FISHERS, Ind. — The final week of the Operation Football regular season is here. The sectional draw was held last week and Friday's Game of the Week features two conference rivals that got relatively favorable matchups for the first week of the postseason.
The Brownsburg Bulldogs (8-0) travel to Hamilton County to take on the Hamilton Southeastern Royals (5-3) on Friday at 7 p.m. Brownsburg is putting their perfect record on the line and, potentially, the outright Hoosier Crossroads Conference title.
The Royals can spoil the Bulldogs' conference title hopes with a win. A Brownsburg loss would create a split conference championship between the Bulldogs and the Westfield Shamrocks. However, if Franklin Central defeats Westfield or Brownsburg wins on Friday, the Bulldogs would have the conference title outright.
No matter how slim, there's a legitimate possibility that the Hoosier Crossroads Conference standings could look completely difference come Saturday morning.
Brownsburg, however, has been unstoppable so far this season. They've been ranked No. 1 overall in Class 6A for the last three weeks after they took over the top spot from Westfield after Week 6. Bulldogs sophomore quarterback Oscar Frye has been a big part of that success.
According to MaxPreps, through eight games this year, Frye has thrown 18 touchdown passes and racked up almost 1,500 passing yards. He's completed over 65% of his passes and has posted a quarterback rating of 129.4 so far this season.
Brownsburg's deadly ground game, featuring senior Iosua Stephens and sophomore Brady Lewis, has allowed the Bulldogs to wear defenses down all season. Stephens has totaled six touchdowns and rushed for 283 yards according to MaxPreps while Lewis has already found the end zone five times and totaled nearly 500 rushing yards. Junior Shakovon Sumpterbey has also been a force on the Bulldogs offense. He's totaled 335 rushing yards and three touchdowns off 69 carries so far.
Catching the dimes from Frye has been Avin Robinson. The junior wide receiver has caught nine touchdown passes and has posted over 600 receiving yards on the season.
That high-powered offense is going to be a challenge for the Royals' defense, but their offense can surely compete.
In last week's win over Noblesville and again two weeks ago against Zionsville, Brownsburg's offense started slow but later came back strong. This could be a key point of exploitation for the Royals. HSE senior quarterback Chandler Weston has been phenomenal under center this year. According to MaxPreps, he needs just five more yards before he breaks the 1,000 barrier in passing yards for the season. He's tossed nine touchdowns and only been intercepted once. Completing 60% of his passes, Weston so far has a quarterback rating of 100.1.
Additionally, sophomore running back Carter Reed has reached the end zone ten times this season and amassed 662 rushing yards for Hamilton Southeastern.
The last time these two teams met was last year when Brownsburg won 21-14. In their last four meetings since 2019, the series is split at 2 wins for each team. Brownsburg and Hamilton Southeastern did not meet during the COVID-affected 2020 season.
Don't miss highlights on 13News at 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18 when Operation Football wraps up the regular season and gets you ready for sectionals and click here for more high school football coverage.