By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – It hasn’t always been easy, but Westfield made it to the midpoint of the football regular season with a perfect record.
The Class 6A No. 1 Shamrocks improved to 5-0 on Friday by holding off Hamilton Southeastern 21-14 in an overtime Hoosier Crossroads Conference game. The two teams went back and forth in a weather-delayed game at Riverview Health Stadium, with the Royals forcing the extra period after scoring with under two minutes to go in the fourth.
But junior Deacon King took care of business right away. In the first play of overtime, King ran 10 yards to score his third touchdown of the game. Oliver Church kicked the extra point. Westfield’s defense then stepped up, forcing and recovering a fumble to secure the win.
Hamilton Southeastern quarterback Chandler Weston (7) hands off to Carter Reed. (Joshua Herd)
It was the third game for the Rocks this season that has been decided by a touchdown or less.
“You hope it pays dividends when you get into the playoffs,” said Westfield coach Josh Miracle. “Every game potentially has that ability to be a tight game. There’s so many good teams around here, especially in our conference. They’re a well-coached team and you got to give them credit as well for having that resolve to stay in there.”
King scored the first touchdown midway through the first quarter, taking off on a 62-yard run down the field to get the Shamrocks on the board. He also opened the fourth quarter by taking a 59-yard pass from Carsen Melvin to the end zone.
“We can open it up a lot with the runs, and then as they start blitzing and stuff, we can pass it over the top of them,” said King.
The Royals also used a big pass play to get on the board. Quarterback Chandler Weston connected with Kendrick Pennybaker for a 46-yard touchdown throw midway through the third quarter. That tied the game 7-7.
King’s TD catch kept Westfield ahead for most of the fourth quarter, until there were two minutes left. Weston and Pennybaker teamed up again for a 52-yard reception to get the ball to the 15. Carter Reed took over from there, grinding out five carries to the end zone; scoring on a one-yard run. Hugo Belmonte kicked the extra point and that sent the game to overtime.
Both kickers were perfect on the night: Oliver Church was 3-for-3 for the Rocks and Belmonte was 2-for-2 for the Royals.
“I thought our defense played outstanding tonight,” said HSE coach Michael Kelly. “I thought they really, really did a great job.”
Kelly said his team is down five starters on defense from the start of the year, but he told the team to fight, and it did.
“And I was so proud of our kids for fighting,” said Kelly. “They battled, they battled hard. They left it all out on the field tonight.”
Westfield’s King totaled 140 yards rushing on 14 carries, while Melvin was 11-of-19 through the air for 125 yards. Southeastern’s Weston finished 8-of-14 for 128 yards, with Pennybaker gaining 140 yards in four catches. Reed finished with 80 yards rushing.
Westfield remains unbeaten at 5-0 and is 3-0 in HCC play. The Shamrocks play next Friday at Brownsburg. The Royals are 1-2 in the conference and 3-2 overall; they host Zionsville next Friday.
