It was perfect football weather for the 6A Semi State rematch between Fort Wayne Carroll and Hamilton Southeastern. When these two teams met exactly nine months prior Carroll rose victorious in a home field win to punch their ticket to the state championship. Although both teams return a lot of players from that game, this is a new year and HSE made that certain of that all night.
It was a slow start to the game with the Royals and Chargers exchanging three and outs for essentially the whole first quarter until HSE finally got some momentum going with a Azariah Wallace 16 yard run up the middle, which was soon followed by a Donovan Hamilton touchdown reception from Chandler Weston. Once the Royals saw those seven points go up on the scoreboard they did not look back. Mainly due to the likings of 2025 Four Star recruit Mason Alexander who scored the first of two pick-sixes early in the second quarter. After throwing the first pick-six, 2025 quarterback Jimmy Sullivan stayed calm and delivered a brilliant drive for Carroll that got all the way down to the opposing 11 yard before their offense collapsed and was forced to punt on 4th and 26.
With 2025 quarterback Chandler Weston competing in his first varsity start, the Royals elected to stick to the ground for most of the night. Which is reasonable when you have Ball State tight end commit Kameron Anthony and Notre Dame offensive line commit Styles Prescod paving the way for whoever was running the ball behind them.
Starting the third quarter up 14-0, it was not all smooth sailing for the Royals. To start the half, Jimmy Sullivan started to connect on his passes across the middle for some big 3rd down conversions before they punched it in to make the score 14-7. The Chargers would even get the ball back down seven after stopping the Royals on 4th down with 4 minutes left in the third quarter. The Chargers were driving for about three minutes until Mason Alexander came up with his second pick six of the night to put his team up 21-7. After continued pressure by the HSE defensive line, the nail in the coffin came with just under 10 minutes left in the game when Jalen Alexander ripped a monster 84 yard touchdown to extend the lead 28-7. Carroll would continue to fight and make it 28-14, but it was just too little too late.
Overall, this game showed a couple things about both teams. The first thing it showed me is HSE might not be quite as dominant as they showed last year, although defensively they might be even better with their defensive line just bullying the Carroll offensive line and their defensive backs locking up all night. The offensive side of the ball is a concern for me. They scored just two offensive touchdowns with one true drive. The Royals had to rely on the big plays tonight and that may not work in their favor as much in conference play. These concerns take nothing away from the pure talent this team is oozing with, but in the HCC you need to be able to trust your quarterback to throw some deep balls when it is a competitive game. Nonetheless, HSE still shows to be a top championship contender in the state, but some fine tuning will need to be done just like in after any other week one game.
For Carroll, I would assume this is the one of the few losses they have all year. Despite the interceptions, Sullivan impressed me and is still one of the top passers in the state; he just had no time to throw and took way too many hits. On the receiving end, I expect 2024 wide receiver Hansen Haffner and 2025 running back Nate Starks to have big games against their Fort Wayne opponents as they both impressed me tonight against a tough HSE defense. I would not be surprised if Carroll bounces back to contend in November once again, but this loss inevitably brings them down the totem pole for now.
For the race for conference championships, the Summit went 2-8 as a conference tonight so Carroll is sitting at a tie for third place as they prepare for Warren Central next week. While the HCC went 9-1 as a conference giving HSE a portion of the share for first place after one week as they prepare for North Central.
Game Awards
Player of the Game: Mason Alexander- Two Pick Sixes, do I need to explain anymore? Prior to the season Alexander said he wanted at least five interceptions all year, so of course that goal is now updated to 10.
“The feeling of getting a pick is amazing,” said Alexander. “Not only did I get two, but I could have gotten four [tonight].”
Impact Play of the Game: Jalen Alexander 84 Yard Touchdown Run- Now, of course the pick sixes were impactful; however, this run put the game out of reach for Carroll and cemented the win for the Royals. Without it they may have been stressing a little more than they should have needed to at the end.
Unit of the Game: HSE Defensive Line- The whole defensive line was giving Carroll pressure all day in the pass game and shut down the run game all night. Sullivan likely got hit more times today than he will be getting his over the next three games combined, it was just brutal.