By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – There were big plays all over the field Friday night between Westfield and Fishers at the Tigers’ Everwise Credit Union Field in the Class 6A Regional 2 championship game.
The last big play of the game belonged to the Shamrocks. With just over a minute to go on first-and-10, Deacon King sprinted 49 yards into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. An Owen Wright extra point kick then sealed up a 42-28 victory for Westfield, which defended its regional title.
The regional victory is the eighth for the ‘Rocks in program history and the fourth in the last five years. It was also a hard-fought contest, with Fishers improving after taking a 46-12 loss to Westfield during the regular season.
“It was a blowout last game, so I feel like they upped their run defense,” said King.
Westfield’s Deacon King rushed for 220 yards in the regional game. He caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter and made a 49- yard TD run in the fourth quarter. (Joshua Herd)
The Shamrocks scored first, finishing a nearly seven-minute opening drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Carsen Melvin to King. Wright kicked the extra point, as he would do for all six of Westfield’s touchdowns in the game.
The Tigers tied the game early in the second quarter with their own long drive. Quarterback Caden Hill capped Fishers’ downfield march with a five-yard run into the end zone. Jon Tangara kicked the extra point, the start of a 4-for-4 night.
The game was tied at 7-7, but not for long. The Shamrocks’ Cato June collected the Tigers’ kickoff return and took it 94 yards for a touchdown.
June said when he caught the ball, “I was supposed to go to the right, but I saw somebody get through the gap, and so I tried to lower my shoulder to run him over. Spun off of it, I looked to my left and I saw green, and I just ran.”
When asked if a play like that is either instinct or something that is practiced, June said it’s “a little of both.”
“Mainly instinct,” said June. “With ball carrier vision, that’s instinct, but in practice, our scout teams give a great look, so I learned how to bounce and read everything that the defense is doing on kickoff.”
Melvin scored on a quarterback keeper later in the second quarter, and Westfield went into halftime with a 21-7 lead.
But the Tigers came back during the third period. A 31-yard pass from Hill to JonAnthony Hall got Fishers to the one-yard line, and Ryan Thembulembu easily punched the ball in for a TD on the next play. The Tigers tied the game with 33 seconds left in the third quarter when Thembulembu ran the ball four yards for a touchdown.
Westfield took the lead back early in the fourth quarter when Melvin sent a seven-yard touchdown throw to Beau Braun. The ‘Rocks held Fishers to a three-and-out on the next play, then began another touchdown drive. Melvin finished that one with a 14-yard keeper to the end zone.
Fishers’ Caden Hill totaled 249 yards passing, rushing for one touchdown and throwing for another. (Joshua Herd)
The Tigers made a furious drive, one that required only 75 seconds to make seven plays. Hill threw the ball on all seven, making five of them, including an eight-yard pass to Vincent Rozzi that brought Fishers within 35-28. But King’s long touchdown run got Westfield out of danger. He finished the game with 220 yards on 33 carries.
“We try to focus and get back in the moment of each play and executing what we do,” said Shamrocks coach Josh Miracle. He credited his staff with putting the team “in a great position to succeed and just practicing those pressure situations.”
Miracle also mentioned his offensive linemen. “You got (Avery) Huggins, you got (Job) Mavrick, (Isaac) Cole. You got Tristan Cooke-Dennis on that right side and then Malachi (Mills),” he said.
Hill was 21-of-37 throwing the ball for 249 yards, with Hall making eight receptions for 115 yards. Fishers finished the season 7-5 and won its first sectional title since 2017.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk. “We played Westfield Oct. 11 and they really beat us up pretty good. And our kids, from then until tonight, have just believed in the process and just trusted each other. And we had opportunities tonight. Unfortunately, we fell short to a really, really good Westfield team.”
The Shamrocks are 11-1 and host Crown Point next Friday in the Class 6A north semi-state game.
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