Football can be a game of inches, and sometimes it refuses to give a team an inch.
Noblesville learned that the hard way on Friday, as the Millers hosted Zionsville in their Homecoming game at Beaver Materials Field. Noblesville played well, but got stymied by two big Eagles plays that gave them a 17-point advantage in the third quarter. Zionsville eventually won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference game 41-26.
Things were going good for Noblesville early. The Millers scored first, as Logan Shoffner took a 40-yard run into the end zone with 9:22 left in the opening quarter. The Eagles tied the game with their own touchdowns, but a 35-yard field goal by Jack Letourneau put Noblesville up 10-7 after one.
Zionsville scored on a pass play early in the second quarter to go up 14-10. The next drive is where things started to turn, as the Millers were fourth-and-2 on the Eagles two-yard line.
“We block it well, and we just trip up at the pulling guard position, which gives us a gain of one and a half instead of a gain of two,” said Noblesville coach Dave Sharpe.
On the very next play, Zionsville took the ball 99 yards for a touchdown. Sharpe noted that what could’ve been a 17-14 lead had turned into a 20-10 halftime deficit.
“From there, it was us playing catch-up,” said Sharpe. “We got into a little bit of a bad funk after that sequence.”
The Millers’ defense stepped up in the start of second half, forcing the Eagles to third-and-14. But Zionsville got out of it again, with a lobbing pass that was tipped a couple times and eventually caught for a 45-yard touchdown reception. The extra point made the score 27-10.
After that score, Sharpe admitted the team was “a little shell-shocked,” as they were playing well but trailing – “how are we down 17 points,” he said.
“It’s a great teaching moment that we can only build upon,” said Sharpe. “You can play as hard as you possibly can and do everything that you’re told to do, but sometimes bad things happen to you, and sometimes the tiniest bit of lack of execution can have a world of consequence in football.”
Zionsville led 34-10 after three quarters. Noblesville battled to the finish, with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Alairic Rogers-Walton got an early five-yard touchdown run, and Brayan Goméz Sánchez made a two-point conversion. Later, Blake Widget ran into the end zone from 15 yards, then immediately followed that with a two-point run.
Shoffner finished the game with 235 yards rushing. Sam Steinhofer had 5.5 tackles.
The Millers are now 0-3 in the conference and 2-3 overall. They play at Franklin Central next Friday, and Sharpe remains resolute.
“Very proud of how we fought,” he said. “We’re going to get through this one. It was a very strange football game, but I think our kids will let a few hours go by, a day or two go by, and realize we can compete with anybody.
ZIONSVILLE 41, NOBLESVILLE 26
Score by Quarters
Zionsville 7 13 14 7 – 41
Noblesville 10 0 0 16 – 26
Team Stats ZV NOB
First Downs 16 19
By Rush 6 17
By Pass 9 1
By Penalty 1 1
Rushes-Yards 30-188 61-421
Yards Passing 172 11
Comp-Att-Int-TD 15-22-0-3 1-6-0-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-19 4-30
Punts-Average 3-51.0 3-43.0
Noblesville Scoring
First Quarter
9:22 – Logan Shoffner 40-yard run (Jack Letourneau kick)
1:10 – Letourneau 35-yard field goal
Fourth Quarter
10:12 – Alairic Rogers-Walton 5-yard run (Brayan Goméz Sánchez run)
1:41 – Blake Widget 15-yard run (Widget run)
Noblesville individual stats
Rushing: Shoffner 20-235, Parker Bell 14-50, Rogers-Walton 8-48, Sevin Barringer 1-31, Goméz Sánchez 9-23, Widget 3-23, Gage Gulley 6-11.
Passing: Gulley 1-6-11.
Receiving: Shoffner 1-11.