Westfield’s Deacon King has rushed for 793 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. (Joshua Herd/File photo)
HCC rivals face off in rematch of ‘24 state title game
By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium, Westfield and Brownsburg will fittingly close out the 2025 high school football season with the crowning of a Class 6A state champ for the second season.
The two Hoosier Crossroads Conference rivals will square off for the 28th time. The Bulldogs have a commanding 20-7 record, including their Week 6 win at Westfield (14-10) on Sept. 26.
Last year’s 6A title bout that went the way of Brownsburg, 22-17, was their second playoff meeting. The other postseason battle was in 2002, also a Bulldog win (35-28) in a first-round Class 4A sectional game.
No. 5 Westfield Shamrocks (11-2)
In just his second season leading the Rocks, head coach Josh Miracle is 23-4 and has Westfield in the state championship for the second straight year.
The Shamrocks are playing in their seventh state championship game. They won over Columbus East in the 5A finale in 2016, 23-16.
Westfield had 6A runner-up finishes in 2021 (27-21) and 2020 (38-14) to Center Grove. The Shamrocks’ first 5A state finals appearance was in 2013, falling 42-18 to Cathedral.
Their first time in the championship game was in 1992, winding up as 2A runner-up to Bishop Luers, 17-0.
This season, aside from losses at No. 2 Carmel in Week 2 (34-10) and at home to Brownsburg in Week 6 (14-10), Westfield has pretty much cruised to a majority of its 11 wins.
The Shamrocks opened with a 35-0 romp of Homestead. Weeks three and four they dominated Zionsville (27-3) and Noblesville (41-7). A narrow road win at Hamilton Southeastern (21-17) set up the first meeting with Brownsburg, a 14-10 Bulldog win.
In the final third of the regular season, they beat Avon (38-21), Fishers (14-7) and Franklin Central (42-7).
Rematches with Zionsville (48-20) and Carmel in overtime (23-20) captured the Sectional 3 crown. Fishers put up a fight before the Rocks won the regional, 20-10. The semi-state at Fort Wayne Carroll became a runaway 35-14 win.
Quarterbacks Aiden Grabowski (717 passing yards) and Cooper Melvin (1,047) work well platooning and combine for 11 touchdowns. Grabowski has 637 and 13 touchdowns, Melvin 186 and three scores on the ground.
Deacon King reentered the fold on offense with authority in the semi-state, rushing for 136 yards on 25 carries and four TDs. King has a team-leading 793 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns and Baylor Conner has 392 and three touchdowns.
Andrew Noble has caught 26 passes for 520 yards and Caiden Snow a team-leading 38 for 431, both scoring four touchdowns.
Olumide Fapetu has 105 tackles, 12.5 for a loss. Alex Aramboles has 27.5 for a loss, including 14 sacks. Logan Loring has eight interceptions and Ja’Deon Smith three fumble recoveries.
No. 1 Brownsburg Bulldogs (13-0)
Prior to 2024’s nail-biter state championship, Brownsburg hadn’t been to the state finals in 40 years since they won the 3A title in 1984 over Concord (17-12) and defeated Hobart in 1985 (23-17) for back-to-back.
With nine sectional, five regional and four semi-state titles, Brownsburg is quickly building its postseason resume, turning into a football power.
The Bulldogs have been challenged in just a couple games. They won a shootout against Avon (55-47) and edged Westfield 14-10. Other than that, games have been won by three scores or more.
Head coach John Hart is in his 10th year (95-19) and in 41 seasons is 362-100, also winning state titles at Evansville Reitz (2007) and Warren Central (2009).
Quarterback Oscar Frye has passed for 2,327 yards (159-261) and 28 touchdowns to just two interceptions.
Aiden Jobe has 1,483 yards rushing and 20 TDs. Brady Lewis has 709 (nine TDs), Shakovon Sumpterbey 622 (six touchdowns) and Frye five scores.
Branden Sharpe has 55 catches for 992 yards and 12 TDs, while Avin Robinson has caught 40 for 652 and six touchdowns.
Alex Fishers leads with 82 tackles. Drew Bostic and Chancelor Adams both have three interceptions and seven different players have recovered fumbles. Jaxson Pierson has 13 pass deflections and a blocked field goal.
