By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – Hamilton Southeastern had a splendid time at its Homecoming game Friday night, as the Royals beat Noblesville 38-8 in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference game at TCU Field.
Southeastern, ranked No. 7 in Class 6A, was in control from the start. The Royals got on the board after getting a safety at the 9:41 mark of the first quarter. A minute and a half later, Blaine Wertz took off on a 32-yard run to score HSE’s first touchdown of the game. Sam Jacobs then threw a two-point conversion pass to Will Gerig, and the Royals were up 10-0.
Southeastern added two more touchdowns in the second quarter. Wertz punched the ball in from the one-yard line early in the period, then with under a minute to go until halftime, Gerig collected a 12-yard pass from Jacobs and took it to the end zone.
As a result, the Royals led 24-0 at halftime.
“I thought our guys came out and played hard,” said HSE coach Michael Kelly. “One of the things we challenged them with is starting fast and coming out and being physical and playing the game that we need to play. And I thought they did a nice job of that.”
Southeastern continued the pattern in the third quarter, scoring two more touchdowns. Jacobs ran in to the end zone from 14 yards, then Owen Jones made a five-yard dash to score.
Wertz finished the game with 137 yards rushing, while Jones gained 79 yards. Alex Geroulis made all four of his extra-point kicks.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said Kelly. “Stayed focused, stayed locked in, played with great effort and played with great poise.”
“They played very good and we played very bad, and it’s really that simple,” said Noblesville coach Dave Sharpe. “We could not get a stop on defense, we’re getting shoved around.”
The Millers scored their touchdown late in the fourth quarter, as Alairic Rogers-Walton made a seven-yard run to the end zone. Logan Shoffner then ran in a two-point conversion; he finished the game with 124 yards.
“Offensively, we couldn’t finish a drive and we couldn’t get drives going,” said Sharpe. “It was just a bad night overall.”
Southeastern is 4-1 in HCC play and 6-1 overall, and plays at TCU Field again next week, hosting Franklin Central.
“I think we’ve got a good energy about the program,” said Kelly. “We got guys excited about being in football. There’s a lot of positives that are going on right now. We’re excited.”
The Millers are 0-5 in the conference and 2-5 overall, and return to Beaver Materials Field next week to host Brownsburg.
“We have one way to go,” said Sharpe. “We’re at the bottom of the basement and we’ve got to just fight for our lives to show some life and get back at it.”
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 38, NOBLESVILLE 8
Score by Quarters
Noblesville 0 0 0 8 – 8
Southeastern 10 14 14 0 -38
Team Stats NOB HSE
First Downs 9 17
By Rush 8 14
By Pass 1 2
By Penalty 0 1
Rushes-Yards 41-139 37-252
Yards Passing 10 57
Comp-Att-Int-TD 2-3-0-0 7-10-0-1
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-25 4-30
Punts-Average 2-35.0 2-29.0
Scoring
First Quarter
HSE, 9:41 – Safety
HSE, 8:13 – Blaine Wertz 32-yard run (Will Gerig pass from Sam Jacobs)
Second Quarter
HSE, 9:19 – Wertz 1-yard run (Alex Geroulis kick)
HSE, 0:56 – Gerig 12-yard pass from Jacobs (Geroulis kick)
Third Quarter
HSE, 8:25 – Jacobs 14-yard run (Geroulis kick)
HSE, 5:29 – Owen Jones 5-yard run (Geroulis kick)
Fourth Quarter
NOB, 3:18 – Alairic Rogers-Walton 7-yard run (Logan Shoffner run)
Noblesville individual stats
Rushing: Shoffner 29-124, Rogers-Walton 6-25, Connor Meinderding 6-minus 10.
Passing: Meinerding 2-3-10.
Receiving: Rogers-Walton 1-12, Shoffner 1-minus 2.
Southeastern individual stats
Rushing: Wertz 16-137, Jones 14-79, Jacobs 2-26, Kobe Dade 3-24, Jalen Alexander 1-1, Ty Bradle 1-minus 15.
Passing: Jacobs 5-7-47, Bradle 2-3-10.
Receiving: Jack Wafford 2-18, Gerig 1-12, Dylan Conner 1-9, Wertz 1-8, Donovan Hamilton 1-6, Alexander 1-4.