One week after playing big Hamilton County rivals, Westfield and Hamilton Southeastern will play each other in another big county rivalry game.
The Royals travel to the Shamrocks’ Riverview Health Field on Friday. Southeastern is coming off a gritty Mudsock victory over Fishers, by the score of 14-10. Westfield fell to Noblesville 10-2 last week.
Both teams are 2-2 for the season and 1-1 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
The Royals got both of their touchdowns last week from Matt Harris, who punched in two scores from short yardage. The first touchdown was set up by a huge catch from Ben Boysen. They were all tough plays, and Southeastern knows it needs to continue being tough for the remainder of its season.
“Every team’s going to be good,” said HSE coach Adam Morris on HCTV. “We’re going to have do a great job as coaches managing the game and our players are going to have to respond to those close situations.”
Westfield’s offense is being led by several juniors. Camden Simons is 51-of-93 as the Shamrocks’ quarterback, with 579 yards and three touchdowns. Eli Patchett has rushed for 236 yards and three scores, while Dane Wheeler has 11 receptions and Jacob Riddle 10 catches. Senior Colin Caldwell has 28 total tackles, with senior Ryan Mahoney making four tackles for a loss.
“Those guys are always good,” said Westfield coach Jake Gilbert of HSE. “They’ve got tons of talent over there. We’ll see how it goes. We got to get up and practice hard and get better. Come out with a little more grit and desire and see what we can get done on Friday.”
NOBLESVILLE-ZIONSVILLE
Noblesville is off to a great start in the HCC, and will look to continue that momentum when it travels to Zionsville on Friday.
The Millers are 2-0 in the conference, currently tied for first with Brownsburg. They will face an Eagles squad which is 1-1 in the league and 2-2 overall. Zionsville has wins over Lebanon 56-6 and Franklin Central 44-19, and losses to Pike 27-19 and Westfield 41-28.
The 5A No. 8 Eagles have been using two quarterbacks. Senior Josh Wagner is 58-for-93 with 802 yards and 10 touchdowns, while junior Cole Wiseman is 24-for-39 with 425 yards and four scores.
“They are very impressive,” said Noblesville assistant coach Adam Metzler. “Their offense is high-powered.”
Metzler noted that Zionsville senior Tommy Fossett is “pretty much everywhere” and “does a little bit of everything.” That includes receiving, a category in which he leads the Eagles with 30 catches and 479 yards, including four touchdowns. Senior Jordan Hull has 22 catches for 447 yards and seven TDs. Another junior, Gus Baumgartner, already has 389 yards rushing.
Senior Deuce Thomas lead the defense with 53 tackles, five for a loss. Garrett Williamson has 50 tackles. Senior Alec Rheinheimer has made six tackles for losses, while senior Drew Baker has five.
Noblesville’s Grant Gremel is passing 24-for-59 with 267 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Luke Blevins leads the Miller rushing with 264 yards and a score; both he and Wyatt Blades have five receptions, with one TD for Blevins. On defense, Jacob Hamm has 50 total tackles, with Dalton Davis making six for losses.
FISHERS-BROWNSBURG
Fishers coach Rick Wimmer knows very well that Brownsburg is ranked No. 2 in the Class 6A coaches poll. In fact, he helped put the Bulldogs there.
“I think they’re very deserving of it,” said Wimmer on HCTV. “I voted on that poll and that’s exactly what I voted them.”
Brownsburg will come into Reynolds Tigers Stadium on Friday with a 4-0 record. The Bulldogs have wins over Bloomington South 44-13, Cathedral 37-26, Franklin Central 37-7, and the biggest one of all was last week, 21-7 over rival Avon – the Orioles were ranked No. 2 at the time.
“They’re playing very well,” said Wimmer. “They’re 4-0. They’ve beaten three teams that were ranked at the time they played them.”
Senior wide receiver Bryce Kirtz is one of Brownsburg’s standouts, a Northwestern recruit who already has 18 catches for 303 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore Ben Easters is the Bulldogs’ quarterback, with 42-of-82 catches for 609 yards and 11 TDs. Junior Donny Marcus has been a force on the ground, with 560 yards rushing and three scores. Senior Lawson Aiken has 7.5 tackles for a loss, with senior Jacob Birkofer leading the stops with 21 tackles.
Junior Marcus Roux is 17-of-40 as Fishers’ quarterback, passing for 182 yards. Senior HL Lewis has 381 rushing yards and has scored three touchdowns, with junior Dylan Scally totaling 267 yards. Collin Statz has eight catches, while Mason McCartney has made two touchdown catches. Junior Geoffrey Brown is leading the defense with 38 tackles, six for a loss.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS-WESTERN
Fresh off a road trip that resulted in its first win of the season, Hamilton Heights will host Western Friday.
