Week 4 of the football season includes two of the biggest rivalry games there are in Hamilton County.
Fishers will host Hamilton Southeastern for the Mudsock game. The competition for the traveling trophy has already been fierce in the other fall sports, so expect the same for football. Meanwhile, Westfield will welcome Noblesville for another edition of the longstanding series between those two schools.
SOUTHEASTERN-FISHERS
The Mudsock rivalry dates back to 2006, the year that Fishers High School re-opened its doors. The Royals lead the series 10-9, so it has been a close one. Southeastern won last year’s Mudsock game 14-10, the only meeting of the schools in 2018.
Both coaches appeared on HCTV’s coaches show on Monday and talked about the upcoming game, although Fishers coach Rick Wimmer noted something about how important the rivalry is.
“You don’t have to talk a whole lot about it,” said Wimmer. “Our kids know what it means to them, first of all, and know what it means to our school and our community. They’re excited to play.”
Wimmer has been with Fishers since it re-opened. Royals coach Adam Morris will be on the sidelines of his second Mudsock game, but he knows the importance of it.
“It really makes being a football player in our district and in our community special,” said Morris. “There’s a lot of kids who play at really good programs and for great coaches with a lot of history, and there’s not many places that have this game, that have a rivalry like this that’s going to be in front of 8 and 9,000 people.”
The Tigers are 3-0, with wins over North Central 26-0, Pike 26-13 and Noblesville 28-7. Senior Marcus Roux has had a solid start as quarterback, with 412 yards passing and six touchdowns. Senior Dylan Scally leads the rushing with 234 yards, while senior Reece Boland has nine receptions.
Another senior, Geoffrey Brown, is on top of the defense with 31 tackles, including six for a loss. Senior Josh Ibey has made three sacks.
Southeastern is 1-2, but those two losses have come in very close games. The Royals beat Lawrence Central 24-20 before falling to North Central 17-16 and Avon 35-27.
Senior quarterback Andrew Hobson has also been solid, with 668 yards and five touchdowns to his credit. Junior Tylin Taylor leads the ground game with 173 yards. Two seniors are on top of the receiving game: DeAndre Rhoades has 19 catches and Ben Boysen has 15 receptions; three of Rhoades’ catches are for TDs.
On defense, senior Seth Samrelli leads with 38 tackles while junior Nate Haas has 32. Senior Chris Stein has four sacks for the season.
NOBLESVILLE-WESTFIELD
The Millers and the Shamrocks have their own trophy, the Midland Rail trophy, to play for when Noblesville heads to Westfield’s Riverview Health Field on Friday.
The trophy has been flipping back and forth in the past two years. The ‘Rocks won it for the third straight season in 2017, but the Millers took the trophy back last year with a 10-2 victory.
“They dominated our offense, so we know we’re scoring a lot of points, but they absolutely dominated us last year with their defense,” said Shamrocks coach Jake Gilbert on HCTV.
Westfield will come into this game with a 3-0 record, with easy wins over Harrison 55-28, Decatur Central 36-14 and Zionsville 51-24. Senior Camden Simons has been strong to start the season, with 549 yards passing (26-of-38, a 68.4 percent completion rate) and six touchdowns. Senior Dane Wheeler has eight receptions and junior Mason Piening is at seven catches. Both have caught two TD passes.
On the ground, senior Eli Patchett leads the way with 259 rushing yards and five scores. Sophomore Micah Hauser has made 28 tackles, with Patchett right behind at 27 tackles.
“With Westfield, they have weapons everywhere,” said Noblesville coach Justin Roden. “The quarterback has a fantastic arm.”
“Their offensive line is fantastic,” said Roden on HCTV. “Defensively, their front four is really good.” The coach said the Shamrocks “are a much-improved football team than last year.”
The Millers are 0-3, but have played an incredibly tough schedule. Noblesville fell to Cathedral 42-14, Carmel 37-0 and Fishers 28-7. According to the Sagarin ratings, the Millers have the second-toughest schedule after three weeks. Center Grove is rated as the toughest schedule, with games against Warren Central, New Palestine and Carmel.
“Record-wise, they’ve played three terrific teams,” said Gilbert. “I’m not going to be fooled by that too much.”
Sophomore Sam Steinhofer has 27 tackles to lead Noblesville’s defense, with junior Skyler Tolliver and senior Carson Sanders both making 2.5 tackles for a loss. Senior Alex Zavac is the quarterback, with 72 yards and a touchdown pass so far this season. Sanders and junior Zach Blevins both have three receptions, with Sanders getting the TD pass. Senior Jayden Barrett leads the rushing with 42 yards.
SHERIDAN-DELPHI
Sheridan will continue Hoosier Heartland Conference play Friday by hosting Delphi at Bud Wright Stadium. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since 2010, when they both played in the Hoosier Conference.
This is the Oracles’ first year in the HHC after several years as an independent. Delphi began its season with two wins, over Benton Central 29-0 and Carroll 20-9, before losing to Eastern 28-14 last week.
