Can you feel it in the air? 

You can almost taste it. No, it’s not pumpkin spice, everything nice . . .  it’s tournament football!

The IHSAA playoffs get under way at several sites with sectionals on Friday night.

So are you ready for high school football when it really counts?

The one-and-done format will be a heart-breaker for many schools. But it is what it is: Lose and you can start thinking about 2020; win and those advancing still have another shot at a title.

The Lady Royals were able to win a pair of matches on Saturday to capture the Class 4A Sectional 8 championship. 

In the first match The Lady Royals defeated Zionsville 25-12, 25-23, 25-15 to advance to the sectional final. The Royals were led by Delaney Garner with 16 kills and Abby Weber with 12 kills., ten digs and two aces. Defensively, Carly Mills had 20 digs and two aces. Kyla Berg added ten digs and two aces. Lillian Leiner collected 11 digs of her own.

What a Saturday it was for the Miller soccer program. Both teams were able to take home the Regional title as the boys team defeated Carroll 2-1 while the girls shutout McCutcheon 5-0. 

The day started for both teams by playing in their respective regional semi-final matches as the girls defeated Carroll 1-0. 
The Boys were victorious in their matchup against Harrison also by a 1-0 final score. 

FRANKLIN - The Lady Royals finished HCC play with a perfect 7-0 record defeating Franklin Central 25-16, 25-13, 25-13 on Thursday night. 

The Royals were led by Abby Weber with five aces 15 digs and five kills. Delaney Garner added 12 kills and Grace Hunter had eight kills. Carly Mills led the team defensively with 17 digs and Kyla Berg added 11 digs. 

Time to note some high school football as we head down the stretch for the the postseason:

Football is alive and well!

That’s what a participation survey released this fall revealed, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
I would have never had any doubt. How ‘bout you?

Football is big, and it continues to grow and grow.

Friday Night Lights. Quite a tradition, for sure!

Carmel – Three teams from Hamilton County were represented at the Girls State Golf meet this past Friday and Saturday as Noblesville, Westfield, and Carmel all were vying for the chance at becoming state champions. 

When it was all said and done Homestead took home the state title shooting a two-day score of 605 to be crowned the state champions. 
The Lady Millers placed seventh at the state meet shooting a 682, just missing placing sixth by two strokes. 

The #9 ranked Millers boys’ soccer team hit the road on Tuesday as the team traveled to take on #1 Zionsville in a top ten matchup. The Millers came out with energy. At the five minute mark Drew Barnes had a shot saved by the Zionsville keeper but he produced a rebound which was then shot off target. 

The chances kept coming for the Millers during the first 10-15 minutes of the game. Unfortunately the Eagles socred a corner kick and out jumped the defense to open the scoring. The Eagles piled it on for two more first half goals. But there was no quit in the Millers. At the end of the first half the Millers pulled one back on a goal by Palmer Ault to go into halftime down 3-1.

The second half brought more good play from the Millers. They dominated possession and only allowed counter attacks from the Eagles. After conceding another Eagles goal the Millers continued to press. Colin Todd scored in the 77’ to bring the score to 4-2. The next minute saw a header by Drew Barnes saved off the line by the Eagles goalkeeper. The Millers continued to press but the clock struck zeroes with them in the losing end 4-2.

The loss drops the team’s record to 6-2-1 on the season. The Millers return to action at Lawrence Park as they play Cathedral in Thursday.

Here are some things we know and don’t know about the 2019 Indiana high school football season after the first four weeks:

Will the current Noblesville football team post a win this season?

The crystal ball is still a bit foggy, says my friend the Football Wizard who has watched a lot of Noblesville football over the years.

Right now, all that seems certain is that you don’t win if you can’t score points.

And the Millers haven’t scored many points. Not so far, anyway. They’ve scored 14 points twice; 7 in another; and have been shut out in yet another.

They are averaging 8.8 points per game . . . and their defensive average is 35.3 points. In addition, Noblesville has rushed for only 292 yards, passed for 124 and produced 130 reception yards. 

