By CRAIG ADKINS
Following last week’s disappointing loss late to Decatur Central, it was a given that Westfield would be hungry and do everything possible to get a victory in its Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener against Zionsville.
The host Shamrocks kept at it offensively with a steady rushing attack and that was exactly what it took to wear down the Eagles’ defense on Friday night, as Westfield won going away at Riverview Health Stadium, 41-28.
The visitors got the ball first on the opening kickoff and they turned the ball over on their second play on offense. Josh Wagner tossed an interception to the Shamrocks’ Jeremiah Edwards.
Leading rusher Nathan Nguyen was out with an injury, so it was next man up for Westfield in junior Eli Patchett. The junior tailback didn’t bat an eye all night. He managed to run for a game-high 132 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns.
Westfield marched down the field in eight plays for 80 yards and Patchett worked well with fellow junior in quarterback Camden Simons. The two combined for the first TD with Simons pitching a short option to the right and Patchett found the endzone with ease to get the Shamrocks on the scoreboard 7-0.
“Yeah, it just felt really good about that. Great teams start and finish games, finish halves really well,” said Westfield head coach Jake Gilbert on his team’s overall play that kept Zionsville back on their heels all night long.
“That was an emphasis that we wanted. We gotta get off to a good start against these guys, but gosh, they keep you on your toes the whole time. They do not go away,” Gilbert on Zionsville’s ability to stick with them for four quarters.
Patchett scored his second touchdown of the first quarter on a three-yard rush up the middle. Alex Bales’ kick went wide right, leaving the score 13-0.
Westfield had the visiting Eagles in catch up mode most of the night on both sides of the ball.
“Yeah, you could feel everybody tensed up a little bit. The players were really anxious and you could really see the ‘Oh crap’ mentality there. We tried to get them calmed back down and we finally did and it was just a little bit too late,” said Zionsville head coach Pat Echeverria on his team’s stance throughout Friday night’s game.
Zionsville turned the ball over on downs at the Westfield 38, but quickly got the football back when safety Conner Uptmor snagged an interception off the hands of Kyle Pepiot, setting the Eagles up on offense again, this time at the Shamrocks 49.
The drive ended with speedy Tommy Fossett running in a five-yard TD, cutting Westfield’s lead to 13-7.
The Shamrocks put one more score on in the final seconds of the second quarter, with Simons tossing a TD pass to junior tight end Levi Kaster that put the hosts up two scores at half, 20-7.
The second half was when the Westfield offense really opened up the game and ate up a lot of clock off the scoreboard.
The ‘Rocks were able to rush for 18 first downs on the night, 13 of those in the second half (10 in the third quarter alone) that helped separate them from the Eagles on the scoreboard numerous times all night.
Simons and Patchett led the attack on the ground in the third, along with junior Trevor Lickfeldt and freshman tailback Micah Hauser. The four-headed rushing monster combined for 176 yards as a group on 23 carries that all but wore down the Eagles defense.
Simons extended the lead back to three scores with an eight-yard scamper, diving to the front left corner. That made it 27-7
The next drive for Zionsville, Wagner connected with Jordan Hull for an 80-yard touchdown, helping trim the deficit to 27-14.
A steady diet of running the ball and mixing in the passing game was just what Westfield needed to get the job done.
They continued the scoring flurry with their ground game. Patchett found pay dirt for the third time on the night. This time, he was lined up as the QB in the “wildcat” formation. Simons was out injured after the previous play. Patchett just took the direct snap and followed his O-line over the goal line from three-yards away, pushing the score out to 34-14.
Westfield would score its final time for the night early in the fourth. After Owen McGraw picked off Josh Wagner on his final pass attempt of the night, that set up Lickfeldt for a solid drive. He ran the ball seven times on the drive for 33 yards, capping off the series with a seven-yard run to give the ‘Rocks a convincing 41-14 lead after Bales kicked the extra point. Bales made five of six extra point attempts.
Junior Cole Wiseman came to the party a little late, but produced for head coach Pat Echeverria, going 9-for-12 through the air for 143 yards and two TD throws.
The backup quarterback for Zionsville lofted a perfect pass to the back right corner of the end zone and into the hands of Hull from eight-yards out for his second TD grab of the game for 41-21.
Zionsville was doing its best to try and come back, but it would be too little too late for the sense of urgency they showed on offense late in the game.
Wiseman was about to be sacked and he tossed a shovel pass to Tommy Fossett, who sprinted to the front right corner of the end zone that would account for the final score of 41-28, leaving the visiting Eagles two scores short.
When asked if Wiseman would be his starting QB now, Echeverria gave a firm answer that shut that question down quickly. “It’s tough to say, Josh has been fantastic,” he said. “He’s been our leader. We were down at that point and wanted to see what Cole could do. He’s earned an opportunity to get playing time when it presents itself.”
“Josh Wagner is still our starting quarterback. We feel confident we can win with either guy, but our number one guy is still Josh,” said Echeverria on his starting QB Wagner and whether he questions his starting status.
Westfield’s defense was another story that was pretty impressive. They forced Wagner into two interceptions and the Eagles also turned the ball over on downs twice in Shamrock territory.
“Well, that’s an explosive offense,” said Gilbert on Zionsville’s highly-potent offense.
“We gave up the one (touchdown) because of a miscommunication. The kid didn’t run out there. So obviously, we were rolling until that point,” said Gilbert in reference to giving up the 80-yard strike to Hull.
“I thought we played pretty well. We got a couple takeaways. They just don’t go away,” said Gilbert again on Zionsville’s offense.
Zionsville 1-2 (0-1 HCC) hits the road in conference play next week to face newcomer Franklin Central (1-2, 0-1 HCC), who dropped their first-ever HCC game 37-7 at home to Brownsburg.
Gus Baumgartner led Zionsville with a team-high 20 carries for 111 yards on the ground. Jordan Hull wound up with five catches for 118 yards and two TDs, while Tommy Fossett snagged eight for 115 and a TD.
Westfield (2-1, 1-0 HCC) takes a short trip east to Noblesville (1-2, 1-0 HCC) next week. The Millers notched Coach Justin Roden’s first win as a Miller on Friday at Fishers, 21-9.
Eli Patchett had game-high honors, rushing 18 times for 132 yards and three scores. Simons ran for 82 on 11 rushes from the QB spot, Trevor Lickfeldt had 12 for 73 yards and Micah Hauser six totes for 54 yards.
Westfield’s Jacob Riddle (8) made five catches for the Shamrocks during their 41-28 win over Zionsville Friday at Riverview Health Stadium. This gave Westfield a victory in its first Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season. (Richie Hall)