By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
On Sunday evening, the IHSAA revealed the blind draw pairings for the 51st Annual IHSAA Football State Tournament. First round games for Classes 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A are scheduled to begin on Friday, October 20. Classes 6A (32 teams) and 5A (31) have an off week and state with semifinals on October 27, because they have half the amount of teams in their respective classes.
There are 311 schools that will amount to 305 total games being played in the six classes for a six week span that culminates with the six state championship games taking place Thanksgiving weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Sheridan and Carmel’s programs are both tied for fifth all-time with nine state championships, with Carmel also leading in sectional championships with 32. Hamilton County has three defending sectional champions with HSE winning Class 6A Sectional 3, Westfield in Sectional 4 and Sheridan in 1A Sectional 45.
The Shamrocks have also won three consecutive sectional titles, which is good for the fourth best streak in the state of Indiana.
6A Sectional 3
Fishers (5-3) at Homestead (4-4)
No. 11 Fishers will hit the road and face the Homestead Spartans. The Tigers have not won a sectional since they beat Pike in 2017 before bowing out in the regional to Ben Davis. Homestead last won a sectional in 2020, but lost the regional to Westfield, the eventual state runner-up.
Hamilton Southeastern (7-1) at Fort Wayne Northrop (0-8)
No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern also heads up to the Fort Wayne area and will take on the Bruins. The Royals put together quite the tournament run last year. Winning Sectional 3 handedly at Fishers, they went on to shut out Westfield in a home regional game before dropping a heartbreaker in the semi-state at Carroll (Fort Wayne). Northrop has not won a sectional football title since 1999.
6A Sectional 4
Westfield (7-1) at Carmel (5-3)
Seventh-ranked Westfield has possibly the shortest road trip in the state for this semifinal matchup. Just a short trip to the south to Carmel Stadium to face the Greyhounds. The ‘Rocks have won three consecutive sectional titles. They lost in the regional to HSE last year, but were state runner-up in 2021 and 2020. No. 10 Carmel last won a sectional three years ago in 2020, then lost a close regional game at Ben Davis (27-21). Prior to that, the ‘Hounds played for a state championship in three of the previous four, winning in 2016 and 2019
Noblesville (3-5) at Zionsville
The Millers will make the trip west to Boone County to face the Eagles, whom they beat at home on September 15, 24-7. Noblesville is searching for its first sectional championship since 2000 (over Carmel 27-12). They went to semi-state, losing at home to eventual state champion Penn (38-15). Zionsville had a string of three sectional titles in a row snapped last year at Noblesville, 35-10. Two straight 5A state championship game appearances in 2020 and 2021 with runner-up finishes, both to Cathedral, jumping the Eagles to 6A because of the Tournament Success Factor.
3A Sectional 28
Guerin Catholic (6-2) at Peru (8-0)
The No. 2 Golden Eagles face a first round opponent that they’ve never met up with on the gridiron. Guerin takes a road trip north on US 31 to face the unbeaten, 15th-ranked Peru Tigers (8-0). Guerin Catholic is due for a sectional championship, since its last was 2014, when they beat Hamilton Heights and then lost in the regional to Tri-West. Peru is one of many in Sectional 28 that are in a title drought. The Tigers have not won a sectional football championship since 1982.
Tippecanoe Valley (8-0) at Bishop Chatard (8-0)
The No. 7 Vikings have probably the toughest test of this extremely competitive eight-team sectional. A long road trip to Indianapolis to face top-ranked Bishop Chatard will create an extremely tough challenge. Tippy Valley has not won a sectional title since 1992. The No. 1 Trojans have the most tournament success of any school in the 51-year history of the state tournament. Chatard has won an astounding, state-leading 16 state championships, two of those were in 2A (‘83, ‘84) and the remaining 14 have been in 3A, all since 1997.
Northwestern (3-5) at Maconaquah (6-2)
The Tigers don’t have too far of a trip from the northwest side of Kokomo to just east off of US 31 to Bunker Hill to face Maconaquah. Northwestern’s last sectional crown was in 2007, while the Braves have never lifted a sectional football trophy.
Hamilton Heights (8-0) at Oak Hill (4-4)
The No. 8 Huskies are one of the hotter teams in Class 3A, if not the entire state through eight weeks of regular season football. Heights will make a trip north to Converse to open sectional play. The Golden Eagles last won a sectional title in 2013. Hamilton Heights has not won a sectional championship since 2012. That was the same season that they lost the season opener to Tipton, then won 13 games in a row before losing the state championship to Bishop Chatard. They could be on a collision course with Chatard or Guerin for a sectional title this time around.
1A Sectional 45
Monroe Central (3-5) at Union City (2-6)
The Bears will head to Union City for a first round matchup. The Bears last won a sectional in 2018 and that was over Union City (29-0) and lost the regional to Adams Central. The Indians still have yet to bring home a sectional.
Hagerstown (5-3) at Sheridan (6-2)
The Tigers will make a 62 mile trip to the northwestern part of Hamilton County to face Sheridan. Hagerstown last won a sectional in 2010 and was ousted in the regional by Churubusco. No. 9 Sheridan, on the other hand, has won 20 sectionals, all under Bud Wright, now in his 58th-year. The ‘Hawks won this sectional last year in 2022 and then lost to North Decatur in the regional. The legendary Wright also has nine state championships.
Wes-Del (3-5) at Winner Game 1
The Warriors are a program that has struggled for quite a few years. Wes-Del’s lone sectional championship was in 1975, in just the third year of the state tournament when there were just three classes. Wes-Del will be on the road at either Monroe Central or Union City for a semifinal matchup.
Indianapolis Tindley (4-4) at Winner Game 2
The Tigers have only been playing football since 2012, but still have not won a sectional in its short program history. Tindley will play on the road in the semifinals at either Hagerstown or Sheridan.