On the ground and through the air, the Royals were scoring everywhere on Friday night.
Hamilton Southeastern, ranked No. 4 in Class 6A, won its Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener in style, blasting past Avon 48-13 in an away game. The Royals led 14-0 after the first quarter and never looked back, putting up a total of 448 yards on offense.
“It was a pretty balanced attack,” said Southeastern coach Michael Kelly.
The Royals went to the air for their first touchdown, as Ty Bradle connected with Clayton Wilke on a 23-yard scoring pass early in the first quarter. A few minutes later, Jalen Alexander got Southeastern’s first rushing touchdown on a four-yard carry.
Donovan Hamilton then got going, delivering HSE’s next two touchdowns, both on throws from Bradle. Hamilton hauled in a 30-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, which gave the Royals a 21-6 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Hamilton scored on an 18-yard pass.
“Donovan Hamilton’s a really special player,” said Kelly, who noted that the Orioles were putting two or three defenders on him during the game. He also credited Alexander with running “really hard tonight as well.”
Southeastern stayed on the ground for its remaining scores. Chandler Weston went 31 yards into the end zone midway through the third quarter, then Azariah Wallace took a three-yard run to score late in the period. Sam Forrest completed HSE’s scoring with a 13-yard touchdown as the clock ran out in the fourth quarter.
The Royals’ defense played well, making a goal-line stand in the third quarter from what Kelly said was “about the six-inch line.” Southeastern’s defense stopped a quarterback sneak, then had two tackles for a loss in that stand.
“Any conference win’s a good win,” said Kelly.
The Royals are 3-0 overall and return home to TCU Field next Friday to host Fishers in the Mudsock game.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 48, AVON 13
Score by Quarters
Southeastern 14 7 21 6 – 48
Avon 0 6 0 7 – 13
Team Stats HSE AVON
First Downs 23 18
By Rush 12 5
By Pass 9 12
By Penalty 2 1
Rushes-Yards 30-277 19-77
Yards Passing 171 261
Comp-Att-Int-TD 17-25-1-3 14-27-2-2
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-56 8-54
Punts-Average 1-46.0 3-34.0
Southeastern Scoring
First Quarter
8:30 – Clayton Wilke 23-yard pass from Ty Bradle (Carter Gutt kick)
4:06 – Jalen Alexander 4-run (Gutt kick)
Second Quarter
3:11 – Donovan Hamilton 30-yard pass from Bradle (Gutt kick)
Third Quarter
7:12 – Hamilton 18-yard pass to Bradle (Gutt kick)
6:10 – Chandler Weston 31-yard run (Gutt kick)
1:52 – Azariah Wallace 3-yard run (Gutt kick)
Fourth Quarter
0:00 – Sam Forrest 13-yard run (no attempt)
Southeastern individual stats
Rushing: J. Alexander 10-139, Wallace 11-52, Weston 2-52, Forrest 3-11, Mason Alexander 1-8, Bradle 1-6, Eli Brantman 1-5, Clayton Wilke 1-4.
Passing: Bradle 17-24-171, Weston 0-1-0.
Receiving: Hamilton 7-89, Silas Newton 4-26, Wilke 3-39, Brantman 2-11, John McCoy 1-6.