On Friday, your Rocks traveled to Center Grove to face the Trojans to open the 2024 football season. This represented the first regular season meeting of our two teams since the late 1950s, with our recent faceoffs happening in Lucas Oil Stadium at the very end of successful seasons. With both programs consistently ranking highly in the state, the stage was set for a very entertaining opening game, and the teams did not disappoint. The Rocks kicked off to start, and the Trojans came out hot, putting the first score on the board with around 8 minutes to play in the first quarter. They stymied the Rock offense and then doubled things up on their second drive, with a 14-0 Trojan lead holding to close the first. Mikeah Webster finally put the Rocks on the board early in the second quarter when he rumbled in at the end of a successful Shamrock drive. The Trojans answered, however, extending the lead back out to 21-6 with 6:45 to play in the half. Westfield pulled out some trickery on their next drive, when Gabe Aramboles caught a lateral from Carsen Melvin, and threw a pass of his own to find a wide open Parker Knott for the 58-yard score (Owen Wright kick). The Rock D took the ball away on the next Trojan drive, when Preston Dirks pounced on a fumbled Center Grove exchange. Melvin capitalized on the extra possession with a QB keeper on fourth down (Wright kick) that brought the Rocks to within one. The Rock D held firm on the next drive, and both teams would end up punting. With nearly 50 seconds left in the half, Westfield’s punt deflected off of a Trojan player at the 1 yard line and was recovered by the Rocks. This set Melvin and the Shamrock offense up for an easy punch in, and gave the Rocks at 27-21 lead with timing winding down in the first half. Landon Porter would pick off the Trojans to stop a late flurry of passes, letting Westfield go into the break with the six point lead. Westfield got the ball to start the second half, but the teams would trade punts before getting anything going. Melvin found Aramboles streaking up the middle on their second drive of the half for a 70-yard score (Wright kick). The teams traded another pair of punts to end the third, and the Rocks had a 34-21 advantage to start the fourth. With Center Grove threatening early in the period, Westfield executed a blitz on a key fourth down attempt, forcing the Trojan quarterback to throw the ball away. The big stop allowed Westfield to run off more time, but ultimately Center Grove got another crack at it. This time they hooked up for a long score that narrowed the lead back to six. It was Melvin finding Aramboles late for a big game that really put the Rocks in the driver’s seat with time winding down. The Shamrock offense was able to get a few tough first downs and salt things away. 34-28 Rocks held as the final. Your Rocks will return to action next Friday when they celebrate our seniors and host the Carmel Greyhounds for the second week of non-conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm.