DAVID VANTRESS

By DAVID VANTRESS

For the Northwest News

A magical 2022 Indiana high school football season will go as far as it possibly can for the Carroll Chargers.

That would be the IHSAA Class 6A state finals, which are set for this Friday night at 7 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The Chargers clinched their first-ever trip to state last Friday night when they defeated the previously undefeated Hamilton Southeastern Royals, 21-15, on a bitterly cold, snowy fall night at Charger Stadium.

How bitterly cold was it? Kickoff temperature was about 25 with a wind chill factor of 15. It got colder as the game wore on.

Carroll (13-0) won the coin toss and on the first play from scrimmage, sophomore quarterback Jimmy Sullivan and Jayden Hill connected on a 69-yard pass play that got the Chargers to the Royal 1. On fourth-and-goal, it was Braden Steely getting Carroll on the board first with a 1-yard run. It was 7-0 Carroll with 9:19 left in the first quarter.

Carroll’s defense kept the Royals off the scoreboard until the 6:33 mark of the second quarter, when they got a 1-yard rushing TD. The PAT try was wide left, leaving the Chargers still in front, 7-6.

There was an injury delay of about 45 minutes for a Hamilton Southeastern player early in the second quarter. When play resumed after both teams warmed back up, Michael Dierckman blocked an HSE punt, and one play later, it was Steely finding the end zone again, this time from 14 yards out. The score was 14-6 Chargers with 2:23 left until halftime. That was the halftime score.

Hamilton Southeastern marched into Carroll territory with the second-half kickoff, but the Charger defense came up big again with a Dierckman pick.

The Charger defense came up with a huge play late in the third quarter, stopping the Royals on fourth-and-2 from the HSE 40. The Carroll offense made it a two-possession game when Jayden Hill took a direct snap to paydirt from the Royal 1 with 1:37 left in the third. The Chargers led 21-12.

The Charger defense took over in the fourth, getting another fourth-down stop at the Carroll 20 with 4:41 left in regulation. They were unable to move the ball, however, and punted the ball back to Hamilton Southeastern with 2:04 left. The short kick rolled out of bounds at the Carroll 45.

The Royals got to the Charger 3, but again the Carroll defense stepped up. HSE settled for a 26-yard Carter Guff field goal, gambling on recovering an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff.

The Chargers sent their hands team out and Cooper Rudolph fell on the ball at the Carroll 45. With 41 seconds left, one Sullivan knee was all that was needed to ice this one — literally on this frigid northeast Indiana night.

Carroll coach Doug Dinan said Steely put forth a clutch effort on both sides of the ball.

“We love him at running back, but with playing defense, we don’t want him to get tired,” Dinan said.

Carroll senior defensive back Jorge Valdes was pressed into duty at running back in sophomore Nathan Starks’ absence.

Whatever helped the team, Valdes was down for, he said. “Next man up,” Valdes said.

And for an emotional senior receiver Camden Herschberger, it was all with a special motivating factor in mind: Fallen quarterback Owen Scheele, who passed away in June of leukemia.

“This is all for Owen,” Herschberger said, his voice cracking. “We’re all in tears because we know he’s watching us, and he’s so happy for us in Heaven. He’s leading us all the way.”

Sullivan completed 7-of-12 passes for 120 yards.

Steely led the Charger ground assault with 64 yards on 22 carries, having to compensate for the loss of Starks, who exited with an undetermined injury in the first half.

Hill had two catches for 80 yards.

Steely had his usual dose of double duty with nine tackles. Ashton Pesetski added seven.

The Royals, on paper, appeared to dominate this one, outgaining the Chargers 292-175. But the Chargers made plays when they had to and that was the difference.

Carroll will meet 11-2 Center Grove, a five-time state champion, in the Class 6A state title game Friday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., the nightcap of a Black Friday tripleheader that kicks off at 11 a.m. with the Class 2A championship game. The 4A title tilt will follow at 3 p.m.