IHSAA football Quick Reads: Here’s how Central Indiana’s biggest Week 1 games were won

Indiana high school football is back, and that mean’s Quick Reads are back.

Our IndyStar team in the field give you the turning points, plays of the game and top performers from Central Indiana’s biggest Week 1 games.

IHSAA football: Week 1 live scoreboard, highlights, statistics

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Bishop Chatard 49, Brebeuf Jesuit 23

High school football is back and so too is defending Class 3A state champion Bishop Chatard, which kicked off its encore campaign by storming back from a 16-7 first-half deficit with 42 unanswered points en route to a demonstrative 49-23 victory over Brebeuf. 

TURNING POINT: The visitors were the aggressors at the outset, racing out to a 13-0 lead after a quarter (Maverick Geske 60-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Clark, plus two Quinn Warren field goals), and 16-7 midway through the second. 

But the consequences of settling for field goals over touchdowns (credit Chatard’s defense) were realized as the half progressed and the Trojans’ offense began imposing its will with a steady diet of runs giving way to a couple big passing plays. 

An Aidan Arteaga strike to Roman Barraza brought Chatard within two, and then, the aforementioned turning point. 

In desperate need of a score, or at the very least a drive to kill off the final 2:44 of the half, Brebeuf was instead stonewalled by the Chatard defense, which needed just over a minute to force a punt. 

Seventy-six seconds later, Arteaga was weaving through a forest of white jerseys and cruising into the end zone for the go-ahead score. 

An expected response by the state champs, whose second-quarter rally set up a second-half deluge. 

The Trojans dimmed the lights with a seven-minute touchdown drive to start the third quarter, then shut them off entirely by converting the ensuing turnover on downs into another score. 

Fourth-quarter interceptions by Jack Steadham and Ryan Keating salted the wound — and were almost immediately converted into touchdowns by the offense.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Chatard’s first touchdown of the season was a thing of beauty. Kinnett blasted through the line of scrimmage, shed one would-be tackler, then successfully evaded a potential sandwich situation with a well-timed spin move before barreling into one final defender as he crossed the goal line. It was a big-boy run by the 5-7 senior. 

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Barraza. — Brian Haenchen

Westfield 34, New Palestine 14

IHSAA football: Westfield defeats New Palestine 34-14

Westfield defeats New Palestine 34-14 on Friday. August 18, 2023.

Clark Wade, Indianapolis Star

WESTFIELD – The Westfield football team started its season with a bang. The Shamrocks scored a pair of touchdowns in a 19-second span early in the first quarter en route to a 34-14 win against New Palestine on Friday night.

The win gave the Class 6A, ninth-ranked Shamrocks their first win in four tries against the Dragons (Class 4A No. 2), who won last year’s meeting, 42-28.

Play of the game: Already leading 17-0 late in the first half, the Westfield defense New Palestine pinned at its own 1-yard line. On first down, a bobbled handoff between quarterback Gavin Neal and running back Grayson Thomas led to a fumble that was picked up the Shamrocks’ junior linebacker Mikeah Webster. It helped push Westfield’s lead to 24-0 with 2:21 remaining in the half and all but put the game away.

Turning point: On a fourth-and-five on New Palestine’s opening drive of the game, Westfield junior defensive back Drew Law blocked a punt that resulted in a 3-yard punt to give the Shamrocks great field position at the Dragons’ 28. Four plays later, Westfield quarterback Jackson Gilbert scampered nine yards for a touchdown. A Brock Steward interception on the Dragons’ next possession led to another quick touchdown to push Westfield’s lead to 14-0

Standout performer: Gilbert, making his first career start for Westfield, played well. The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder ran for a pair of touchdowns and passed for one. For New Palestine, senior running back Grayson Thomas rushed for 106 yards, which put him over the 4,000 for his career. — Tom Moor

Hamilton Southeastern 28, Carroll 14

Indiana high school football highlights: HSE 28, Carroll 14

In a 6A semistate rematch, it was Hamilton Southeastern who got the win this time thanks to two pick-6s from Mason Alexander.

Kyle Neddenriep, Indianapolis Star

Cathedral 55, Lafayette Jeff 14

FW Snider 42, Warren Central 20

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IHSAA football highlights: FW Snider 42, Warren Central 20

IHSAA football highlights: FW Snider 42, Warren Central 20

Akeem Glaspie, Wochit

This story will be updated.