the third period. In the fourth quarter, Hebenstreit kicked in another field goal, this one from 27 yards. Hebenstreit’s final total: 3-for-3 field goals, 3-for-3 extra points.
Zionsville scored again late in the fourth quarter when Jordan Hull took a 54-yard pass into the end zone with 4:12 left.
Harris finished the game with 195 yards rushing, plus the two TDs. Harris’ play fits perfectly with what Morris wants the Royals’ identity to be: Pound the football.
“Now that’s obviously who Matt is,” said Morris. “He’s a big, strong kid. He runs hard. But that’s what our identity’s going to be. We’re going to spread people out, but we still want to be a power team and run the football.”
Sparks finished the game completing 14 of 22 passes for 125 yards. Ben Boysen had six catches, with Haas making five, including the score.
Southeastern goes back on the road next week, playing Noblesville.
“The goal is to be as good as we can at the end of the season, so we can go compete in the post-season, and I think today we took a step forward,” said Morris. “There’s a lot of football left. Noblesville’s a really good, a really improved, physical team. It will take our best game to win.”
The Hamilton Southeastern football team sings the school song after its Homecoming win over Zionsville Friday night at Reynolds Royals Stadium. Southeastern is now 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. (Richie Hall)