The Huskies won at Northwestern last week 30-7, which also was their opening game in the Hoosier Conference East division. The Panthers are 3-1, with wins over Twin Lakes 48-6, Rensselaer Central 42-14 and Benton Central 56-6, and a loss to Lafayette Jefferson 54-14. This will be Western’s first conference game of the year.
“Western on offense is going to be a single-wing team,” said Heights coach Jon Kirschner. “They’re going to try and get as many people to the point of attack as possible. They’re going to pull guards, they’re going to pull wings, they’re going to pull tight ends.”
Senior Kitchel Gifford already has 595 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns, while senior Josh Coleman has run for 325 yards and two scores.
“They’re going to run the ball and run the ball and run the ball,” said Kirschner. “That’s who they are and they’re pretty good at it.”
Jett Engel is the Panthers’ quarterback, he is 14-of-35 for 332 yards and seven TDs. Parker Shelton has six of those catches, three for touchdowns. Senior Andrew Ault has 48 tackles, eight for a loss.
Huskies senior Carter Campassi is 25-of-50 as quarterback, with 346 yards and three touchdowns. Junior DeShawn King is leading the ground game with 341 yards. Senior Isiah Campbell has 11 catches, while senior Kray Leininger has 33 tackles on defense.
SHERIDAN-CLINTON PRAIRIE
Sheridan had a hot first half of Hoosier Heartland Conference play, and are looking to stay that way in the second half, which the Blackhawks begin Friday at Clinton Prairie.
Sheridan, 3-0 in HHC play, will take on a winless Gophers team at 0-4. Prairie has lost to Hanover Central 26-8, Attica 31-0, Clinton Central 35-14 and Tri-Central 3-0. The latter two games were HHC games.
The Gophers have used two quarterbacks. Sophomore Kade Osborn is 26-of-57 for 239 yards, while senior Brock Fingerle is 16-of-34 for 192 yards and two TDs. Fingerle and junior Jacob Fullerton both have 10 catches, with Fullerton getting one touchdown. Fullerton is also the leading rusher with 114 yards. Senior Caiden Mash has 40 tackles, with Samuel Gonzalez making 10 for a loss.
“They got some big kids,” said Sheridan coach Bud Wright, who noted that two of them are over 300 pounds, and two more are over 280.
Meanwhile, the 1A No. 8 Blackhawks (3-1) already have three runners over 200 yards: James Manis is at 387 with six touchdowns, Cameron Hovey has gained 286 and Nick Burnell has 223 and three scores. Drake Delph is 16-of-26 passing, already at 374 yards and eight TDs. Jesse Kolb has 10 of those catches and six touchdowns. Burnell and Kolb also lead the defense with 43 and 41 tackles respectively.
GUERIN CATHOLIC-COLUMBUS NORTH
Guerin Catholic will host an undefeated Columbus North team on Friday.
The Bull Dogs are 4-0, with wins over Franklin Community 64-7, Columbus East 17-16, Southport 41-36 and Roncalli 9-7. As a result, Columbus North is ranked No. 6 on the 6A poll. The Golden Eagles (3-1) are rated No. 8 in 3A.
“They’re not only 4-0, they’ve played four real good teams and they’ve won in multiple ways,” said GC coach Tom Dilley. “They’ve won some shootouts and they’ve also won some real defensive struggles. They’re good on both sides and all three phases of the football. We’re going to have to play our best, but that’s the challenge every week is to play your best, so that’s what we’re after.”
Senior Trenton Kelley has already thrown for 541 yards at a 44-of-71 rate, with four touchdowns. Sophomore Blake Huffman has 536 rushing yards and four TDs and 13 catches. Another sophomore, Preston Terrell, has 20 receptions, including one score. Senior Tay Wells leads the defense with 33 tackles.
Junior Christian Gelov has completed 29-of-54 passes for the Golden Eagles, totaling 398 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Dylan Crossen has been solid on the ground with 519 yards and eight touchdowns, with junior Cameron Murray gaining 221 yards and three scores. Junior Bernie McGuinness has seven catches. Senior Charles Bock has made 33 tackles.
CARMEL-LAWRENCE NORTH
Carmel will travel to Lawrence North for a Metropolitan Conference game on Friday.
The Wildcats are 2-2, starting their season with wins over Perry Meridian 64-7 and Richmond 52-7, then falling to Lawrence Central 20-14 and North Central 12-7 in MIC games. Carmel is 3-1, and 1-1 in the conference, with a win over Pike 28-13 last week.
Dylan Downing leads the 6A No. 4 Greyhounds’ rushing with 361 yards and two touchdowns. Carmel has been using two quarterbacks: Tyler Trent is 25-of-45, totaling 323 yards and four TDs, while Gabe Quigley is 11-of-24 for 144 yards and three scores. Christian Williams has 10 catches, including two touchdowns.
