The REPORTER
The Westfield football team is returning to the Class 6A state finals.
The Shamrocks won the 6A north semi-state Friday, Nov. 21 with a 35-14 win over host Fort Wayne Carroll. Westfield will take on Brownsburg at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium for the 6A championship.
“I was proud of how the guys handled the road trip,” said Rocks coach Josh Miracle. The coach said his team “played a pretty mature game to have it tied at half,” then applied the pressure and stuck to the game plan in the second half to pull away.
“They’ve been a resilient team the whole year and that showed last Friday as well,” said Miracle.
The Chargers scored first for a 6-0 lead, but Aiden Grabowski punched the ball in for a touchdown and Diego Herrera’s kick gave Westfield a 7-6 advantage.
Carroll scored again in the second quarter and led 14-7. Deacon King scored a one-yard touchdown with under 30 seconds left in the half, and Herrera’s kick sent the Rocks into the locker room tied 14-14 at halftime.
Westfield cruised through the second half, scoring 21 unanswered points. King took over the game, scoring one touchdown in the third quarter and two more in the fourth for a total of four TDs. Herrera made extra-point kicks after each touchdown, giving him a perfect 5-for-5 mark.
“He’s getting back to speed,” Miracle said of King, who missed a couple games earlier in the season due to injury. “Had a pretty good game on offense.”
King, a Northern Illinois recruit, totaled 136 yards rushing and was also one of the top tackles, with seven total stops. Alex Aramboles, a Grand Valley State recruit, led the defense with nine total tackles, including four tackles for a loss and two quarterback sacks.
Grabowski rushed for 90 yards, while Broc Parker made four receptions.
Olumide Fapetu and Isaac Weingart both had five total tackles, with Weingart and Caden Honeycutt both made one sack and one TFL. Reid Dikos forced a fumble.
The Shamrocks are 11-2 for the season and claimed their fourth semi-state championship since 2020. Westfield’s victory sends them to a rematch with the undefeated (13-0) Bulldogs. In the regular season, Brownsburg edged out the Shamrocks 14-10.
“We’re hoping that we can learn from last game and have an opportunity to break through,” said Miracle.
