Zionsville upsets Noblesville 14-9
By RYAN NAYLOR
ISL Correspondent
Zionsville put an end to Noblesville’s feel-good story, at least for now.
The Eagles defeated the previously unbeaten Millers 14-9 on Friday night.
Noblesville entered the game with a great deal of confidence after handing Brownsburg its first home loss in three years the previous week and debuting in the AP Class 6A rankings at No. 9. Zionsville, ranked 7th in Class 5A, was looking to regroup after losing badly on the road to conference rival McCutcheon.
The first half was all defense, as neither offense was able to put together a serious scoring threat before the half.
Noblesville was finally able to put points on the board when Ben Rice split the uprights from 38 yards to put the Millers up 3-0 with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Zionsville offense began to click as the Eagles took a 7-3 lead following a 2-yard touchdown run by senior running back Cole Wendt.
After again shutting down the Noblesville offense, Zionsville capitalized on a couple of big penalties and extended the lead to 14-3 after a 4-yard keeper from quarterback Joshua Hinkle.
Noblesville anwered when quarterback T.C. McKiernan had a 10-yard touchdown run to pull the Millers within five. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and Zionsville had the ball with 6:07 remaining.
After a big defensive stop, the Millers had one last chance to pull off the win with a little over two minutes remaining in the contest. The Millers were able to drive to the 10-yard line before a McKiernan pass was dropped in the end zone with no time remaining on the clock, sealing the win for the Eagles.
“We didn’t play well- we didn’t bring it from the opening kickoff.” Noblesville coach Lance Scheib said. “I thought the defense played well enough to keep us in it. Offensively we were just out of sync. We didn’t play our best tonight, it’s just disappointing- We’ll learn from it and move on.”
Noblesville Millers 0 0 3 6 9
Zionsville Eagles 0 0 0 14 14
Injury Note: Noblesville wide out Jurel Youree was taken off the field in an ambulance late in the 4th quarter. According to Coach Scheib, he was taken for tests as a precautionary measure. “He’s fine, his neck is just a little sore- he’s going to be ok.”
