By CRAIG ADKINS
In a game where it was glaringly obvious that both of these two Hoosier Crossroads Conference rivals were in dire straits for a league win, something was bound to happen for one.
It happened for Hamilton Southeastern, who used a late score to get past Noblesville 13-10 Friday night at Reynolds Royals Stadium.
Noblesville was forced to punt on the opening drive and Hamilton Southeastern’s Anthony Eggers returned the punt into Miller territory to the 42.
The Royals would find their way all the way down to the 1-yard line of Noblesville before they would be stopped by the Millers’ defense on fourth and goal, just shy of the end zone.
The Millers would take over on their own one, but it wouldn’t go too far. On the second play of the short-lived drive, Rutger Poiry came storming into the backfield and immediately tackled tailback Christian Collier in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Southeastern lead.
Forcing the Royals to go three and out, Noblesville punted, and was fortunate to recover a fumble at the HSE 42.
Just into the second quarter, Luke Blevins dove over the goal line from one yard out for a touchdown to put the Millers ahead 7-2.
The next HSE drive resulted in three plays and lining up to punt once again. Noblesville punt returner Wyatt Blades called for a fair catch, but tipped the ball, making it a live ball and the fumble was recovered by the Royals’ Eric Dailey at the Miller 45. The next few plays fizzled out and the ball was punted back to Noblesville.
Trading punts twice each on four straight drives, it felt like someone had to get something right in the second quarter.
Noblesville got itself in position to put points on the board before halftime and they went to the trusty right foot of Jack Knight. The junior placekicker nailed a 47-yard field goal as time expired for a 10-2 Miller lead after two quarters.
It would feel like a tale of two halves offensively for the visiting Millers.
Starting their second series of the third in great field position at the HSE 38, Noblesville looked to be in a great spot to score again.
They must have been thinking a little ahead, as quarterback Grant Gremel tossed his first interception of the night to Isaiah Phillips.
The same result happened when the Millers had the ball again. This time, it was linebacker Anthony Eggers that snagged the pick.
Two interceptions by the HSE defense, but they wouldn’t account for anything on the scoreboard for the Royals.
“We were way too casual. We were way too undisciplined on the offensive side of the ball and it led to us scoring 10 points, turning the ball over four times and not being able to have our defense’s back,” Noblesville head coach Jason Simmons on his team’s overall play at Hamilton Southeastern on Friday night.
Casual is exactly how Southeastern saw Noblesville’s defense playing and they were able to counter it with a little off the wall final half of the fourth quarter.
On first down at their own 37 to start the drive with 6:40 left, the HSE offense pulled a trick out of their playbook.
Nick Mutchner reeled in a screen pass in the right flat and quickly threw the ball for a double-pass to Stoan Slaybaugh up the field 41 yards, completely catching the Noblesville defense off guard.
The big double-pass helped set up Tyler Melser’s 37-yard field goal that would cut the deficit in half at 10-5.
The Millers next possession started at their own 20 and would end right there, as tailback Luke Blevins fumbled the handoff from Gremel, giving Hamilton Southeastern the ball back, in prime position at the Miller 20.
Southeastern has experimented with both Kody Sparks and Cody Huppenthal playing quarterback for the Royals this season. Sparks has the better arm and Huppenthal can run with the ball. Plain and simple.
“We knew they were a different offense with him back there. We knew they were going to try to run the football more and he had some carries,” Simmons on HSE’s change to Huppenthal at QB in the final minutes of the game.
Following the Miller turnover, Huppenthal called his own number and bootlegged left to the far side of the field, racing and reaching the front corner of the end zone to put the Royals on top 11-10 with 3:18 left. Ben Boysen converted the two-point conversion with a run to the left corner, making it 13-10.
“That’s the package we’ve got and we practice it all the time,” Hamilton Southeastern head coach Scott May on the Royals late surge in the fourth with Huppenthal in at QB.
Trading punts again, which seemed to be a common theme most of the night, Noblesville had one final possession with 1:12 left, but had no timeouts and had to start from their own 11.
Gremel would try to put the Millers in position to either get into Knight’s field range to tie or drive further in an effort to win the game, but neither became a factor.
The junior QB would throw his third INT of the night, again to Isaiah Phillips, his second of the game. That would seal the Millers’ fate and HSE would kneel to run the clock out.
Hamilton Southeastern (3-4, 2-3 HCC) will host Brebeuf Jesuit next Friday in their final regular season home game. Noblesville (1-6, 0-4 HCC) will also play their final game at home, hosting the surging Brownsburg Bulldogs (5-2, 3-1 HCC), who beat Zionsville 35-10 on Friday.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Kody Sparks (left) and Noblesville’s Dalton Davis scramble for the ball during the Royals-Millers game Friday at Hamilton Southeastern. (Kent Graham)
Noblesville’s Grant Gremel looks for an opening during the Millers’ game with Hamilton Southeastern Friday. (Kent Graham)