Hamilton Southeastern Royals 2026 football preview

 By Craig Adkins

The Hamilton Southeastern Royals come in at #8 in the preseason coaches poll. Head coach Michael Kelly enters his 7th season and looks to make some headway in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference and get that elusive sectional title in a tough Sectional 3 in Class 6A.

Kelly is 48-19 in his first six seasons at HSE and overall is 62-35. He was 14-16 in three years from 2017-19 at Seymour.

The Royals have made early playoff exits the last two seasons to district rival Fishers by a total of 11 points. The two seasons prior, HSE beat the Tigers for sectional crowns. In 2022, Southeastern shutout Westfield at home in the regional 20-0, but was edged out on the road in the semi-state at Carroll (Fort Wayne) 21-15. In 2023, HSE suffered a narrow loss at Westfield in the regional, 24-21.

Since that 2022 semi-state matchup, HSE and Carroll have started a home-and-home series. The Royals have a 3-1 advantage with all three wins coming in the season openers from 2023-25.

Tomorrow night, Hamilton Southeastern travels to Carroll for a top 10 battle with both teams tying for the #8 ranking in the preseason 6A poll.

The home opener in Week 2 brings a meeting with North Central on Aug. 28. The Royals begin HCC play on the road at Avon on Sept. 4 and come back home to face rival Fishers on Sept. 11.

A mid-season meeting at Westfield in Week 5 is always pivotal for which team might have an edge in conference standings. Week 6 has HSE at home against Zionsville before they get back on the road for two games.

Weeks 7 and 8 have them visiting Noblesville on Oct. 2 and Franklin Central on Oct. 9 and then finish the regular season at home in a usually crucial league game against Brownsburg.

Sophomore starts at quarterback Deaken Johnson after being sprung into the role last season when Terry Walker III went down with a season-ending injury. Johnson played in nine games, completing 103 of 177 passes (.582) for 1,415 yards. He threw 11 touchdown passes and 7 INTs.

Senior Carter Reed comes back after a junior season of 117 carries for 638 yards and 7 TDs. Over his first two varsity seasons, Reed has 1,397 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Last season’s top 5 receivers graduated, leaving seniors Clark Bucher (96 yards) and Karsen Kelly (86) as the top returning wideouts with 18 receptions between them.

Senior Adam Hoog leads the defense after recording 120 tackles last season. Classmate Dryden Moore had 7 sacks and 2 pass deflections. The Royals’ secondary had 14 interceptions last year, all by seniors, so they will have new personnel roaming the defensive backfield.

Kicker Luke Marchionni returns for his junior year. His sophomore campaign he converted 27 of 28 PATs and made 10 of 13 field goals with a long of 54 yards.

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