Fishers High School

The Fishers Tigers won the sectional 4 championship in another thriller over the Southeastern Royals by a score of 28-20. The Tigers dominated on the ground with 50 rushes for a total of 286 yards including 174 yards from Ryan Thembulembu and 3 touchdowns. The Tigers struggled to gain yards through the air, but quarterback Gage Sturgill ran for a score of his own. The Tigers travel to Westfield for regionals next week. The Tigers received the opening kickoff and put together an 87-yard drive to get on the board first. Sturgill found Rozzi for a 24-yard gain as the big play of the drive before Sturgill scrambled and found wide open green space for a 29-yard touchdown. The Royals answered right back and tied up the score. Southeastern used a variety of formations and multiple quarterbacks to try to confuse the defense. Deaken Johnson found Kendrick Pennybaker for a 3-yard score. After a Tigers punt, the Royals were driving to end the first quarter. With over 11 minutes to play in the 2nd, Jack Jacobs kept for a 4-yard gain to give the Royals a 14-7 lead. Fishers answered right back and were able to tie up the score. The biggest yardage gain on the drive was a 17-yard keeper by Sturgill, but the offense marched down the field with gains of 8 to 10 yards per play. On 3rd down inside the red zone, Tyler Maynard snuck under center and rushed up the middle for a first down. Thembulembu finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. The Tigers defense and special teams stepped up for the rest of the 2nd quarter, but the offense could not take advantage. The Royals had a bad snap on 2nd down and Graham Imes pressured the quarterback into a quick throw. After a Tigers punt, Imes stepped up again with an interception at midfield. The Tigers couldn’t do anything with good field position but Imes pinned the Royals at their own 2-yard line with a great punt. The teams played even in the first as they went to the locker room tied at 14. The Royals put together a long drive including two third down conversions and a 4th down conversion. Reed finished with the touchdown run, but the point after was blocked by Emmanuel Cowherd to make the score 20-14 in favor of Southeastern. The Tigers played a 4th quarter for the ages to pull out the win. Thembulembu scored early in the 4th quarter for his 2nd touchdown of the night and the point after gave the Tigers the lead 21-20. On the ensuing possession, Josh Wilkins recovered a fumble to give the ball back to Fishers with great field position. Thembulembu punched it in for the third time to push the lead to 28-20. After a huge defensive stand to force a punt, the Tigers were able to gain yards on the ground including keepers from Sturgill and a 3rd down conversion by Thembulembu to run out the clock and secure back-to-back sectional 4 championships.