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.”