By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – It turns out you can only tame a Tiger for so long.
The Fishers football team was being held off by Pike for most of the first half of the Tigers’ home opener on Friday night. But Fishers kept fighting, and had things rolling by the fourth quarter, turning an early second-period deficit into a 28-17 victory. The Tigers used a mix of big pass plays, resolute running and solid defense to pick up their second win in as many games this season.
“First off, I got to credit our players,” said Fishers coach Curt Funk. “They responded. We had adversity to start off, even in that third quarter.” The coach said his kids “never quit,” and credited the coaches with doing “a good job of just making adjustments at halftime. And our kids bought into it.”
Neither team scored in the first quarter. The Red Devils scored the first 10 points of the second period, first by making an early field goal, after which Jeremiah Berry took a 14-yard run into the end zone.
Fishers got the ball back with 31 seconds left in the half, and made its first big play of the game. Starting from the Tigers’ 30, Lucas Minns threw a 35-yard pass to JonAnthony Hall, putting Fishers into Pike territory.
Since it worked so well, why not do it again? That’s what they did, with Minns tossing another 35-yard pass. Hall caught it, and went into the end zone. A Jon Tangara extra-point kick got Fishers within 10-7 at halftime.
The Red Devils dealt the Tigers a blow to begin the second half, as Josh Woods intercepted Minns on the very first play, taking the ball 37 yards to score. Just like that, Fishers was down 17-7. Funk wasn’t about to let Minns stay down, however.
“That’s over,” Funk told his quarterback. “Take a deep breath, all right, we’ll focus on the next series.”
Hall helped out his quarterback with a 58-yard kickoff return, putting the Tigers in excellent field position at the Pike 20. Carson Dunn made a couple of six-yard runs to get Fishers to the 8, Khobie Martin moved the ball to the 6, and Minns took care of business from there, running into the end zone. Another Tangara kick followed, and Fishers was now within 17-14.
The Tigers took the lead on another big play early in the fourth quarter. Minns threw a pass to Joe Syrus, who turned it into an 80-yard touchdown throw. Fishers had the lead, and Tangara kicked another extra point to make the score 21-17.
Meanwhile, Fishers’ defense was starting to find its rhythm. The Tigers held the Red Devils to a three-and-out on the next drive. Fishers had the ball back at its own 30, and then it became Martin’s turn to shine.
Martin opened the drive with a 23-yard run to get into Pike territory. The Tigers kept grinding it down the field, and Martin finished the drive with an eight-yard TD run up the middle. Tangara then made his fourth extra-point kick of the game.
“We preach discipline, accountability, toughness, never quit,” said Funk. “Our kids, they lived that tonight.”
Minns finished the game 9-of-15 for 199 yards. Martin was the leading rusher, gaining 85 yards on 14 carries. Kaleb Sweeney had eight solo tackles, while Brady Wolf made two sacks and a forced fumble, in addition to six solo tackles. Leo Morrow had five solo tackles and one assist.
The Tigers host Noblesville next Friday to begin Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
FISHERS 28, PIKE 17
Score by Quarters
Pike 0 10 7 0 – 17
Fishers 0 7 7 14 – 28
Team Stats PHS FHS
First Downs 17 13
By Rush 6 9
By Pass 8 4
By Penalty 3 0
Rushes-Yards 29-107 35-1337
Yards Passing 191 199
Comp-Att-Int-TD 14-32-2-0 9-16-2-2
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-1
Penalties-Yards 9-57 7-55
Punts-Average 5-38.2 5-36.6
Fishers Scoring
Second Quarter
0:10 – JonAnthony Hall 35-yard pass from Lucas Minns (Jon Tangara kick)
Third Quarter
9:41 – Minns 6-yard run (Tangara kick)
Fourth Quarter
10:15 – Joe Syrus 80-yard pass from Minns (Tangara kick)
5:52 – Khobie Martin 8-yard run (Tangara kick)
Fishers individual stats
Rushing: Martin 14-85, Carson Dunn 11-28, Minns 6-13, Ian Jennings 2-11, team 2-0.
Passing: Minns 9-15-199, team 0-1-0.
Receiving: Aidan Zimmer 4-25, Syrus 2-99, Hall 2-70, Dunn 1-5.