Football
SAC Regionals Wrap-Up: Homestead, Dwenger Fall on Rough Night for SAC
6A
Homestead at Westfield
Final Score: 42-9 Westfield
The Spartans, vying for their first trip to semi-state in over 20 years, went down to Westfield for a 6A showdown. Homestead was led by a tremendous senior class that had gotten them to this point and was good enough to give the Spartans a chance in this game. Sometimes though, you just get beat.
Westfield was a good team and Homestead was definitely the underdog in this game. We told you in our game predictions that Homestead would have to play a perfect game to win this one. It simply didn’t happen. Instead, Westfield played a terrific game and QB Maximus Webster had a great night passing, 239 yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Westfield’s defense was also able to create 3 turnovers and attacked the Homestead offense with blitzes all night long.
Still, this season should be remembered as another step in the right direction for Homestead. They proved that winning the SAC last year wasn’t a fluke and that they’re here to stay with the likes of Dwenger and Snider atop the conference. Even with the loss, Coach Zolman believes that this team has built atop the foundation that last year’s team set.
“What they’ve accomplished is pretty significant,” Zolman said. “They’re going to look back and see what a great season we had. This is not the way we wanted to end it, we wanted to keep playing. That’s a really good football team that we played, so we’ve got a lot of work to do with these younger kids. But these seniors have established an expectation that we’re going to continue to do it well.”
Their senior class, which was loaded with incredible players, will be missed regardless. Evan Ormsby will finish his season with 2,587 yards, 36 touchdowns, and a 61% completion percentage. The way he turned his season around, practically in the middle of the Dwenger game, was more than admirable. For a defensive end turned quarterback, there may not have been a greater story in the SAC this year than what he was able to do for this team.
Braeden Hardwick’s career statline will rest at 2,760 yards, 6.5 yards per carry, and 33 touchdowns. He’ll continue to play football at Ball State. Jared Kistler will end with 81 receptions, 1,379 yards and 15 touchdowns in his career at wide receiver, as he moves on to play at Indiana State. Linebacker Lule Palmer will finish with 252 tackles, 30 TFL, with 5 sacks. This entire senior class was great and next year’s will look to continue to build on these last two seasons.
“The goal is to get better each year,” Zolman said. “We’ve got to figure out how to beat one of these teams down here. We’ve got to get better physically, faster, and play better football.”
5A
Bishop Dwenger at Zionsville
Final Score: 30-21 Zionsville
Dwenger was leading this game 21-6 at one point in the second half. However, Zionsville was able to score 24 unanswered and had some clutch drives near the end of their game to win it. It’s unfortunate as senior QB Brenden Lytle played one of his best games, 17 for 25, 261 yards passing, 73 yards rushing, and a touchdown. He has amassed over 4,000 yards in his career and had 48 touchdowns. This loss is going to sting, but it will conclude another season in which the Saints finished with only 2 losses.
3A
Concordia at Bishop Chatard
Final Score: 28-18 Chatard
Concordia probably just played Chatard harder than any other team will in this postseason. QB Brandon Davis had 211 yards and 2 touchdowns, while staying just above 50% as a passer. WR Tyler Grossman brought in 7 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Concordia led this game going into the 4th quarter, 18-14, but couldn’t quite hold on. The Cadets, like Dwenger, will have a hard time forgetting about what could have been, but they should be very proud as their team gave Chatard a much bigger challenge than some had thought.
2A
Bishop Luers at Tipton
Final Score: 36-17 Luers
Thankfully, this article doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. Luers is on a magical run and is a really fun team to watch right now. Carson Clark is in the midst of a stretch where he’s been seemingly unstoppable. Last night, he threw for 293 yards, 4 touchdowns, and had a 72% completion rate. The much maligned Luers defense has suddenly found a lot of success and forced 2 interceptions against Tipton. This team, unfazed by their losing record in the SAC, is now the only team left from Fort Wayne. They’ve reached a milestone of 20 regional titles and will only look to keep this positive momentum going. The Knights are now 7-6 and will play 12-1 Pioneer for chance at state next week at Bishop Luers.
