Friday night, your Rocks traveled to Fort Wayne to face the Homestead Spartans, officially kicking off the 2026 football season. The Rocks came in ranked second in the state in many preseason polls, and defended that ranking with a 49-21 victory. Westfield received the opening kickoff, and the Shamrock offense put together a solid starting drive that resulted in Elliot Clevenger scampering in for the score (Diego Herrera kick). The Rock D took the field for the first time and stalled the opposing offense, forcing a punt. The Rocks would go three-and-out on their next offensive possession, but the Rock D turned up the heat with a Max Vandegriff sack. A punt from deep in their own territory had the Spartans on their heels and the Shamrocks set up with a short field. Cooper Melvin capitalized with a shovel pass to Baylor Conner for the second score of the night (Herrera kick). Caiden Snow brought the first quarter of the season to a close with a sack that set the Spartans with another deep punt to start the second. The Rocks took over with a 14-0 lead and pushed all the way down to the 2 yard line before they fumbled it away. The Rock D responded to the sudden change, forcing a three-and-out on the back of a solid Olu Fapetu tackle-for-loss. Maison McCray then popped in to provide some juice for the offense, ripping off an electric touchdown run to extend the lead (Herrera kick). Snow produced his second sack of the night on the ensuing Spartan drive, and Homestead had to settle for another punt. With the Rocks rolling on offense, Evan Crow toted the ball to the end zone this time, putting the Rocks up 28-0 (Herrera kick). The Spartans finally responded with their first score of the night, trimming the lead, and then looked to shift the momentum in the waning minutes of the half by capitalizing on a Shamrock interception. They put up their second score in around 2 minutes of game time, and the lead was trimmed to 14. With 1:36 left in the half, Maddox Novetney took the kickoff back deep into Spartan territory, giving the Shamrocks a chance to respond before the break. Melvin punched it in with 15 seconds remaining to push the lead back out (Herrera kick). Westfield would take a 35-14 advantage into halftime. Homestead got the ball to start the second half, and the Rock D stepped up to force the punt. Westfield traded the ball back with a punt of their own. The Spartans then connected on a pass, broke a few tackles, and scored to trim the lead. The Shamrock offense answered through the air as well with Melvin finding Andrew Noble for the score (Herrera kick). The Rock D bent but did not break on the next Spartan possession with a big Wade Washo sack to force the punt. Melvin found Noble again, this time for a deep 50 yard strike to add some additional cushion to the lead (Herrera kick). Westfield headed to the fourth with a 49-21 lead. The final quarter would feature a few punts from both teams and Snow notched his third sack of the night. After stalling a long Spartan drive, Westfield was able to run out the clock and secure the victory with no additional scoring from either side. Next week, your Rocks will host the Carmel Greyhounds for what promises to be one of the hottest tickets in the state. Both teams are highly ranked to start the season, and Carmel is coming off a 47-0 thrashing of Fishers. Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm.