Indiana High School Football Games of the Week – Week 11 (sectional semifinals, Oct. 28)

Six Power 25 teams face off in the first round of 6A playoffs

By Kevin Messenger

Win and advance to the sectional final! That’s what’s at stake this week in the Indiana state football playoffs. 

Among this week’s Games of the Week are six Power 25 teams playing head-to-head in the first round of 6A playoffs:

6A: No. 2 Brownsburg (8-1) at No. 9 Ben Davis (6-3)

These two powerhouses both reside on the west side of Indianapolis. They are neighbors. They are rivals. They both are cloaked in purple. Ben Davis is the more established big-school bully with Brownsburg wearing that moniker much of this season with a top ranking until Week 9 with an injured QB. They squared off in Week 1 with the Bulldogs besting the Giants 33-22. Will Jayden Whitaker be a factor? Will the resilient Giants avenge an earlier loss?

6A: No. 8 Westfield (6-3) at No. 7 Carmel (6-3)

Top Ten matchup #2 has an eerily similar theme as Brownsburg vs. Ben Davis, though they sport different colors. The green-clad Shamrocks are the new kid on the block, compared to Carmel, trying to exert prominence over a nearby rival that is a more established perennial state title contender. Westfield, though, has reached the state finals in consecutive years, and came tabbed as runners-up. The ‘Rocks hope to return to that stage at Lucas Oil Stadium, but it will need to beat its blue-clad neighbor to do it.

6A: No. 6 Fort Wayne Carroll (9-0) at No. 19 Penn (7-2)

The Chargers and Kingsmen aren’t neighbors and neither of them is new to playoff prominence. Both schools, in fact, won their sectional last year and lost in the regional. Carroll is unbeaten and owns the state’s largest 6A margin of victory. Penn, meanwhile, has been equally as dominant since a Week 2 loss to Cathedral and a Week 3 defeat at Cincinnati St. Xavier. The Kingsmen have shutout two of their last three opponents and won four straight by a combined 138-10.

4A: No. 16 Evansville Reitz (10-0) at Boonville (8-3)

The home team is the underdog in this matchup, and the game is a rematch of last year’s sectional semi on the same field. Boonville beat the Panthers in last year’s matchup, 41-34, though neither team was ranked and both are vastly improved. Do common opponents matter? Boonville beat Evansville Harrison last week by a 41-21 count. Reitz beat Harrison in Week 1, 39-8.

3A: No. 22 Gibson Southern (10-0) at Owen Valley (10-0)

An unbeaten team is guaranteed to end its season this week. Gibson Southern has won 21 straight games and has its sights set on a second straight state championship, surely depending on the 129-yards-per-game rushing of Devan Roberts. The Patriots, though, matchup with Christian McDonald who averages 115 yards per game. Both faced the same Mt. Vernon club, though, and with similar results. Owen Valley won last week 35-14 and Gibson Southern beat the Wildcats 35-7 in Week 6.

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