By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – After a huge win last week, what would Westfield do for an encore this week?
The Shamrocks would score 59 points, and put themselves firmly in control of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, that’s what. Westfield emerged from a first-quarter track meet and pulled away from Avon in a 59-33 victory at Riverview Health Stadium on Friday.
The win over the Orioles came one week after the Class 6A No. 4 Shamrocks’ big overtime win over then-unbeaten Brownsburg. A letdown after such a dramatic victory was possible, but Westfield’s senior leadership made sure that didn’t happen.
“I was a little concerned about a letdown,” said ‘Rocks coach Jake Gilbert. “But I think our seniors are very mature about the practice week. I was on the warpath ready to find any letdown, but to be honest, they didn’t give me much reason to. I thought they practiced really well this week and were really focused and that helped.”
That focus was key for Westfield, as it was engaged in a true back-and-forth battle with Avon in the first quarter. The Orioles scored first on a field goal, but the ‘Rocks got on the board soon after with a 24-yard passing touchdown from Maximus Webster to Reid Scheppers.
“It just shows that we’re not complacent, we don’t just settle after one big win,” said Webster. “We know we have to get the job done. We were happy for a couple days and we knew that business has not been finished.”
Webster was just getting warmed up. Three times did the junior answer Avon touchdowns, including two in the first quarter alone. He threw a pass to Mason Piening late in the first quarter, which Piening turned into a 52-yard touchdown.
Then with seven seconds left, Webster sent a pass to Scheppers, and that became a 58-yard score. As a result, Westfield led Avon 21-17 after the first quarter.
“We were firing in all areas today,” said Webster.
The Orioles took one more lead early in the second quarter, at 24-21. But after Webster and Piening combined for a 37-yard pass play touchdown, the Shamrocks led 28-24 and would never trail again.
After that, Westfield’s defense took over, not allowing Avon any more points in the half.
“We came together as a team,” said the Shamrocks’ Popeye Williams, one of their star defensive players. “It’s all about family with us. We felt that we were a little slow at the beginning, so we went on the side and we were like, ‘Hey, we’re family, let’s go. We got each other.’ We went out there and got that big stop, and then we brought in Zach Williams from offense, and he made that big third-down stop, which got our momentum going.”
Meanwhile, Westfield scored two more touchdowns in the half. Micah Hauser bulled his way into the end zone on a 19-yard run with 3:32 left, then Webster lobbed a perfect four-yard throw to a waiting Carson Voorhis with 1:11 to go in the half. Sean Sullivan made all six extra-point kicks in the first half, which ended with the ‘Rocks up 42-24.
Westfield continued to roll in the third quarter. Hauser made a three-yard scoring run during the first minute of the period, and Sullivan followed that up with his seventh extra-point kick of the game. Sullivan then booted a 26-yard field goal midway through the quarter. The Shamrocks completed their scoring with three minutes left in the period, when Nick Talley tossed a 27-yard pass to Nic Depasquale. Frankie Ispen made the extra-point kick.
Webster had a highly-efficient night under center, completing 13 of 16 passes for 261 yards and five touchdowns. Piening totaled five catches for 143 yards, and Hauser rushed 18 times for 152 yards.
Magwire Graybill and David Frey both had seven tackles for the Westfield defense, while Hauser, Evan Cannon and Benji Welch each had six stops.
The victory keeps the Shamrocks perfect in the HCC and 5-0 and improves their overall record to 6-1. Westfield travels to Fishers next Friday.
“We’re clearly in the driver’s seat now,” said Gilbert. “We just have to finish the job. Like I said, this doesn’t happen every year, so we got to make sure we finish and achieve the goal.”
WESTFIELD 59, AVON 33
Score by Quarters
Avon 17 7 3 6 – 33
Westfield 21 21 17 0 – 59
Westfield team stats
First Downs 21
Rushes-Yards 35-200
Yards Passing 325
Comp-Att-Int-TD 15-19-0-6
Penalties-Yards 2-30
Scoring
First Quarter
5:37 – Reid Scheppers 24-yard pass from Maximus Webster (Sean Sullivan kick)
3:43 – Mason Piening 52-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
0:07 – Scheppers 58-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
Second Quarter
6:46 – Piening 37-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
3:32 – Micah Hauser 19-yard run (Sullivan kick)
1:11 – Carson Voorhis 4-yard pass from Webster (Sullivan kick)
Third Quarter
11:05 – Hauser 3-yard run (Sullivan kick)
7:04 – Sullivan 26-yard field goal
3:00 – Nic Depasquale 27-yard pass from Nick Talley (Frankie Ispen kick)
Westfield individual stats
Rushing: Hauser 18-152, Webster 10-44, Porter Rode 6-10, Voorhis 1-minus 6.
Passing: Webster 13-16-261, Talley 2-3-64.
Receiving: Piening 5-143, Scheppers 3-93, DePasquale 3-45, Voorhis 3-30, Hauser 1-14.