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INDIANAPOLIS - For all the on-paper differences between the Westfield Shamrocks and Brownsburg Bulldogs, the singular string tying them together makes Friday night’s matchup between 6A teams in the IHSAA state title game not only a must-watch, but a must-attend.
With 33 miles and a roughly 35-minute drive along Indiana state highways separating Westfield and Brownsburg, kickoff at approximately 7 PM ET on Friday will open the first 6A state championship game between members of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference (HCC). Add in a short drive for both fanbases to downtown Indianapolis, and it’s sure to be an atmosphere worthy of a history-making title game.
“We think there should be a pretty big crowd here for this one,” Westfield head coach Josh Miracle said. “Two good teams going at it and two really supportive communities that love their football and love the community at home. I think we’re all excited for that opportunity to hopefully showcase the HCC a little bit here on the big stage.”
As conference rivals and regular foes, the Bulldogs and Shamrocks are no strangers to one another. On Sept. 28, in the midst of the HCC schedule, Brownsburg hosted Westfield and defended its home turf with a 17-13 victory. That first meeting between two powerhouse offenses – Westfield ranks No. 3 in 6A with 34.0 points scored per game, leading Brownsburg’s fifth-ranked 33.2 mark – was the lowest-scoring game by either team this season.
However, with two months and one day separating that first contest to a season finale with a ring on the line, both teams are taking lessons from their first meeting and using growth to their advantage.
“Prep-wise we had a good scouting report going before we knew who we were going to play, even though we thought it was going to be Westfield the entire time,” Brownsburg head coach John Hart said. “We’re really young – at the time we played them, we had 11 sophomores starting [and] we had some injuries – so our team has matured a lot.”
Turnovers were the story of that low-scoring homecoming contest for the Bulldogs, who have had nine fumbles recovered by their opponents and 10 interceptions thrown in 13 games. Westfield, with just three fumbles and four interceptions this season, had trouble converting points in the red zone against their HCC counterpart.
“I think any time you have a loss, it’s a great opportunity to learn and grow,” Miracle said. “We want to be a program where we never lose the same way twice, so hopefully we can correct some of those errors.
“I think ultimately, the loss probably helped sharpen our focus and just the day in, day out practice habits that guys have accumulated since then. [I’m] just proud of our guys and how they responded to it.”
The Class 6A State Championship featuring Westfield (12-1) and Brownsburg (12-1) will stream via PPV on IHSAAtv.org this Friday at 7 pm ET / 6 CT!
Brownsburg was Westfield’s only loss of the season, and the Shamrocks’ seven-game win streak since included a dominant 30-7 win over No. 2 Crown Point to punch their ticket to Lucas Oil. In addition, Westfield has scored 30-plus points in each of those seven games since Sept. 28, keeping at least a two-score margin ahead of its opponent.
The Bulldogs had a tighter path to the finals, winning by three points or less in each of their last three games – including a 22-21 win over No. 1 Lawrence North in the regional final.
Now, each team gears up for the brightest lights they’ll play under all season and, for some, in their entire career. Both coaching staffs are using varying experience with the atmosphere of a state final to their advantage.
Miracle, in his first year as head coach after spending the previous 13 years as an assistant in Westfield’s football program, is leading a senior class that fell to Center Grove, 27-21, in the 2021 6A finals matchup.
“Most of those guys maybe didn’t play in that game, but they were around it and they understand some of the expectations and what goes into it,” Miracle said. “I think our staff has been a real calming force too, a number of our staff have been to state games here… So we’re trying to lean on some of that experience throughout the week to put our kids in the best possible position we can to succeed on Friday.”
Brownsburg’s last title appearance came in 1985, when they won their second football championship in as many years for the only school history. Hart, who is in his ninth year at the helm of the Bulldogs and his 40th across schools, won a pair of championships in 2007 with Evansville Reitz and 2009 with Warren Central.
“When we first found out we were going to go to the state championship, we talked about the fact that probably some of [the players’] parents weren’t alive the last time we came,” Hart said. “For us, our crowd was about 6,000 [people] when we were home, and there had to be about 2,000 people at Center Grove [last week]. They’ve traveled, they’ve supported the kids and supported our program for me for the last nine years and made it a family-type environment.”