Here’s a welcome thought after what had been a turbulent 2020 season in high school football: Not much is changing in terms of schedules in Hamilton County.
Five of the county’s eight football-playing schools have no new teams on their 2021 schedule, nor do they have any moving around of opponents. From Week 1 to Week 9, everyone’s lineup will be the same this season as it was (or was supposed to be) last season.
Of the three schools that have changes, each one only has one new opponent. Carmel has replaced its Week 2 game, with Detroit King replacing Cathedral. The Greyhounds are scheduled to play at Louisville Trinity for their opener; they were supposed to host Trinity last year in Week 1, but the Louisville team had to cancel, so Carmel played at Plainfield instead.
Guerin Catholic’s new opponent is East Central, which replaces Bloomfield Hills (Mich.) Rice. The Golden Eagles will play at the Trojans’ field on Week 8, but their schedule is otherwise intact from last season.
Hamilton Heights will have a new Week 3 opponent, as the Huskies take on Rensselaer Central. The Bombers will replace West Lafayette. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (Rensselaer is on Central Time). While both teams are members of the Hoosier Conference, they are in different divisions (the Bombers in the West, Heights in the East), so this game will not count in the conference standings.
The Huskies will open their season by hosting Monroe Central. Heights was to play the Golden Bears in Week 1 of last year, but COVID-19 concerns caused a schedule change that eventually saw the Huskies play at Lapel.
The other five county schools – Fishers, Hamilton Southeastern, Noblesville, Sheridan and Westfield – did not have any changes to their schedule. The Shamrocks, last year’s Class 6A state runner-up, will have a great matchup for their opener: Westfield will host Cathedral, the 5A state champion.
A list of county football schedules, courtesy of John Harrell’s website, now follows. All games will start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
CARMEL
Aug. 20: at Louisville Trinity, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 27: Detroit King, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 3: Center Grove
Sept. 10: at Pike
Sept. 17: Lawrence North
Sept. 24: North Central
Oct. 1: at Ben Davis
Oct. 8: Warren Central
Oct. 15: at Lawrence Central
FISHERS
Aug. 20: North Central
Aug. 27: at Pike
Sept. 3: at Noblesville
Sept. 10: Hamilton Southeastern
Sept. 17: at Brownsburg
Sept. 24: Avon, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1: Franklin Central
Oct. 8: at Westfield
Oct. 15: Zionsville
GUERIN CATHOLIC
Aug. 20: at McCutcheon, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 27: Lafayette Central Catholic
Sept. 3: at Heritage Christian
Sept. 10: at Brebeuf Jesuit
Sept. 17: Roncalli
Sept. 24: Bishop Chatard, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1: at Northview, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 8: East Central, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 15: at Culver Academies, 7:30 p.m.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS
Aug. 20: Monroe Central, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 27: North Montgomery
Sept. 3: at Rensselaer Central, 8 p.m.
Sept. 10: Northwestern
Sept. 17: at Western
Sept. 24: Twin Lakes, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 1: at Tipton
Oct. 8: Lewis Cass
Oct. 15: at Hoosier Conference playoff game
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN
Aug. 20: Lawrence Central
Aug. 27: at North Central
Sept. 3: Avon
Sept. 10: at Fishers
Sept. 17: Westfield
Sept. 24: at Zionsville
Oct. 1: Noblesville
Oct. 8: Franklin Central
Oct. 15: at Brownsburg
NOBLESVILLE
Aug. 20: at Mount Vernon
Aug. 27: Terre Haute South, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 3: Fishers
Sept. 10: at Westfield
Sept. 17: Zionsville, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 24: at Franklin Central
Oct. 1: at Hamilton Southeastern
Oct. 8: Brownsburg
Oct. 15: at Avon
SHERIDAN
Aug. 20: at Western Boone
Aug. 27: Clinton Central
Sept. 3: at Tri-Central
Sept. 10: Delphi
Sept. 17: Clinton Prairie
Sept. 24: at Taylor
Oct. 1: at Seeger
Oct. 8: at Eastern
Oct. 15: Carroll
WESTFIELD
Aug. 20: Cathedral
Aug. 27: at Harrison
Sept. 3: at Zionsville
Sept. 10: Noblesville
Sept. 17: at Hamilton Southeastern
Sept. 24: Brownsburg
Oct. 1: at Avon
Oct. 8: Fishers
Oct. 15: at Franklin Central