By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – By keeping their feet on the ground, the Shamrocks are soaring back to Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Westfield football team punched its second consecutive ticket to the IHSAA state finals on Friday night, pulling away from Merrillville 48-19 to win the Class 6A north semi-state. The ‘Rocks got off to a very quick start, held off the expected run by the Pirates, then used its run game and defense to dominate the second half.
Westfield improved to 12-1 with the win and will take on Center Grove in a repeat of last year’s Class 6A state finals. The game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27.
This year’s semi-state game was almost a rerun of last year’s contest between Westfield and Merrillville, with the only change being the location. The Shamrocks won last season’s game at the Pirates’ Demaree Stadium. This time, Westfield’s Riverview Health Stadium was the site, a welcome relief after the ‘Rocks took a road trip to Fort Wayne Carroll last week to play and win the regional.
“You can have all the time in the world,” said Micah Hauser, Westfield’s do-it-all senior star. “So last week was extremely stressful and under really bad conditions. But this week, being at home, being able to relax before the game was extremely nice.”
If they were relaxed before the game, the Shamrocks were ready to go at the start. Westfield scored on its first two drives, not wasting any time. Hauser broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown run just 85 seconds into the game, with Caleb King making the extra-point kick. Then after the Shamrocks’ defense forced a three-and-out, Maximus Webster powered his way into the end zone on a 20-yard run.
“I don’t think we could’ve gotten off to a better start,” said Westfield coach Jake Gilbert. We had a great kickoff return. We scored in a few plays. And then the defense stepped up right away.”
A good example of that would be Merrillville’s series after Webster scored. The Pirates picked up a first down, but Popeye Williams made a sack to push Merrillville back 10 yards. Then on third down, Tyler Dikos delivered a sack, this one moving the Pirates back 13 yards.
Merrillville eventually put together a drive, and got on the board midway through the second quarter when Lavarion Logan ran 34 yards for a touchdown. The Pirates had been scoring a ton of points during the season on their way to an unbeaten record coming into the semi-state, so Westfield had to adopt a “bend but don’t break” philosophy when it came to the Merrillville offense. (The Pirates finished their season 12-1.)
“Yes, because there’s so explosive,” said Gilbert. “Part of the problem is, they’re so good at running the ball, that we played them with a little more depth thinking they may start to throw a little more, and that left some running lanes. These guys average like 45 a game, so our varsity held them to two touchdowns, so that’s pretty darn good.”
The Shamrocks came back after the Pirates scored, putting together another resolute drive. This one was mostly on the ground, save for a 13-yard Webster to Nic Depasquale pass that got Westfield into Merrillville territory. The ‘Rocks continued to move, and Hauser punched the ball in for a three-yard touchdown. King made another good kick, and Westfield led 20-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Shamrocks’ threw another shutout, while the offense added a couple more touchdowns. The first one came at the 3:36 mark: Westfield had ground its way down to the one-yard line, and Webster ran the ball in from there.
After the defense took care of business again, the ‘Rocks quickly added another touchdown. Hauser cut loose for a 39-yard score. King kicked both extra points.
“He’s the best player in Indiana,” Gilbert said of Hauser. “He’s the best all-around football player in Indiana.” That’s not a hyperbolic statement if one considers the numbers. In this game alone, Hauser led the rushing with 171 yards and the tackles with 11. He also forced a fumble.
“I’ve never seen somebody do the things he did,” said Westfield senior running back Trevon Hatchett. “When I got here, he was actually the first person I talked to. So coming to see that in person, it’s great.”
Hatchett, who transferred from Lawrence North, is also pretty great at football. Merrillville scored with 8:27 left to cut Westfield’s lead to 34-13, but Hatchett essentially sealed the game by running 48 yards for a touchdown on the Shamrocks’ very next drive. King kicked the extra point, his fifth of the game.
“I felt like once we got past that o-line, we were gone,” said Hauser. He credited the line with making his job easier: “So as long as they do theirs, it makes mine a hundred times easier,” said Hauser.
Hatchett also had praise for the offensive line, saying it “blocked absolutely very well” and that the holes were “opening up perfectly.”
“I give all credit to the o-line tonight,” said Hatchett. “All credit.”
The Shamrocks had extra motivation to win the game as they were honoring manager Jeannelle Rooney, a 2021 Westfield graduate who passed away on Sunday after a lengthy cancer battle. Rooney would have her chemotherapy treatments on Monday so she would be well enough to attend the Friday night games.
Gilbert said her goal was to “make it through the season, then make it through Christmas,” but Rooney would also go on to attend prom and then graduate.
“We’re so proud of the fight that she put up,” said Gilbert. “She outlasted all the predictions. We can learn so much from her in so many ways. She was very, very tough.”
“We loved Jeannelle deeply,” said Hauser. “She was there for everything. Last year at this time, she was scheduling her chemotherapy around our games. She would do it on Monday so she could get well enough on Friday so she could go. She drove the two and a half hours last year up to Merrillville to watch us win, and that meant the world to us. So we had to win out tonight in her honor.”
“We knew that at some point this day was coming,” said Gilbert. “She loved us and our football program so much. But the best way to honor her was to come out here and play our butts off. And we did.”
After Hauser’s performance, Webster was next in line for rushing with 79 yards, followed by Hatchett with 63 yards. Webster completed seven of nine pass attempts for 78 yards, with Depasquale catching three of them.
Dikos finished the game with 10 tackles, while Dillon Thieneman made nine stops. Williams had two sacks to go along with his eight tackles, with Magwire Graybill also making eight stops. Charles Dager had a sack as well.
WESTFIELD 48, MERRILLVILLE 19
Score by Quarters
Merrillville 0 7 0 12 – 19
Westfield 13 7 14 14 – 48
Team Stats MHS WHS
First Downs 18 19
By Rush 13 14
By Pass 5 5
By Penalty 0 0
Rushes-Yards 45-274 36-323
Yards Passing 76 78
Comp-Att-Int-TD 9-20-1-0 7-9-0-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-59 5-27
Punts-Average 5-29.6 2-43.5
Westfield scoring
First Quarter
10:35 – Micah Hauser 30-yard run (Caleb King kick)
8:06 – Maximus Webster 20-yard run (kick blocked)
Second Quarter
1:57 – Hauser 3-yard run (King kick)
Third Quarter
3:36 – Webster 1-yard run (King kick)
0:52 – Hauser 39-yard run (King kick)
Fourth Quarter
7:30 – Trevon Hatchett 48-yard run (King kick)
5:29 – Anthony Feltrinelli 34-yard interception return (Brody Boehm kick)
Westfield individual stats
Rushing: Hauser 16-171, Webster 11-79, Hatchett 6-63, Jackson Wasserstrom 1-5, Ja’Veyon Averitte 1-4, Brock Stewart 1-2.
Passing: Webster 7-9-78.
Receiving: Nic Depasquale 3-42, Gabe Aramboles 2-26, Ian Bruch 1-8, Hauser 1-2.