Since the IHSAA’s football Class 6A Sectional 4 consists of all Hoosier Crossroads Conference teams, re-matches are inevitable once the draw is announced.
The two semi-final games that will take place on Friday in that sectional will be reprises of big rivalry games. Fishers hosts Hamilton Southeastern for a Mudsock 2020 Part 2, while Noblesville welcomes Westfield. Both regular-season games took place during Week 4, and quite a bit has changed since then.
SOUTHEASTERN-FISHERS
The Royals won the regular-season meeting with the Tigers 21-9 in a hard-fought game (is there any other kind of Mudsock game?) Fishers led at halftime 9-7 before Southeastern scored twice in the third quarter, both on big plays.
“They played hard,” Royals coach Michael Kelly said of the Tigers. “They flew around on defense and did some great things.”
Junior Blaine Wertz ran the ball into the end zone from 29 yards to get HSE ahead, then senior John McCall and junior Martice Taylor combined for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
“We settled ourselves down a little bit and started playing our style of football,” said Kelly. “The key for us is, don’t let the moment get too big and we let the moment get too big for us.”
Southeastern will come into Reynolds Tigers Stadium with a 6-2 record. The Royals won their last three games of the season, but saw their final regular-season game against Brownsburg get canceled. That meant HSE and the Bulldogs had to settle for a second-place tie in the HCC standings, with both teams completing conference play at 5-1.
Add to that the bye week for Class 6A teams, and Southeastern has now been off for three weeks.
“I think they’re excited to get going again,” said Kelly. “You sense the season slipping away from you quickly and to not be able to play that last game of the season, it plays some tricks on your emotions.”
McCall has completed 77 of 124 passes for 801 yards and seven touchdowns, with Taylor making 24 catches on the season, five of them for scores. Wertz is the top rusher, gaining 633 yards and scoring seven touchdowns.
“HSE was very solid at controlling the time of possession and they don’t make many mistakes,” said Fishers coach Curt Funk. “Their defense forced turnovers the first time we played and on offense didn’t make mistakes.”
The Tigers finished the regular season 2-7 and were 2-5 in HCC play.
“The bye week was nice for our team, it allowed us to regroup and push the reset button,” said Funk. “The kids are excited for the post-season and a fresh start.”
Senior Lucas Prewitt has had a sensational year as the Fishers quarterback, going 139-for-229 with 1,628 yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior Jeffrey Simmons has 50 of those catches, including two TDs, with senior Landon Morris making 39 catches and six scores. Sophomore Carson Dunn leads the rushing with 518 yards and three touchdowns.
WESTFIELD-NOBLESVILLE
The Shamrocks will be making their second trip to Beaver Materials Field this season. The first trip was a successful one for Westfield, as it held off the Millers 24-10.
The win was the third in a row for the ‘Rocks, and since then that victorious streak has swelled to eight games. Westfield went on to win an unbeaten HCC championship at 7-0, and is 8-1 overall.
“I think both teams are much, much, much better than we both were six weeks ago,” said Noblesville coach Dave Sharpe. “The problem is that, they were already a great team and now they’re a phenomenal team. But we are improving tremendously as well and defensively it was one of our better efforts.”
Meanwhile, Shamrocks coach Jake Gilbert will be preparing his team for what he calls the Millers’ “unique offense.” Gilbert said “it’s hard to plan for and hard to simulate in practice and hard to defend.”
Noblesville’s run-oriented offense caused Westfield some nervous moments in the regular-season showdown, but the Shamrocks’ defense was able to hold firm in the second half.
“We played great run defense, talked well,” said Gilbert. “We were physical, that was the key to the game for us. I thought we played pretty well.”
Westfield has been led by its outstanding junior quarterback, Maximus Webster, who has completed 87 of 129 pass attempts for 1,419 yards and 17 touchdowns. Senior Mason Piening has 36 receptions, including nine for scores, followed by junior Nic Depasquale, who has 25 catches and three TDs.
Junior Micah Hauser has been dominant on both sides of the ball. He leads the rushing with 782 yards and eight touchdowns, and is tops on defense with 85 tackles. Junior Popeye Williams has made nine tackles for a loss and four sacks.
The Millers are 2-7 for the season after going 1-6 in HCC play. Noblesville has gotten the vast majority of its yards on the ground, with junior Owen Jones leading the way by gaining 726 yards and scoring four touchdowns. Senior Holden Montarsi has 425 yards and three TDs.
Junior quarterback Connor Meinerding has passed for 258 yards and a touchdown. Junior Sam Steinhofer leads the defense with 68 tackles, including eight for a loss. Senior Skyler Tolliver and junior Alairic Rogers-Walton both have 3.5 sacks on the season.
Both schools enjoyed their bye weeks as well. Gilbert said that this week has been a “normal week of practice,” but last week was more about fun.
“We don’t do a ton of football, but we do a lot of character building and team building and have some fun and hang out,” said Gilbert. “We enjoyed that.”
“We’ve had a great week and a half,” said Sharpe. He said the Millers used their bye week to go back to fundamentals and do lifting and conditioning as well.
“Getting ready for the Shamrocks and getting our game plan set,” said Sharpe. “The kids, they’ve risen to the occasion. We are practicing with a purpose.”