In all fairness to coach Justin Roden and his staff, Noblesville lost a nucleus of good players from the 4-6 team in 2018, and the 2019 team is young and inexperienced in several spots.

And keep in mind that the Millers started the season 0-4 against a murderous schedule, featuring Cathedral, Carmel, Fishers and Westfield, all ranked teams.

Regardless, due to Hamilton Heights’ rousing, 36-0 victory over Northwestern last week, Noblesville now finds itself as the lone winless football team in Hamilton County. 

Can Noblesville turn the tables on Zionsville (2-2) this week? That’s Homecoming for the Millers. Certainly all of the hoopla surrounding that could, and likely should, help the cause.

Can the Millers defeat Franklin Central or Hamilton SE in road games? Possibly, but keep in mind that those teams have shown much improvement so far this season, and they’re certainly much better, more competitive than they were in 2018. Senior QB Andrew Hobson passed for 259 yards against Fishers.

What about Brownsburg on the Millers turf on Oct. 11 and then the regular-season finale on Oct. 18 against Avon?

Those last two are likely much taller orders.

Noblesville must win its final five games to go 5-4 and secure a rare regular-season winning record. A lot of good things must happen for that to happen. And posting the school’s first winning season since 2001 obviously remains a long shot.

So back to the crystal ball: All the Football Wizard can see is a shadow of someone scratching his head in all of that fog.

The #13 Royals were able to pick up a win on Monday as they hosted Guerin Catholic.

The Royals won by a final of 4-1. 

At #1 singles, Andrew Orme had was victorious 6-0, 6-1. 

“Andrew did a nice job of varying his shots when his opponent came to the net,” Head Coach Kirk Webber said. “He had some great passes and many good lobs.”

 At #2 singles, freshman Paul Schneider won 6-0, 6-2. 

“Paul did a very good job of constructing points tonight,” Webber said. “He had multiple volley, overhead, and drop shot winners. He also had seven forehand winners.”

 At #3 singles, freshman Rohan Golla was victorious, winning 6-2, 6-1. 

“Rohan also did a nice job of building the point, being patient, using angles, and then attacking when the opportunity came,” Webber said of Golla. “He had 22 winners against a very consistent and fast player, which is quite impressive. He also finished points in a variety of ways: short balls, volleys, overheads, and drop shots. Our singles guys are continuing to get better every match.”

At #1 doubles, Andrew Spirrison and Daniel Verde lost two very close sets. 

“It was good tennis played at a high level,” Webber said of the duo’s close defeat. “Guerin had two of their stronger players playing doubles (Metzger & Harrington), so it was a good challenge for our team. After a back-and-forth first set, we had a set point up 6-5, but Metzger made a great play on a drop volley by Andrew to keep Guerin alive. Unfortunately, we ended up dropping the set 5-7 in a tiebreaker. Our guys showed some toughness as they kept fighting in the second set. After getting down 1-3, they reeled off 3 straight games to go up 4-3. Unfortunately, Guerin finished strong by getting a late break to take the set 7-5. Andrew & Daniel played very well. Just a few errors was probably the difference in that match.” 

CARMEL – The Westfield Lady Rocks traveled to take on the Carmel Greyhounds on Monday night. Coming in the matchup between the two schools, both teams had a combined total of 26 wins on the season so fans expected to see a competitive match. 

That game lived up to the hype as The Greyhounds ultimately came out victorious, but the Lady Rocks made the Greyhounds work for every single point as Carmel walked away with a 29-27, 29-27, and 25-17 sweep over Westfield. 

Junior Kenzie Daffinee led the team with 16 kills and four service aces, Peighton Isley anchored the defense with 14 digs and Katie Sweet ended the night with three blocks. The Rocks are back in action Wednesday night at home vs Hamilton Southeastern as their record fell to 12-3 on the season. 

For the Greyhounds, they were led by Macarty McQueen with 11 kills, four aces, and six digs on the night. Anne Lesure contributed nine kills, 19 assists, ten digs. Gabby Smith ended her night tallying seven kills and four blocks while Ella Bostic finished with 18 Assists, an ace, and five digs. The win improves the Greyhounds record to 15-7 on the season. The team will return to action on Tuesday night as they will travel to Lawrence North. 

