Noblesville came close to a major upset on Friday, as the Millers hosted undefeated and No. 3-ranked Homestead in the semi-finals of Class 6A Sectional 3.
Noblesville held the lead for most of the game before the Spartans tied the score at 21-21 on the final play of regulation. That sent the game into overtime, where Homestead held off the Millers in their drive, then kicked a field goal to escape Beaver Materials Field with a 24-21 win.
“Homestead’s won a lot of football games,” said Noblesville coach Justin Roden. “They’ve won a lot football games every year, so they just stay the course and they don’t lose faith. They made some plays at the very end that were the difference.”
Regardless of the result, the Millers validated the fact that playing a tough schedule prepares a team for the post-season. Noblesville finished the season 1-9, but that was against the No. 1-ranked strength of schedule in Indiana, according to the Sagarin ratings.
The Millers scored first, when Jayden Barrett caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Alex Zavac to go up 6-0 in the first quarter. That would be the score into the second period, but Noblesville made it 13-0 with 5:41 left in the quarter. A fumble recovery was followed by a 57-yard touchdown run by Elijah Butler, and Grayden Addison kicked the extra point.
The Spartans scored on a touchdown pass before halftime, making the score 13-7 at the break. Neither team scored in the third quarter, and it would take until the 6:04 mark of the fourth to get points in that period. Homestead’s Ryan Burton punched it in from the one-yard line, and the Spartans led 14-13, their first lead of the game.
The Millers answered minutes later, when Butler ran into the end zone from five yards to score his second touchdown of the game. Barrett then made a two-point conversion run, and Noblesville was up 21-14. But Homestead wouldn’t go away, and the Spartans tied it up on the final play of the fourth quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass, then kicked the winning field goal in overtime.
“I thought tonight we were the better team,” said Roden. “I thought we were the more physical team.”
The coach credited Zavac with doing “a great job” in the game, saying that he “did a good job reading the offense tonight. He had some great runs, put us in a position to win the game.”
“Elijah played well,” said Roden. “Jayden and those guys played well tonight.”
Butler finished the game with 162 rushing yards, while Zavac completed 5 of 11 passes for 32 yards, including the touchdown.
“The moral of this is, they represented Noblesville very well tonight,” said Roden.
HOMESTEAD 24, NOBLESVILLE 21
(overtime)
Score by Quarters
Homestead 0 7 0 14 3 – 24
Noblesville 6 7 0 8 0 – 21
Team Stats NHS HHS
Rushes-Yards 38-228 24-73
Yards Passing 32 253
Comp-Att-Int-TD 5-11-1-1 23-41-0-2
Penalties-Yards 6-60 8-56
Punts-Average 5-43.0 3-38.0
Noblesville scoring
First Quarter
Jayden Barrett 8-yard touchdown pass from Alex Zavac (kick blocked)
Second Quarter
Elijah Butler 57-yard run (Grayden Addison kick)
Fourth Quarter
Butler 6-yard run (Barrett run)
Noblesville individual stats
Rushing: Butler 25-162, Zavac 7-68, Zach Blevins 1-2, Carson Sanders 1-0, Owen Jones 2-minus 3, team 2-minus 1.
Passing: Zavac 5-11-32.
Receiving: Barrett 2-22, Jones 1-6, Sanders 1-3, Butler 1-1.
Noblesville’s Jayden Barrett is lifted up by Michael Maris after Barrett scored a touchdown during the Millers’ Sectional 3 semi-final game with Homestead Friday at Beaver Materials Field. (Kent Graham)