CARMEL-PIKE
Carmel will host Pike for the second time this season on Friday, but this time it will be in the semi-finals of Class 6A Sectional 5.
The two teams met during Week 4 in a Metropolitan Conference game, and the Greyhounds needed double overtime to get past the Red Devils, by the score of 45-44. Carmel stopped a two-point conversion try by Pike in order to get the victory.
Greyhounds coach John Hebert called the Red Devils “a very explosive offensive team” that has multiple playmakers at wide receiver and running back.
“Two players, Zavier Simpson and Lamar Echols having over 100 yards receiving against us in week 4,” said Hebert. He called quarterback Anthony Cialdella “one of the best in our conference at his position.”
“Pike’s offensive line is also very good,” said Hebert. “We have to be able to limit Pike’s explosive plays this time around.”
The Red Devils beat Lawrence Central 41-0 the week after their loss to the Greyhounds, but then dropped their last four games of the regular season to finish 3-6. Pike was 1-6 in MIC play.
The senior Cialdella has completed 107 of 187 pass attempts this season for 1,552 yards and 19 touchdowns. Echols leads the reception list with 37, including four TDs, while Simpson has 29 catches and has the most touchdown receptions with seven.
Isaiah Martin tops the rushing list with 414 yards and one score. On defense, senior Modupe Esan has 72 tackles (5.5 for a loss), followed by sophomore Josh Woods with 66 stops (six for a loss). Senior Kyran Montgomery has the most tackles for a loss with 8.5, while junior Frank Akinsanmi has 6.5.
After a 1-2 start, Carmel is on a six-game win streak to finish the regular season 7-2. The ‘Hounds were 6-1 in MIC play, taking second to unbeaten (7-0) Center Grove.
Junior quarterback Zach Osborne is 81-of-157 through the air this season, totaling 1,153 yards and 14 touchdowns. Senior Colton Parker has 25 catches, six of them for scores.
Senior Zach White leads the rushing with 588 yards and six TDs, while Osborne has run for 392 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Tamarris Springfield is on top of the tackles list with 69, followed by seniors Gavin Hale and Andrew Turvy with 66 each. Turvy has eight tackles for a loss. Junior Hayden Cate has four sacks.
“We had a good bye week with lighter work and a game between our freshman and junior varsity teams,” said Hebert. “We got back to work this Monday with our regular routine. Our guys have had great focus on preparing for Pike this week. We are very excited for the opportunity to keep our season going another week.”
SHERIDAN-LUTHERAN
Sheridan will host Class 1A’s top-ranked team, Indianapolis Lutheran, in semi-final action in Sectional 46 on Friday.
The Saints will enter Bud Wright Stadium with an 8-1 record. Lutheran won the Indiana Crossroads Conference with a perfect 6-0 record, beating Beech Grove 66-35, Cardinal Ritter 42-6, Triton Central 14-7, Cascade 56-7, Monrovia 50-0 and Speedway 42-21.
In non-conference play, the Saints beat Shortridge 79-0 and Traders Point Christian 63-6. Lutheran’s only loss was to Northview, a 4A school, 26-25 in double overtime.
“They’re big and strong and fast,” said Wright. “They average more passes than they do runs.”
The Saints’ quarterback is senior Blake White. He has put up phenomenal numbers, completing 169 of 231 attempts for 2,427 yards and 37 touchdowns.
“He’s got a lot of yards passing,” said Wright. “They got some real good receivers. They’re a good ball club.”
Four Lutheran receivers have at least 29 catches, led by senior Joseph Faubion with 51 receptions, including 10 touchdowns. On the ground, senior Bryce Lucas leads the rushing game with 476 yards and 10 scores.
Two Saints players have over 90 tackles for the season. Senior Hayden Filipovich has made 95 stops, six of them for a loss, while junior Jake Pasch has made 93 tackles. Filipovich also has three sacks.
“They go 290, 295, 260, they got some big kids up front,” said Wright. “They play pretty tough. We definitely got to stay low on them.”
The Blackhawks are coming off a first-round sectional win over Tindley 34-6, which improved their record to 5-4 for the season.
Senior Cameron Hovey has been a force for Sheridan on the ground, with 1,504 total yards and 20 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Silas DeVaney has thrown for 221 yards and four TDs. On defense, sophomore Jacob Jones leads with 61 tackles (eight for a loss) and six sacks, while Hovey has 57 tackles.
GUERIN CATHOLIC-BISHOP CHATARD
Guerin Catholic will travel to Bishop Chatard on Friday for a re-match with the 3A No. 1 Trojans, this time in the semi-finals of Sectional 28.
The two teams met in Week 6 of the regular season. Chatard beat the Golden Eagles 38-0 to clinch an undefeated Circle City Conference championship. The Trojans, now 8-1 for the season, beat another county team, Hamilton Heights, 35-0 last week in the first round of the sectional.
Quarterback Carter St. John went 9-of-17 for Chatard, totaling 18 yards and one touchdown. Thomas Coleman was the top receiver with four catches, while Tommy Hannon rushed for 107 yards.
Guerin Catholic scored an upset last week, beating No. 2-ranked West Lafayette 20-18. The victory brought the Golden Eagles to 4-4 for the season.
Jagger Albert and Danny Rhoad both rushed for 107 yards, while quarterback Sam Miller went 8-of-14 for 58 yards.