by
Richie Hall
Sports Editor
Hamilton county Reporter
WESTFIELD – Since the present format of the IHSAA football post-season began in 1985, Westfield has played in every single class, from 1A to 6A.
The Shamrocks won a sectional championship in the smallest (1A) class back in 1986, its first-ever sectional. Now in 2020, Westfield can claim a title in the biggest class, as the ‘Rocks beat Fishers 31-0 Friday night at Riverview Health Stadium to win the Class 6A Sectional 4 championship. It’s the first time Westfield has ever won a sectional in Class 6A.
“We did make a big deal of that,” said ‘Rocks coach Jake Gilbert. “When you’re a part of a great program, the longer the program has success, the less likely you can make history. You’re just building off something that someone else has already done before you. This was an opportunity for us to do something no one’s ever done here.”
In claiming their 10th overall sectional championship, the Shamrocks continued three streaks. First, Westfield won its 10th game in a row. Second, the ‘Rocks scored over 30 points for the sixth straight contest.
“We’ve been hot on offense and special teams, too,” said Gilbert. “We just got to keep rolling. It takes that level of execution, though, to beat teams when you get this far in the tournament.”
Westfield got its first touchdown early, when Maximus Webster threw a 28-yard pass to Mason Piening, who took it into the end zone. The Shamrocks had to wait until almost the end of the first half to get their second touchdown, but Micah Hauser got the ball in with nine seconds left in the half, rushing 14 yards into the end zone.
The second half began just like the first half did: A touchdown pass from Webster to Piening. This one was from 51 yards, and the ‘Rocks were up 21-0 with 10:25 left in the third quarter.
“We’ve worked hard and finally had the chance to prove what we’re made of and made it happen,” said Piening. He credited “very strong” chemistry as being the key to Westfield’s success on offense.
“Every day at practice we’re always clicking,” said Piening. “It shows on the field.”
Webster added one more touchdown near the end of the third period, running in from four yards. Sean Sullivan kicked the extra point after each touchdown, then provided the final points of the game late in the fourth with a 38-yard field goal.
Webster had another outstanding game, going 10-of-14 through the air for 158 yards. Reid Scheppers had the most catches with three, while Piening’s two touchdown receptions totaled 79 yards. Micah Hauser led the rushing with 92 yards.
Kyle Pape totaled 16 tackles (four solo and 12 assists) for Westfield’s defense. McGuire Graybill and David Frey both made 10 tackles, while Popeye Williams had a sack. Pape and Bryson Hoover both made 1.5 tackles for a loss.
The Shamrocks have not given up any points since Week 8 of the regular season, which also happened to be their first game with Fishers. The Tigers scored a touchdown in the first quarter of that game, but since then, Westfield has gone 15 consecutive quarters without allowing a point.
“It feels amazing,” said Carson Voorhis, who made one catch for 12 yards and four tackles on defense.
“Just playing with my brothers and just going out there every week, it just feels great. We just want to prolong our playing time with my family, because I love them. We all love each other.”
Fishers quarterback Lucas Prewitt also had a solid game, completing 14 of 22 attempts for 102 yards. Carson Dunn, the sophomore running back, continued his run of strong play with 76 yards rushing and six receptions. Luke Valerio had four catches. On defense, Seth Dunnuck made 12 tackles (nine solo and three assists), while Joel Coston had a sack.
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“We had to make sure that we controlled the clock and ran the football, and I thought we did a good job of that,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk. “We just struggled finishing some drives against them.”
Fishers finished the regular season 3-7.
“We knew we were going to have to play a perfect game,” said Funk. “Our kids fought and battled the whole time and I think we showed improvement from where we were at four weeks ago to now.”
Westfield is now 10-1 and will host Homestead next Friday for the Regional 2 championship. The Spartans were 30-22 winners over Warsaw in the Sectional 3 title game.