After winning its first-ever Class 6A football sectional championship last Friday, the Westfield football team will try to add to that history this Friday.
The Shamrocks will host Homestead for the Class 6A Regional 2 championship on Friday. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. and see two top 10 teams go at it: Westfield is rated No. 2 and the Spartans are ranked No. 9.
In addition to the chance to win a first-ever 6A regional, the ‘Rocks will be going for their first regional title since 2016.
“You don’t really get a sense of the history of things until well after the fact, but I do think our kids understand that this is a special team and we have a special opportunity,” said Westfield coach Jake Gilbert.
In order to make that history, the Shamrocks will have to beat a Homestead team with a solid offense. The Spartans are 10-1 and averaging 36.5 points per game. They finished tied for first in the all-Fort Wayne Summit Conference, sharing the championship with Bishop Dwenger after both schools had 8-1 records.
After an opening-week loss to Northrop 25-21, Homestead has won 10 straight games. Most of them have been easy wins, but there were a few tough ones. The Spartans edged out Concordia Lutheran 7-0 in Week 2 and needed triple overtime to beat Bishop Dwenger 35-34 in Week 4.
The other regular-season victories for Homestead were over Bishop Luers 38-13, Snider 33-3, North Side 56-36, Carroll 70-41, Wayne 42-12 and South Side 41-0. Playing in Sectional 3, the Spartans again beat Snider 28-10 in the semi-finals, then got past Warsaw 30-22 in the championship.
Westfield and Homestead have not played each other in recent memory.
“When you play someone new it is both exciting and scary,” said Gilbert. “You really can’t judge how you stack up until you are on the field together. Sometimes teams are much better or much worse than you perceive them to be from the film. Our last two games have been against someone we have played twice this year already. This will be entirely different. That’s exciting, but scary at the same time.”
Senior Evan Ormsby is the Spartans’ quarterback, and has put up impressive numbers, totaling 2,415 yards on 143-of-234 passing and 36 touchdowns. The top receiver is junior Nathan Anderson, who has 46 catches for 1,090 yards, 17 of them for scores.
Also on the receiving leaders list are senior Jared Kistler (39 catches, nine TDs), senior Ethan Chambers (31 catches, five TDs) and junior Gage Sparrow (24 catches, three TDs).
“Homestead is exceptional on offense,” said Gilbert. “They have four good wide receivers and are great at throwing the deep ball. They scored 70 points in a game this season. They can score fast.”
Senior Braeden Hardwick is the Spartans’ top rusher, with 953 yards and 10 touchdowns. On defense, senior Luke Palmer leads the tackling list with 102 stops, 15 of them for a loss. Palmer is one of seven Homestead defenders with at least five tackles for a loss. Senior Isaac Parrish has 5.5 sacks and senior Andrew Bear has five sacks.
Westfield is also 10-1, winning its historic Sectional 4 championship by beating Noblesville 35-0 and Fishers 31-0. Junior Maximus Webster has put together a great season as quarterback, completing 102 of 152 pass attempts for 1,667 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Senior Mason Piening leads the receptions count with 41, including 12 TDs. Junior Micah Hauser has gained the most ground with 932 rushing yards and 10 scores, while Webster has 579 yards rushing for 13 touchdowns.
Hauser is on top of the defense with 97 tackles, with junior Popeye Williams making 10 tackles for a loss. Williams also has the most sacks with five.
CARMEL-BEN DAVIS
While Westfield and Homestead may be unfamiliar with each other, the two teams competing for the Class 6A Regional 3 championship know each other very well: Carmel and Ben Davis.
The No. 5 Greyhounds will travel to the Giants field Friday night for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Not only will this be for a regional title, but the two teams are tied in the series rivalry at 23-23 – whoever wins this game will move ahead.
Carmel first played Ben Davis in 1958, then again in 1959. The two teams would not face each other again until 1977, when they played for a sectional championship. The rivalry took a break for a few years, but resumed in 1981, and the two teams have played every year since.
“We have a long history together,” said Greyhounds coach John Hebert. “In the era in which I played at CHS, we were state champions in 1986, Ben Davis won in ’87 and ’88, we won again in ’89, then Ben Davis won in both ’90 and ’91. Think about that!”
