Fishers High School

The Fishers Tigers hosted the Avon Orioles for 2025 Homecoming and came away with a hard-found 29-15 victory. The Tigers defense was tested much of the night, but came up with multiple 4th down stops to go with 3 interceptions. Fishers got back to a run and passing balance as Ryan Thembulembu had 124 yards rushing and Gage Sturgill had 255 yards passing including 2 touchdowns to Vincent Rozzi. The Tigers received the opening kickoff and marched down the field in just over 2 minutes to quickly put points on the board. Most of the damage was done by Thembulembu including a 33-yard reception from Sturgill before Thembulembu finished the drive with a 1-yard dive. The Tigers defense stopped the first drive including a tackle for loss by Emmanuel Cowherd to force a punt. Both teams then traded two more punts as the clock wound down in the first quarter. Thembulembu had another big run for the Tigers to get into the red zone, but the Tigers could not finish the drive and settled for a 24-yard field goal by Micah Hillen. As the 1st quarter ended and the teams traded sides, a 4th down pass from the Orioles was tipped and eventually intercepted by Jaxson Andrews who returned it into Oriole territory. The Tigers quickly took advantage as Sturgill connected with Vincent Rozzi on an 11-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 16-0 in favor of the Tigers. The Tigers defense again stepped up as Kayden Myers came up with his own interception. However, the Orioles defense responded with a sack to put the Tigers offense in a tough spot and eventually force a punt. Avon got on the scoreboard for the first time as Andre Warfield ran away from the blitz and scored from 58 yards. The Orioles converted on the 2-point conversion. Fishers drove into Oriole territory but ultimately turned the ball over on downs. However, Avon could not take advantage as the field goal went wide left. The Tigers attempted a last-minute drive but were unsuccessful to take a 16-8 lead into the locker room. The Orioles took the opening kickoff of the 2nd half and put together a drive that ate up over 6 minutes including three 3rd down conversions. However, the Tigers defense stepped up and forced a turnover on downs inside the red zone. A quick 3-and-out gave the ball right back to Avon. The Orioles put together another long drive including a wide receiver pass to keep the drive going and eventually get into the red zone. Fishers defense had another huge stop as Atticus Finely intercepted the ball in the end zone on 4th down for a touchback with under 5 seconds to go in the 3rd quarter. On the very next play, Osias Sims ran a stop-and-go route to get away from the defender and Sturgill found him for an 80-yard touchdown as the clock expired to give the Tigers a 23-8 lead at the end of the 3rd. As they did all night, the Orioles ate up clock again to start the 4th quarter and drove down the field. On 4th down, Jace Cameron connected with a wide open Jose Tate for a 15-yard touchdown to narrow the margin to 23-15 in favor of the Tigers. Fishers responded with their own drive eating up almost 5 minutes of clock. The Tigers drove down the field mainly on the ground before Sturgill found Rozzi for a 32-yard touchdown. Avon would try a last-ditch drive with just over two minutes to go, but the Tigers forced a turnover on downs including a pass break up by Andrews on 3rd down to secure the victory.