The Hamilton Southeastern Royals hit the road on Friday and were dead set on keeping their winning streak alive for a shot at the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship next week at home against Brownsburg.
Class 6A fourth-ranked HSE had no trouble at all, scoring early and often in a big road game in defeating the Franklin Central Flashes, 38-14.
Ty Bradle and the Southeastern offense took control right away. Bradle tossed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Hamilton for an early 7-0 lead.
Just into the second quarter, Cole Earlewine ran in a one-yard score to make it 14-0. Carter Gutt nailed a 26-yard field goal with 0:44 left in the second that gave the Royals a 17-0 lead at half.
The Royals made a big statement by scoring three times in the third.
Jalen Alexander took a Bradle handoff and sprinted 48 yards to lengthen the margin to 24-0.
The Flashes finally scored on a 97-yard kickoff return from Jayon Harvey. The two-point pass failed, cutting the HSE lead to 24-6.
Azariah Wallace made his presence known as a threat in the Royals’ backfield late in the third, scoring two rushing TDs, from 13 and 16 yards, pushing the HSE lead to 38-6.
The Flashes scored a second TD, again by Harvey on a pass from Nevan Tutterow for the final score of 38-14.
The loss is the second in a row for Franklin Central (3-5, 2-4 HCC). The Flashes close out their regular season on the road at Westfield (5-3, 4-2 HCC). The Shamrocks won at Fishers on Friday, 28-17.
Southeastern got two backs over 100 yards on the ground. Jalen Alexander carried 14 times for 141 yards and a score and Azariah Wallace scored twice in his 101 yards on 14 rushes. Ty Bradle also threw for 110 yards and a TD.
Next week, the fourth-rated Royals (8-0, 6-0 HCC) host the top-ranked Brownsburg Bulldogs (8-0, 6-0 HCC) at home to decide the HCC championship. Brownsburg held off Noblesville at home last night, 45-28.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 38, FRANKLIN CENTRAL 14
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 7 10 21 0 – 38
Franklin Central 0 0 6 8 – 14
Team Stats HSE FC
First Downs 19 16
By Rush 11 5
By Pass 7 9
By Penalty 1 2
Rushes-Yards 36-247 27-57
Yards Passing 110 177
Comp-Att-Int-TD 14-23-0-1 18-32-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 4-45 4-61
Punts-Average 5-38.6 4-33.8
Southeastern Scoring
First Quarter
9:06 – Donovan Hamilton 23-yard pass from Ty Bradle (Carter Gutt kick)
Second Quarter
11:22 – Cole Earlewine 1-yard run (Gutt kick)
0:44 – Gutt 26-yard field goal
Third Quarter
8:53 – Jalen Alexander 48-yard run (Gutt kick)
3:24 – Azariah Wallace 13-yard run (Gutt kick)
1:07 – Wallace 16-yard run (Gutt kick)
Southeastern individual stats
Rushing: Alexander 14-141, Wallace 14-101, Chandler Weston 2-6, Alex Billman 2-2, Bradle 1-1, Earlewine 1-1, Sam Forrest 2-minus 5.
Passing: Bradle 14-23-110.
Receiving: Clayton Wilke 5-42, Hamilton 3-33, Jack Osiecki 2-22, Silas Newton 2-15, John McCoy 1-0, Alexander 1-minus 2.