Westfield football coach Jake Gilbert can’t help but laugh at the irony.
Shortly after relinquishing his duties as an assistant coach at Wabash College, his alma mater, Gilbert made it evident he wanted to build the Shamrocks into, as he puts it, the Center Grove of the North.
Ten years and three trips to a state championship game later, Gilbert, who terrorized opposing quarterbacks as a defensive end at Ben Davis and later for the Little Giants, relishes the opportunity to put his team up against what he considers Indiana’s undisputed yardstick.
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“I just respect their entire program. How they do things and how they play,” Gilbert said of Center Grove, the Rocks’ opponent in tonight’s Class 6A state championship game. “They’re outstanding and are the model. We respect everything about them.
“This specific (Trojans) team might have the best defensive line I’ve seen in high school football, and the running backs aren’t too shabby, either.”
Neither is second-ranked Westfield (12-1), which makes its debut in a 6A title contest after being 5A runner-up in 2013 and a champion four years ago.
The Shamrocks exhibit a nice balance offensively, having passed for 2,584 yards and 32 touchdowns behind the play of junior quarterback Maximus Webster. Seniors Mason Piening and Reid Schepers are Webster’s top targets, having hauled in 43 and 27 receptions, respectively.
Webster is also apt to take off downfield with the football as his 813 rushing yards and 18 scores clearly indicate. Another junior, tailback Micah Hauser, leads Westfield’s running attack with 941 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Defensively, the Rocks permit 16 points per game, but they have been particularly stingy of late, giving up a total of 38 points in its last six games. They posted three consecutive shutouts at one point.
It’s a unit led by junior end Popeye Williams, who has recorded 10 tackles for loss, half of those quarterback sacks. Senior linebacker Seth Martin has 40 tackles, including 6.5 for loss, while Hauser, who doubles as a defensive back, leads Westfield in tackles with 100.
The Shamrocks opened the season at home, but were thoroughly thumped, 56-20, by 5A state finalist Cathedral. Given the opportunity to have its confidence shaken, Westfield instead learned from the loss, progressed in terms of player chemistry and on-field play and won its next dozen games.
Gilbert couldn’t be prouder of his team’s refusal to accept mediocrity.
“We have seniors, and that helps. Our senior class is tremendous from a leadership standpoint, and the resolve we showed coming back from the Cathedral loss and then to win at Brownsburg (43-42 in overtime in Week 6) the way we did, that was really a catalyst win for our season.
“I think after that, we really felt like we could beat anybody.”
Gilbert’s first season at Westfield in 2011 resulted in a 5-6 record, the program’s fifth consecutive losing season. The streak grew to six the following year with a 3-7 finish, but a year later the teachings of Gilbert and his assistant coaches took root and Westfield was in its first championship game in 21 years.
Westfield’s population steadily grew through the last few decades, particularly from 2000 (9,293 residents) to 2010 (30,068). As the high school steadily bumped up in class, it experienced its share of athletic growing pains.
“When we were hired, I don’t think that anyone would have thought that we would be in state three times in eight years,” Gilbert said. “It shows the commitment that our school has made.
“We try to do it through commitment, so we want to work our kids and outwork anyone out there. And we want to love our kids. Outwork and outlove is the culture we have. We think by doing that, they can care about each other enough to be willing to do whatever it takes so that you can have the results you want to have.”
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Westfield’s 2020 season, game by game:
Date;Opponent;Result
Aug. 21;Cathedral;L, 56-20
Aug. 28;WL Harrison;W, 34-10
Sept. 4;Zionsville;W, 49-16
Sept. 11;at Noblesville;W, 24-10
Sept. 18;Hamilton SE;W, 14-3
Sept. 25;at Brownsburg;W, 43-42 (OT)
Oct. 2;Avon;W, 59-33
Oct. 9;at Fishers;W, 45-6
Oct. 16;Franklin Central;W, 35-0
Oct. 30;at Noblesville;W, 35-0 (sectional)
Nov. 6;Fishers;W, 31-0 (sectional)
Nov. 13;Homestead;W, 42-9 (regional)
Nov. 20;at Merrillville; W, 41-23 (semistate)
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