“Delphi is a fine football team,” said Wright on HCTV.
While the Oracles graduated several kids from last year, Wright said they still have an “excellent running back” returning,“ plus they got three very solid linemen back. It’ll be a good fight for us and it’s always a good contest.
Senior Isaac DeKalb is the top rusher for Delphi, gaining 156 yards with a touchdown. Junior Jordan Roth is the quarterback, and has thrown for 345 yards and three scores. Senior Kullen Lowry has two of those TD catches as part of his 15 receptions.
On defense, sophomore Tristin Isley leads the tackles count with 34, while senior Jayden McClain has three stops for a loss.
Sheridan is also 2-1, opening with a 41-6 loss to Western Boone before two HHC wins over Clinton Central 49-29 and Tri-Central 50-19.
Junior Cameron Hovey is off to a fantastic start, with 548 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Silas DeVaney has thrown for 176 yards and a touchdown. Junior Keenan Warren caught the touchdown pass; he, sophomore Cayden Hunter and freshman Peyton Cross al have two receptions.
Hovey also leads the defense with 28 tackles. Seniors Chris Starks and Charlie Cronin both have five tackles for a loss, with sophomore Evan Bourdon making four stops for a loss.
GUERIN CATHOLIC-
BREBEUF JESUIT
Guerin Catholic continues its road trip on Friday with its first Circle City Conference game of the season at Brebeuf Jesuit. This game starts at 7:30 p.m., a half-hour later than the other county games.
Golden Eagles coach Tom Dilley noted on HCTV that his team has played the Braves every year since the football program began in 2006. The two teams played each other twice last season, with Brebeuf winning both times, 41-10 in the regular season and 20-10 in the sectional semi-finals.
“A lot of familiarity, a lot of respect for Coach (Mic) Ressler and his staff and what they’ve done there,” said Dilley. “I’m hoping our kids are going to work hard to be ready to play on Friday.”
The Braves are 2-1 so far this season. Brebeuf lost to Bishop Chatard 49-14 in its opener, but have since defeated Arsenal Tech 27-6 and Cardinal Ritter 40-0.
Senior Caleb Ellison is the Braves’ quarterback, and he already has 3355 yards for six touchdowns. Junior Brendan Petrie has seven receptions, including one score, while junior Isaiah Martin has rushed for 169 yards and three TDs. On defense, senior Jay Higgins has 39 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss.
Guerin Catholic is 3-0, with wins over McCutcheon 24-14, Lafayette Central Catholic 50-28 and Heritage Christian 23-5. Last week’s victory included a touchdown pass from quarterback Christian Gelov to Bernie McGuinness, with Gus Baumgartner scoring on a touchdown run.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS-
NORTHWESTERN
Hamilton Heights will host Northwestern on Friday, in the first Hoosier Conference East Division game of the season for both teams.
The Tigers are 0-3, with losses to Eastern Hancock 42-13, Twin Lakes 10-3 and Lafayette Central Catholic 46-12. But the Huskies will not be taking Northwestern lightly.
“Northwestern is a great program,” said Heights assistant coach Nathan Stratton HCTV. “We watch the way that they play defense. They’re really big up front. We feel like if we don’t bring our ‘A’ game we could really get pushed around up front.”
Junior Logan Caudill is the Tigers’ quarterback, with 144 yards so far this season. Freshman Cole Cardwell is Northwestern’s top rusher with 149 yards and a touchdown. Senior Nathanael Bilodeau leads the receptions list with five. Junior Bodey Henry has 24 tackles, while senior Zain Loges has made three tackles for a loss.
The Huskies are also searching for a first win, after falling to Mount Vernon 44-23, North Montgomery 28-14 and West Lafayette 56-7.
Sophomore Guy Griffey has stepped into the quarterback role and is doing well, with 353 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Camron Knott has 14 receptions, including three for scores. Senior Deshawn King leads the rushing with 21 yards, and is on top of the defense with 33 tackles.
CARMEL-PIKE
Carmel continues Metropolitan Conference play on Friday with a trip to Pike.
The Red Devils are 0-3, falling to Zionsville 17-7, Fishers 26-13 and Ben Davis 35-34. Junior Anthony Cialdella has been strong for Pike so far, with 527 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Tyrell Sanders is first on the receptions list with 16, while senior William Allen has 93 yards to lead the rushing.
The Greyhounds are 2-1. After dropping its opener to Louisville Trinity 41-14, Carmel rebounded with wins over Noblesville 37-0 and Center Grove 20-14.
Junior John David Rogers leads the ground game with 209 yards and three touchdowns, with senior Dylan Downing not far behind with 198 yards and two TDs. Senior Gabe Quigley has passed for 140 yards and a touchdown; junior Christian Williams has the most receptions with four.
Junior Dominic Padjen leads the defense with 29 tackles, including five for a loss. Senior Ty Bryant also has five stops for a loss, with senior Ty Wise making four tackles for a loss, in addition to three sacks.
