By CRAIG ADKINS
The weather conditions were back to normal as Hamilton Southeastern visited Westfield on Friday night. As we recall, last week’s continuous rain didn’t help the Shamrocks, as the dropped a key road game at Noblesville.
This week’s weather would work in their favor and they were back on their home turf, outlasting Hamilton Southeastern 34-27.
Westfield was able to drive clear down to the Royals’ three-yard line on the opening drive before HSE’s defense held strong, resulting in a 20-yard Alex Bales field goal, putting the Shamrocks up 3-0 early.
The host Shamrocks quickly added to their side of the scoreboard when left cornerback Franklin Bohannon jumped the route of an HSE receiver, taking it back to the house for an interception return touchdown, bumping Westfield’s lead to 10-0.
On the fourth play of the next HSE series, Matt Harris made it look way too easy, busting through an open hole in his offensive line sprinting 46-yards for a TD to get the Royals on the board.
This was a game that looked like there could be a lot of scoring and that became clearer in the middle of the second quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, Southeastern took over at Westfield’s 47 and took advantage of the situation of a shorter field. With 2nd and four at the 29, senior tailback Lance Stephens found a huge hole for a 29-yard touchdown run, putting the Royals on top for their only lead of the night, 14-10.
Westfield wasted no time in getting the lead right back. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Camden Simons connected with Patrick Beam on a post route for a 77-yard TD strike. That became the second lead change of the first half with the Shamrocks back in front now, 17-14.
The Royals tied the game 17-17 with a 33-yard field goal from Mitch Hebenstreit, but not before Harris carried the ball seven times for 82 yards in the second quarter alone.
HSE was able to compete in this game simply because they were able to run the football really well in the first half, but were only able to one touchdown on the ground out of it.
“I think that they were trying to take away the run, schematically, and we just felt like we still wanted to run the football and set the tone. We felt like we did,” said Hamilton Southeastern first-year head coach Adam Morris on the Royals rushing game.
Back and forth the game went once again.
Simons was showcasing his arm throughout the second quarter. This time, junior wideout Dane Wheeler would be his go-to. Wheeler hauled in five of his nine receptions in the second, totaling 66 yards, mainly on one particular drive down the field.
“He struggled a little bit last week in the rain, but his entire life he’s completed, you know close to 70 percent, so we’ve got all of the confidence in the world in him,” Westfield head coach Jake Gilbert on his junior signal caller Camden Simons.
“Our receivers made plays in the passing game. I felt the protection was good and if you let him sit there and get it done, then he’s gonna slice you up,” Gilbert continuing to praise his standout quarterback.
The Shamrocks had a 2nd down and one at HSE’s 27. Simons went big, throwing a corner route beautifully on-point, over the right shoulder to Wheeler for a 25-yard gain, setting up a 1st and goal at the two. The next play, Eli Patchett dove into the end zone from two yards away, giving the lead back to his ‘Rocks, 24-17.
Southeastern wasn’t done in the first half. Junior QB Kody Sparks was able to complete three passes on the drive, the biggest was a 39-yarder to 6-foot-6 sophomore receiver Landon Morris, tying the game at half, 24-24.
The third quarter came down to who could take advantage of opportunities and that happened to be Westfield.
The Shamrocks were able to use their rushing game to eat up a lot of third period clock and wear down the Royals defense, keeping them on the field as long as possible.
Bales added his second field goal of the night from 27 yards out to put Westfield back on top for the rest of the night, 27-24 at that point.
“I thought they wore us down a little bit running the football in the third quarter, that’s who Westfield is and they’re gonna be,” said Morris on how Westfield’s running game ultimately wore down his defense in the third.
Westfield’s balance was really the story of the final two quarters. Both being able to keep it going offensively and keeping Southeastern limited to just three second half points was crucial in holding off the Royals.
“I thought our guys got stronger in the second half up front and our running backs, gotta credit those guys for running hard. I thought we started to move dudes a little bit better and I was pretty pleased with that for sure,” Gilbert continuing on the positives from his offense as a whole against Hamilton Southeastern.
Eli Patchett would find the end zone for the final touchdown of the night of 21 yards, for a 34-24 cushion. But, it was the previous play that set up Patchett’s TD that made a difference. Simons found Wheeler for a 16-yard pick up down to the 21 that set up the scoring play.
Southeastern was able to get a 22-yard field goal from Hebenstreit with 0:54 left to cut it to 34-27, but it was too little too late.
The Royals’ Ben Boysen would catch the onside kick in mid air at the 50, but HSE only got down to Westfield’s 37, ending the game on two incomplete Hail Mary attempts, leaving Westfield with a 34-27 HCC victory.
Hamilton Southeastern (2-3, 1-2 HCC) hosts the Zionsville Eagles (3-2, (2-1 HCC) next week. Zionsville blanked Noblesville on Friday, 24-0.
The Royals were highlighted offensively by tailback Matt Harris’ 24 carries for 257 yards and a touchdown, while Lance Stephens also had eight totes for 56 on the ground for a TD and one catch for 18 yards.
Westfield (3-2, 2-1 HCC) will face their toughest test on the season yet when they hit the road at 6A No. 2 Brownsburg (5-0, 3-0 HCC) next week. The Bulldogs won at Fishers on Friday night, 27-20.
Camden Simons wound up passing 17-of-19 for 232 yards and a touchdown. He connected with Dane Wheeler for nine of those for 113 yards and also a 77-yarder to Patrick Beam. Eli Patchett finished with 14 rushes totaling 87 yards and two scores.
Westfield coach Jake Gilbert talks with his Shamrocks team after their 34-27 win over Hamilton Southeastern Friday at The Rock. The win moves Westfield to 2-1 in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play. (Richie Hall)
Hamilton Southeastern’s Jackson Lantz makes a catch in the fourth quarter. (Richie Hall)