Millers fall to tough Yorktown squad

The Noblesville Millers lost to the Yorktown Tigers 3-0 on Monday night at Noblesville High School 

In the loss Lexie Almodovar had nine digs, six kills, and three assists. Riley Branch contributed nine assists while Rose Crist had six kills. Abby Johnson had four digs, Allison Parks had three digs, and Sydney Sparks had two digs. Ella Peter added two kills, with Anna Kiser adding a kill and a block. Bella Hines had one ace, and Diana Cox rounded out the box score with one dig.

The loss drops the Millers record to 5-9 on the season. TheMillers travel to Hamilton County opponent Hamilton Heights on Tuesday.

Can you feel it in the air? 

You can almost taste it. No, it’s not pumpkin spice, everything nice . . .  it’s tournament football!

The IHSAA playoffs get under way at several sites with sectionals on Friday night.

So are you ready for high school football when it really counts?

The one-and-done format will be a heart-breaker for many schools. But it is what it is: Lose and you can start thinking about 2020; win and those advancing still have another shot at a title.

One thing I think about on occasion is what took place nine years ago.

That’s when we celebrated 100 years of Indiana high school basketball. 

The State Finals were still played at Conseco Fieldhouse back then. Now, of course, it’s now Bankers Life Fieldhouse. And word has it that the field house could soon have even another new name! The NBA Pacers, of course, have played in their current facility since 1999 after the losing of Market Square Arena.

Time to note some high school football as we head down the stretch for the the postseason:

Football is alive and well!

That’s what a participation survey released this fall revealed, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
I would have never had any doubt. How ‘bout you?

Football is big, and it continues to grow and grow.

Friday Night Lights. Quite a tradition, for sure!

In his first year coaching East Central High School football, Justin Roden probably felt like he had been blindsided and plowed over during a blocking drill.

He went from an assistant to head coach quicker than was expected, and then lost his job rather quickly after that season.

“My first year running the program, the head coach just upped and quit, even though the plan was that he would coach 2 more years. The majority of staff quit, just walked away….just ran for the hills. The middle school was in a bad place and they knew what was coming,’’ said the second-year Noblesville football coach.

“And we had graduated 21 of 22 starters in 2012. Then the one returnee tore his ACL during our first practice,’’ said the second-year Noblesville High School football coach.

“I was called in by the principal and athletic director. Under the circumstances, I told them I thought a 4-7 record was pretty good. They looked me in the eye and told me it was not good enough.

It was the school’s first losing season in 23 years.

Take a drive throughout Hamilton County in the spring, summer and fall and you’ll come across many youth baseball and softball and soccer fields.

Grand Park, which features astro turf fields, is quite popular. There’s also a huge infield center for various sports, including soccer.

In Noblesville, the Field of Dreams ballpark is always busy, same for the massive Billericay Park baseball complex in Fishers, and Grand Park, which has been a major addition to the county sports landscape in Westfield.

In the cold weather season when the snow is flying, most high school teams work out in their school gyms.

I’ve lived in Fishers and Hamilton County since 1989, and only recently has high school baseball stood out in a big, big way.

Right now, our county baseball is as good as it gets. Maybe even the best in Central Indiana!

It all started with Noblesville’s state title in 2014, followed by Fishers HS winning in 2018 and Hamilton Southeastern and University stating their cases in 2019….and, guess what, two of the state’s biggest high schools don’t even offer 7th/8th baseball in the City of Fishers.

By the way, Noblesville does have a middle school baseball program, which Noblesville High School head varsity coach Justin Keever is thrilled about.

And first-year HSE coach Jeremy Sassanella would be all in for middle school baseball if it was offered . . . and if he could be involved in the selection of coaches.

Sure, we have middle school football and basketball in Fishers  . . .

But again, no baseball at the middle school level at the Fishers and HSE junior highs.

It’s not for a lack of fields!

So why, then?