Fishers High School

The Fishers Tigers hosted the Franklin Central Flashes and came away with a thrilling 36-35 overtime victory. The Tigers did most of the damage through the air as Sturgill pass for 347 yards and 4 touchdowns on the night. Vincent Rozzi set two school records on the night – 16 receptions and 258 yards, passing his own record from earlier in the season. Rozzi finished with 3 touchdown receptions. The Flashes received the opening kickoff and were able to convert on 4th down to keep the opening drive going, but were ultimately forced to punt after a solid tackle on 3rd down by Graham Imes. The Tigers got a quick first down but were also forced to punt on their first possession of the game. Hudson Moritz had a 34-yard run for Franklin Central to get the drive going before Nathan Sparks finished with a 1-yard touchdown run up the middle as the 1st quarter wound down. The Tigers scored early in the 2nd quarter on a quick 4-play drive. Three out of four of the plays were passes from Gage Sturgill to Vincent Rozzi including passes of 23-yards, 47-yards and the 11-yard touchdown to tie up the game. On the Flashes next possession, Emmanuel Cowherd got pressure on the quarterback, forcing an intentional grounding call to put the Flashes behind the sticks and eventually a punt. Fishers took advantage as Sturgill escaped the pocket and scrambled for a 37-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead. The Flashes answered right back with another big run by Moritz to get the Tigers inside the red zone. However, Kayden Myers came up with a big tackle on 4th down to force a turnover on downs. Fishers could not take advantage though and were forced to punt. Franklin Central connected on two touchdown passes in the 2nd quarter as Connor Moreland found Markell Bailey for a 66-yard touchdown and then Jayvyn McKinley for 24 yards to give Franklin Central a 21-14 lead at the half. Fishers came out of the locker room and marched down the field with a 14-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game. Sturgill found Osias Sims for a long completion and Sam Hawkins Jr. converted on a 4th down run. Hawkins Jr. also made a key block to pick up the blitz as Sturgill was able to find Rozzi for a 14-yard touchdown. The Tigers defense was also up to the task as Owen Stout had a sack on 2nd down and Emmanuel Cowherd had the tackle on 3rd down to force a punt. Fishers was also forced to punt and the Flashes took advantage as Moreland connected with Bailey for another touchdown to stretch the lead to 28-21 in favor of Franklin Central as the 3rd quarter ended. Both teams traded punts early in the 4th quarter. The Tigers had two 4th down conversions including a run by Hawkins Jr. and Sturgill recovered a bad snap and was able to scramble for the 1st down. However, the Tigers fumbled inside the red zone and the Flashes recovered. Franklin Central drove to midfield, but the Tigers were able to use their timeouts and get the ball back with about two minutes to play. Fishers put together a perfect drive as Sturgill found Girton from 5 yard out to tie the game with 12 seconds to go in regulation. Any thoughts of a Flashes last-minute drive were dashed as Graham Imes recorded a sack to for overtime tied at 28. The Flashes had the ball first and quickly scored as Moreland connected with Jayce Brewer. On the Tigers possession, Sturgill connected with Rozzi from 9 yards out and then Sturgill rolled out to his right and converted the rush to win the game for the Tigers.