By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
Hamilton County has two football programs that are still alive at the semi-state level and await hopefully another trip to the state finals for both Westfield and Sheridan in their respective classes.
Class 6A No. 6 Westfield will go to battle in hopes of handing Crown Point its first loss of the season. The Shamrocks have had quite the season, starting off with a five-game winning streak and now have won six straight heading into semi-state.
Class 1A No. 10 Sheridan will play on its home field for the fourth time in five playoff games at Bud Wright Stadium in its semi-state matchup against No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran.
Class 6A North Semi-State
Westfield Shamrocks (11-1) at Crown Point Bulldogs (12-0)
Westfield road trips 130 miles and will head north on I-65 to face an opponent they have never played in football. They head to The Dog Pound against undefeated Crown Point for a shot at their sixth state finals appearance and fifth under 13th-year head coach Jake Gilbert.
The No. 6 ‘Rocks were able to find the ways and had a second half motivation to propel them to regional win over seventh-ranked Hamilton Southeastern, 24-21. Toward the end of the first half, Westfield linebacker Colton Vondersaar went down with a serious injury and would not return.
“He is a heart and soul player for us,” said Shamrocks coach Jake Gilbert after the game. “That’s a tough injury.” The coach said his season’s “probably over, but we love him and all he asked for was that we win. And we did that for him.”
Kendall Garnett highlighted the ‘Rocks on offense, running 35 times for 219 yards with three TDs and all things offensively fed off Garnett. Maximus Nosler had four catches for 35 yards, Broc Parker (three), Beau Braun (two) and Parker Knott (two) caught the other seven Gilbert passes.
Garnett now has 254 carries for 1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns to lead ‘Rocks on the ground. Quarterback Jackson Gilbert also has nine rushing scores to go along with his 2,039 yards through the air for 64.5 percent and 20 TD passes.
Maximus Nosler (597 yards) and Gabe Aramboles (583) each have six touchdown catches, while Beau Braun (368), Parker Knott (254), Broc Parker (139) and Garnett (103) give Gilbert plenty of targets to throw to. Mikeah Webster has five rushing touchdowns and leads the defense with 137 tackles, 9.5 for a loss. Anthony Feltrinelli also has 104 tackles with Andrew Lieske at 99 and two fumbles recovered. The Shamrock defense has 13 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries, 19 passes deflected and three blocked punts on special teams.
No. 5 Crown Point won a hard-fought battle with perennial power No. 8 Penn on the road in the regional and came out of it with a 34-33 win over the Kingsmen. The Bulldogs had a 20-6 lead at Freed Field on two big pass plays, holding the two-score lead early in the second. Penn tied the game 20-20 on a big momentum shift.
Running back Larry Ellison got Crown Point back on top 27-20 and extended the lead to 34-27 late on his third touchdown. The Kingsmen scored 30 seconds later on another pass play, but the extra point was blocked, leaving it at 34-33. Penn had a shot to win it with 13 seconds left, but missed the go-ahead field goal, sealing the regional victory. Ellison controlled the ground game with 155 yards and three TDs. Quarterback Noah Ehrlich threw for 238 yards and a pair of scores to guide the Bulldogs.
Class 1A South Semi-State
Indianapolis Lutheran Saints (11-0) at Sheridan Blackhawks (10-3)
Lutheran puts a 41-game winning streak on the line and makes the 42-mile trip from the southeast side of Indianapolis to Bud Wright Stadium on Friday to meet up with Sheridan for a state finals berth. The Blackhawks and Saints have met just twice on the gridiron. Lutheran won both times at Sheridan in the 2002 sectional semifinal (55-12) and first round of the sectional in 2019 (62-14).
The No. 10 Blackhawks are in search of their 12th state finals berth in program history, but this will be the toughest matchup to date this season for Sheridan. The ‘Hawks look to dethrone the Saints, who are two-time defending state champions.
Sheridan faced yet another tough opponent at home last week for the regional title in North Decatur. The ‘Hawks got started first late in the first on a Zach Bales touchdown that capped off a drive that took 9:20 off the clock. North Decatur tied it up in the second to even the game 7-7 at halftime.
Bales added another score with four minutes left in the third. The lead grew to 21-7 for Sheridan on a Chance Spencer 27-yard interception return TD. The Chargers scored twice in the fourth, but would be held off by the Blackhawk defense, yielding just 22 yards on 29 rushes.
Bud Wright knew that offensively they didn’t gain the yards they’re used to, but they would fight hard to get the win. The legendary Blackhawks coach has amassed a 456-209 record in 58 years at Sheridan, 457-212 in 59 years of coaching overall.
The backfield pair of Eli Kolb (1,228 yards) and Zach Bales (759) have combined for 32 rushing touchdowns. Trent DeCraene (406) and Nolan Page (354) have 10 receiving TDs between them. Bales also has 153 tackles, 13 for a loss, to lead the defense. Joe Franco (119, six sacks) and Parker Williams (105, four sacks) have joined him in double-digit stops and Kolb is just behind with 97 and 10 sacks.
The top-ranked Saints have won two consecutive Class 1A state championships, taking down Adams Central the last two state finals, 34-28 in 2021 and 30-13 in 2022. Both the 2022 (15-0) and 2021 (15-0) seasons were undefeated, and they are currently 11-0.
