Football sectional semifinals: HCC rematch for Fishers & Noblesville; Southeastern heads north to Homestead

By CRAIG ADKINS

For The Reporter

All eight Hamilton County teams will be in action this week, playing for a chance at a sectional championship next Friday.

Last week gave classes 5A and 6A a week off while Classes 4A through 1A had the spotlight. Tonight, the five bigger county schools are in action.

With three Hoosier Crossroads Conference schools in Sectional 4, at least one will play in the sectional championship.

Fishers (5-4) at Noblesville (2-7)

Between HCC matchups and a pair of playoff meetings, Fishers has a 16-5 record in the series, winning the last six. Noblesville’s last win was in 2018.

Fishers head coach Curt Funk is in his fifth season (28-24) leading the Tigers. Funk was at Mississinewa (77-36) from 2010-19 with two sectional titles.

The Tigers started off 3-1 with a win at North Central (49-35), a narrow loss to Pike (35-34), an overtime win over Noblesville (17-14) and a thrilling win at HSE (37-35) for the Mudsock.

Since then, a hard-fought loss to then-No. 1 Brownsburg (31-30), win at Avon (27-13), losses at Franklin Central (22-13) and No. 2 Westfield (46-12) to close out the regular season with a 30-6 win at Zionsville.

Caden Hill has assumed quarterback duties since mid-season, throwing for 497 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Gage Sturgill began the season under center before the injury bug struck. He was 61.5 percent on passes (83-135) for 1,156 yards with 13 TDs and just two INTs.

Ryan Thembulembu leads with 417 rushing yards on 87 carries and four touchdowns. Brady Griffits has provided depth recently with 77 rushes for 285, also scoring four times.

Stanford commit JonAnthony Hall is having yet another stellar season with 67 catches for 978 yards and nine touchdowns. Denkota Fletcher (215), Jase Ruggles (210) and Thembulembu (198, six TDs) have combined for 623 and eight TD catches.

Fishers’ last sectional championship was in 2017, the third in program history. The Tigers won their lone regional and semi-states in 2010 on the way to winning the Class 5A state championship over Lawrence Central (38-19).

Millers’ head coach Dave Sharpe is 14-37 in his fifth year. Sharpe started at John Glenn (13-9) in 2013-14 and La Porte (26-17) from 2015-18 before he arrived at Noblesville.

Noblesville won its first two games at home against Mount Vernon 43-24 and at Homestead (49-6).

The Millers have lost seven in a row with six of the seven losses are by seven points or less, possibly flipping the Millers into a winning season.

They lost at Fishers in OT (17-14), home to Westfield (38-18), at Zionsville (35-28), Franklin Central (35-28), HSE (28-21), at then-No. 1 Brownsburg (22-18) and Avon (24-18).

Max Miller has thrown for 513 yards and three TDs, but also has seven interceptions. His two leading receivers are Aiden Brewer eight for 231 and Calvin Moody six for 100.

Brody Gump leads with 116 carries for 980 yards (8.4 average) and six TDs. Ty Holmes has been key with 377 and nine touchdowns. Miller (326), Noah Shinkle (238, 4 TDs) and Israel Oladipupo (217, 7 TDs) have all added to the team total of 2,446 rushing yards and 30 TDs on the ground.

Noblesville has three sectional titles in program history, the last being in 2000. That season, the Millers won the regional at Fort Wayne Snider (28-25) and then lost the 5A semi-state at home to Penn (38-15).

No. 10 Hamilton Southeastern (6-3) at Homestead (5-4)

The Royals and Spartans will play for just the second time tonight. HSE won the only meeting in the 2022 sectional semifinal at home, 35-0.

Head coach Michael Kelly is in his fifth season at Southeastern (41-13) and has an overall record of 55-29. Before coming to HSE, Kelly went 14-16 at Seymour from 2017-19.

The Royals got off to a 3-0 start with wins at Carroll (Fort Wayne) 45-21, North Central (49-26) and at Avon (28-10). In the middle, they lost two close games: the Mudsock to Fishers (37-35) and at Westfield in OT (21-14).

HSE rebounded to go 3-1 to end the regular season. Southeastern scored wins over Zionsville (25-14) and at Noblesville (28-21), took a loss on the road at Franklin Central (14-10) before getting a home win over then-No. 1 Brownsburg (30-23) to close the regular season.

Carter Reed was thrust in as the starter at running back early and has rushed for 711 yards on 137 carries, scoring 12 TDs. Quarterback Chandler Weston (361), Vaughan Johnson (348, 4 TDs) and Brennan Baker (255) have added to HSE’s depth.

Weston has also passed for 1,136 yards (97-161) and 10 touchdowns with just one interception.

Kendrick Pennybaker leads an even receiving corps with 19 catches for 381 yards and six TDs. Liam Boyd has 32 receptions for 305 yards and Callen Okerson 198.

Southeastern has won back-to-back sectionals. The Royals have 12 total sectional titles, five regional and three semi-state crowns. Their last trip to state finals, they were 5A runner-up to Warren Central (55-28). HSE won the 1981 Class 1A state championship over Woodlan, 7-6.

Homestead head coach Chad Zolman is in his 21^st season (167-62), has won five sectionals, the last in 2020. They were the 5A runner-up in 1998 to Bloomington South and former NFL QB Rex Grossman.

After an 0-2 start losing at Carmel and Noblesville, the Spartans won three Summit games over Fort Wayne Wayne, Fort Wayne Northrop and Bishop Dwenger.

Two more losses to 6A top 10 Carroll and Snider dropped them to 3-4. Wins over Concordia and Bishop Luers concluded the regular season.

QB Michael White is a 64.4 percent passer for 1,248 yards with 10 TDs. Jake Thrash (387) and White (288) are the rushing leaders. Carter Kennedy (538) and Kail Swager (311) are the top wide receivers.