Heading into Sectional play for the Hamilton Southeastern football team, I will be taking a look at the regular season and how the Royals fared against their opponents. In game one the Royals faced off against the Lawrence Central Bears the offense struggled but the defense picked up the missing pieces. Despite only scoring 12 points HSE handled business and won 12-7. The next two games for the Royals were pretty lopsided when they beat North Central 45-14 and Avon 48-13, both the offense and defense played two outstanding games. When I talked to Junior Wide Receiver Donovan Hamilton, he told me “The offense struggled in week one, but we really picked it up the rest of the season, and the defense just keeps doing their job.” In week four the Royals faced off against crosstown rival the Fishers Tigers. The Royals expected to win the game pretty handedly, but Fishers put up a fight. The Royals went down 14-0 in the second quarter but fought back to win 28-27 in overtime.

In week 5 they had a rematch against Westfield, who they lost to in last year’s sectional final. They played a very good offensive game, but the defense struggled. When I talked to the defensive coordinator Jordan Mccaslin, he told me “The defense went off the rails those two weeks, but we came back stronger than ever.” In weeks 6-8 the Royals didn’t have any trouble, beating Zionsville 31-13, Noblesville 38-14, and Franklin Central 38-14. At 8-0 the Royals were facing their toughest task yet, facing the number one team in the state they were getting overlooked. They went down 14-0 early but when Brownsburg quarterback Jayden Whitetaker went out of the game with an apparent leg injury the Royals clawed their way back and beat the number one team in the state Brownsburg 31-28 to win the conference. The Royals finished undefeated for the first time since 2006 when the Royals were ranked number one. Finishing the season 9-0 I asked Donovan what it means to be undefeated headed into sectional play. He said “It means a lot we have never been this good and you can tell Coach Kelly is changing the culture and we are ready to go.” HSE will take on Homestead in round one of sectionals tonight.