Football Sectional championship previews: Class 6A Sectionals 3 & 4

Westfield hosts Zionsville; Fishers heads over to HSE

By CRAIG ADKINS

For The Reporter

The first two weeks of the football state tournament have flown by. Five of the eight county teams are still alive in hopes of hoisting the sectional championship trophy.

Westfield, Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern play for their respective sectional titles tonight.

6A, Sectional 3: Zionsville Eagles (4-6) at No. 2 Westfield Shamrocks (9-1)

Zionsville will visit Westfield for the second time this season. This time, there’s more than a Hoosier Crossroads Conference win on the line.

The two HCC rivals have met 38 times with Westfield owning a 23-15 record in those, including 1-1 in the playoffs. The Shamrocks have won 12 in a row against the Eagles, including the regular season meeting, 28-10.

Josh Miracle is 9-1 in his first season as head coach and was an assistant the 11 years prior under Jake Gilbert.

The ‘Rocks scored early and often on their way to a dominating 49-0 semifinal win over Harrison.

“I think our guys got off to a great start,” said Miracle.

Carsen Melvin found Parker Knott for a 12-yard touchdown for the quick 7-0 lead.

The Shamrocks scored three more times in the final four minutes of the first to shut the door early on Harrison.

Melvin then threw a touchdown pass of 40 yards to Preston Pakala for 14-0. The running game got going toward the end of the quarter. Broc Parker ran in the third touchdown and Deacon King the fourth for a 28-0 lead after one.

“I just felt like everything was clicking early for us in the first half,” said Miracle.

King scored his second rushing touchdown, then Parker scored twice more before the end of the first half to make it 49-0, the eventual final score.

Broc Parker had a career-best 145 yards on just eight carries and three TDs. King ran for 71 on eight rushes and scored twice. Melvin threw 5 of 9 for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

Preston Pakala led all receivers with three receptions and 86 yards.

Melvin is now at 1,506 passing yards, throwing with precision (65.7 percent), completing 111 of 169 and 13 touchdowns. Deacon King is approaching 1,000 rushing yards with 919 and has scored 13 TDs. Gabe Aramboles is at 499 yards receiving on the season.

Zionsville hosted Carmel in its semifinal game, and it became one for the ages. The Eagles won a close battle, 29-28. The win snapped a four-game losing streak.

It was a game where when one scored, the other matched, taking it down to the wire.

They took advantage of the opportunity in the final minute and capitalized with a touchdown as time expired by QB Zach Trent. Eugene Hilton ran in the two-point attempt for the win.

*If Westfield wins, the Shamrocks will host Hamilton Southeastern or visit Fishers for the Regional on Nov. 15.

6A, Sectional 4: Fishers Tigers (6-4) at No. 10 Hamilton Southeastern (7-3)

For the second time this season, the City of Fishers will all but shut down. The Mudsock will be in full effect as the Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern faithful will be packed into Royals Stadium.

Tonight’s title tilt will be the 30^th meeting since the two schools split from being one in 2006. HSE leads the overall series 17-12, but Fishers leads the playoff matchups with a 6-4 record. The Tigers also won the regular season Mudsock, 37-35. Southeastern is 7-3 in the last 10 in the series.

Fishers visited Noblesville for an HCC rematch in last week’s semifinal. The Tigers got up big by four scores at halftime and really never looked back, holding off the Millers, 31-21.

Ryan Thembulembu scored first on a seven-yard run for a 7-0 lead. Minutes later, Vincent Rozzi caught a 17-yard TD pass from Caden Hill and Fishers led 14-0 after one.

JonAnthony Hall caught a Hill pass halfway through the second quarter and took it 80 yards for a touchdown. Denkota Fletcher finished the Tigers’ scoring with a three-yard TD run with 18 seconds left in the half for a 28-0 Fishers halftime lead.

“I told our kids, that was probably the best first half of football we played all year,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk.

Noblesville scored three second half touchdowns, but that wouldn’t be enough to come back. Jon Tangara kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Tigers enough distance for the 31-21 victory.

Ryan Thembulembu ran for 102 yards on 22 carries. Caden Hill was 12 of 18 passing for 285 yards, including five for 136 to Hall, Fletcher three for 72 and Rozzi a pair for 39.

Hamilton Southeastern was also on the road for its semifinal game. The Royals went up to Fort Wayne to face Homestead and came home with a 20-14 win over the Spartans.

Hugo Belmonte got HSE on the board in the first quarter with a 36-yard field goal. AZ Wallace increased that lead to 10-0 with a five-yard touchdown run late in the second.

Chandler Weston connected with Liam Boyd midway through the third quarter for a six-yard score that made it 17-0 through three quarters.

Homestead staged a comeback in the fourth with 14 unanswered points, but HSE was able to hold the Spartans off for the win.

Southeastern racked up 343 yards of rushing. Brennan Baker led the Royals’ dominant rushing attack with 13 rushes for 138 yards After missing the previous eight games, AZ Wallace came up big with 126 yards on 22 carries and a TD.

Weston passed for 117 yards, going 8 for 15, including five to Liam Boyd for 67 yards and a TD.

*If Fishers wins, the Tigers would either host Westfield or be on the road at Zionsville. If HSE wins, the Royals go on the road at either Westfield or Zionsville for the Regional on Nov. 15.