Hebert graduated from Carmel High School in 1989 and was a football player all four years.
“We made each other better,” said Hebert. “I think the programs are very well suited for competitiveness between each other despite contrasting styles from time to time.”
Ben Davis comes into the regional game with a 6-5 record. The Greyhounds hosted the Giants in Week 7, winning 31-9.
Since then, Ben Davis has been on a win streak, finishing the regular season with victories over Lawrence Central 42-0 and North Central 42-20. The Giants then cruised to the Sectional 6 trophy, easily beating Southport 54-14 in the semi-finals and Perry Meridian 41-6 in the title game.
“Ben Davis has won four games in a row since we played them in Week 7,” said Hebert. “They are a much more confident team right now that is playing to their strengths on both sides of the ball,” said Hebert. “They have been able to limit their mistakes that were getting in their way early on. This will be another very physical game, like Pike and Brownsburg. Ben Davis has great team speed as well. We will have to execute well on offense and limit mistakes. Defensively, we must contain the playmaking of their very talented skill players including their QB, number 15.”
The quarterback, junior J’uan Swanson, has had a solid season, completing 109 of 189 pass attempts for 1,505 yards and 16 touchdowns. Junior Donell Mason has 39 of those catches, including seven TDs. Three more Giants have 25 catches: Senior Rylen Richardson, senior Robert Peters and junior Dillon Moore. Richardson has six touchdown receptions, while Peters and Moore both have two.
Senior Brandon Fuentes leads the Ben Davis rushing with 697 yards and eight scores. On defense, senior Charles Knuckols leads with 102 tackles, while junior Keoke Toomer has 11 tackles for a loss. Senior Aneill Boatright has six sacks for the season.
Carmel is 9-2 for the season and is riding an eight-game win streak. The ‘Hounds won the Sectional 5 championship by defeating Pike 38-22 in the semi-finals and Brownsburg 21-7 in the championship.
Junior Zach Osborne is throwing at a 93-for-180 clip, totaling 1,353 yards and 16 touchdowns. Senior Colton Parker is the top receiver, with 25 catches and six touchdowns.
Senior Zach White leads the rushing with 787 yards and seven scores, while Osborne has 575 yards and 10 TDs. Senior Tamarris Springfield is on top of the tackles list with 85, followed by senior Andrew Turvy with 77 stops, nine of them for a loss. Senior Luke Conley and junior Hayden Cate both have five sacks.
REGIONAL PAIRINGS
Courtesy John Harrell’s website
www.johnharrell.net
CLASS 6A
Merrillville (9-1) at Elkhart (9-0)
Homestead (10-1) at Westfield (10-1)
Carmel (9-2) at Ben Davis (6-5)
Warren Central (4-5) at Center Grove (11-0)
CLASS 5A
Mishawaka (7-3) at Valparaiso (7-0)
Fort Wayne Dwenger (10-1) at Zionsville (5-5)
Whiteland (9-1) at Indianapolis Cathedral (10-1)
Jeffersonville (5-5) at Castle (7-3)
CLASS 4A
Hobart (9-2) at Logansport (6-6)
Marion (9-3) at East Noble (9-3)
Indianapolis Roncalli (10-1) at Mount Vernon (Fortville) (12-0)
Mooresville (11-1) at Evansville Central (12-0)
CLASS 3A
Mishawaka Marian (10-0) at Calumet (5-1)
Fort Wayne Concordia (6-5) at Indianapolis Chatard (10-1)
Sullivan (8-3) at Danville (9-0)
Southridge (12-0) at Lawrenceburg (11-1)
CLASS 2A
Andrean (11-1) at Pioneer (11-1)
Fort Wayne Luers (6-6) at Tipton (9-2)
Western Boone (8-4) at Heritage Christian (8-2)
Triton Central (10-1) at Evansville Mater Dei (8-4)
CLASS 1A
Lafayette Central Catholic (4-3) at Winamac (7-2)
South Adams (11-0) at Southwood (12-0)
South Putnam (12-0) at Covenant Christian (12-0)
West Washington (10-0) at North Decatur (10-2)