Last night, your Rocks visited our neighbors to the west, the Zionsville Eagles. With the Shining Star rivalry trophy once more on the line, the Rocks came away with a thrilling 28-27 victory. In what would become a game of wild swings, the Rocks started the night on defense, but recovered a fumble on the first Eagle play. Jacob Good forced the ball out, and Deacon King recovered for Westfield. Kendall Garnett ate up the short field on the ground, punching it in for the first score of the night (Brody Boehm kick). The Rock D got another stop on the next Zionsville possession, and 7-0 would hold up as the score for the first quarter. Early in the second, a tipped ball bounced into Eagle hands, resulting in a takeaway for Zionsville and setting them up deep in Shamrock territory. The Rocks held them to a field goal, keeping the lead, but another interception on the next Westfield offensive drive would be returned all the way to the Shamrock 9 yard line. This time, the Rocks were unable to hold and the Eagles took a 10-7 lead. The Shamrock offense rebounded, however, with Garnett’s second score of the night (Boehm kick). Westfield’s lead was short-lived, as Zionsville answered the score and then produced a defensive stop to force a punt from the Rocks. With time running low in the first half, the Eagles tried for a field goal to add to their 17-14 lead, but it sailed wide and the score would hold at the break. Westfield received the ball to start the second half, but coughed it up early in their drive. This time, Zionsville capitalized on the short field and split the uprights with a field goal, extending their lead by 3. After the next Shamrock drive sputtered, the Eagles leaned further into their surging momentum, producing a touchdown for their largest lead of the night at 27-14. Backs against the wall, Westfield responded, Garnett making good on his third score of the game to trim the lead (Boehm kick). The Rock D then came up big with a Sam Bola punch out and William Goodvine III recovery. Momentum stolen, the Shamrocks marched down the field, starting the fourth quarter on the Zionsville 5 yard line, down a score. Jackson Gilbert converted on a big 4th-and-1, finding Garnett in the back of the endzone for his fourth score of the night (Boehm kick). With a 1 point lead, the Rock D came up with the big stop, and the Westfield offense looked to salt the game away. They ate clock and pushed all the way down to the Zionsville 9 yard line before the Eagles stiffened and stopped the Rocks on four downs. With the home team back in possession of the ball and 91 yards away from their end-zone, the crowd buzzed with expectation of a potential game-winning drive. The Eagles fought their way down to the Shamrock 25 yard line, and looked poised to set themselves up for a short field goal and the win as time ticked toward a final. A big fumble on second down bounced the Eagles back significant yardage, turning a challenging-but-manageable kick into a much longer potential attempt. The Rock D came up with a big hold on 3rd down, preventing the Eagles from regaining any of the lost yardage. With 40 seconds in the game, and facing a long 4th down, Zionsville lined up for the long field goal. The Eagle kick got away clean, and looked to have the distance, but sailed wide right. Westfield got the ball back after the miss and took a knee, securing the 28-27 victory. Next week, your Rocks will return home to host the Noblesville Millers for the second half of the rivalry portion of the schedule. The Midland Rail trophy will be on the line for this one, with kickoff scheduled for 7pm.