By Jeff Hodge and J.C. Culver
Contributing Writers
FISHERS â??? Hamilton Southeastern, coming its their 49-0 beat down of Kokomo in opening-round Sectional 4 action, hosted a young Lafayette Jefferson team in Class 4A Sectional 4 sectional semifinal play Oct. 28. A 24-0 halftime lead was plenty for the host Royals (8-3), who prevailed, 27-14, over a Jeff team coming off a first-round bye.
With HSE leading 7-0, going 35 yards in five plays with the big play of the drive, a 32-yard run Brock Kelly. Kelly finished off the drive from the 2-yard line.
HSE forced Jeff (5-5) on another three and out deep in its own territory and took over on the Jeff 33. They scored in two plays in 47 seconds with Marcus Spann blowing by the Jeff defense on a 32 yd run. It was 14-0 with 5:33 in the first quarter and it was lookinâ?? like another blowout as the Jeff offense couldn’t get on track and the defense looked like they were outmatched.
On Jeff’s third possession, they had another three and out, but on the punt HSE fumbled and it looked like it was the break that Lafayette Jeff needed, recovering the ball at the HSE 38.
They moved the down to the HSE 11. But a 14-yard sack followed by a short gain made it 4th-and-25. Tim Fogarty’s pass to Ryan Poxon in the end zone went incomplete and HSE took over.
HSE went up 17-0 after a nine-play, 75-yard drive taking 3:55 off the clock with a Chris Summers 20-yard field goal.
Both teams traded three and outs and then Jeff seemingly was putting together a drive but it stalled at its own 42. HSE then goes 79 yards in two plays with Nate Powers taking a short pass on 2nd-and-11 and went weaving through the Jeff defense to go 80 yards to go up 24-0 at the half.
In the third quarter, Jeff’s woes continued with the opening kickoff going out of bounds. After Quarterback Josh Powers’ 26-yard run, it looked like HSE was about to deliver the knockout blow on Jeff. But two plays later Jeff thwarted the drive with Josh Powers getting picked off by LB Travis Depew.
It seemed that Depew’s pickoff inspired the Jeff offense as they drove down to the HSE 12-yard line. After a quarterback draw that went for a short gain and after Brodie Morris’ sack, Tim Fogarty’s pass on 3rd-and-16 was picked off in the end zone; talk about the red zone being Kryptonite to the Jeff offense, you wondered if they would ever break through.
HSE converted Jeff’s miscue into a 10-play, 65-yard drive culminating in another field goal from Chris Summers from 32 yards out to make the score 27-0.
After the touchback, Jeff goes 80 yards in five plays with the aid of two long passes to Ryan Poxon and DeAndre Robinson and a personal foul on HSE which set up Jeff at the 2 for Matt Vlahogeorge’s TD to put Jeff on the board.
On the ensuing series, HSE had a 1st-and-5 because of an Jeff offside call and, after Marcus Spann gained four yards, HSE had second down at the 1. Josh Powers’ pass was picked off by Andrew Salazar at the Jeff 40. Jeff moved the ball down to 34 aided by a 34-yard pass play from Fogarty to Andrew Burke. Two plays later, the â??Red Zone Kryptoniteâ? reared its **** head when Fogarty’s pass went into a sea of blue jerseys for the interception that was returned 71 yards and that was pretty much all she wrote. Two plays later, HSE fumbled at the Jeff 10 with DePew recovering. Jeff then went 90 yards in 14 plays in 5:40 which no doubt was the best series of the evening which shows promise for a young team heading into next year since they’re only losing seven seniors.
Time to roll credits on this one. HSE (8-3) wins 27-14, they take on Carmel (7-4), which knocked out Anderson Highland 49-7, Nov. 5 at Carmel. This game could be a track meet. J and J will give you the lowdown on this game next week. Out!
J and J
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