Football Preview: Zionsville Eagles vs. Hamilton Southeastern Royals
Zionsville is 1-9 against Hamilton Southeastern since September of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Zionsville Eagles are taking a road trip to square off against the Hamilton Southeastern Royals at 7:00 p.m. Zionsville will be strutting in after a victory while Hamilton Southeastern will be coming in after a loss.
Zionsville is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Noblesville, who was ranked 21st in their home state at the time (Zionsville was ranked 11th). Zionsville walked away with a 35-28 win over Noblesville on Friday. 35 seems to be a good number for the Eagles as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
Sam Manna was his usual excellent self, rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 107.5 rushing yards per game. Nolan Teising got in on the action too, returning a kick for a touchdown.
Zionsville's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Brady Jung and Max Phenicie. Another thorn in Noblesville's side was Hank Phenicie, who forced a fumble and made 16 total tackles.
Meanwhile, Hamilton Southeastern fought the good fight in their overtime match against Westfield on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took a 21-14 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Shamrocks. The game marked the Royals' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
Despite the defeat, Hamilton Southeastern had strong showings from Kendrick Pennybaker, who picked up 110 receiving yards and a touchdown, and Chandler Weston, who threw for 128 yards and a touchdown. Pennybaker showed off some serious burst, connecting on a big catch for 52 yards.
Zionsville now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Hamilton Southeastern, this is the second loss in a row for them and also nudges their season record down to 3-2.
Zionsville came up short against Hamilton Southeastern when the teams last played back in September of 2023, falling 34-24. Can Zionsville avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
