By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
And just like that, we are in regional play and down to three county schools remaining in the football state tournament.
Tonight, Westfield makes the jaunt across Hamilton County to face Fishers for the second time this season.
Fishers would like to erase the Week 8 matchup with Westfield when the Tigers lost at home to the ‘Rocks, 46-12.
The Tigers have a narrow 13-9 record in the overall series, but the Shamrocks are 2-1 in playoff meetings.
Class 6A Regional 2: No. 2 Westfield Shamrocks (10-1) at Fishers Tigers (7-4)
Until getting further down the tournament trail past regional, it’s seemed like a continuous Hoosier Crossroads Conference schedule for these two, aside from Westfield’s sectional semifinal against Harrison two weeks ago.
Last week in the sectional championship, Westfield cruised to a 35-13 home win over HCC rival Zionsville.
Westfield jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead, stunning the Eagles. Carsen Melvin scored first on a 79-yard rushing touchdown five minutes into the game to make it 7-0.
“We did an inside zone,” said Melvin. He kept the ball, then got a “great block on the outside and just took it all the way.”
Melvin also credited the Shamrocks’ defense for making that initial stand at the beginning of the game.
“I think it definitely gave us some momentum,” said Melvin. “Our defense is playing really great. Any more momentum that we can give them is great. They do a lot for us; we do a lot for them. That’s why we’re playing so well. We play for each other.”
Deacon King scored on a 14-yard rush on the first play of the second quarter. Two minutes later, Melvin scored again on a six-yard run. Broc Parker capped off the four-score half with an eight-yard run with just under three minutes left in the half for the 28-0 lead.
Westfield’s Deacon King, pictured here in an earlier
game, scored a touchdown for the Shamrocks during
their Sectional 3 championship win last Friday. (Joshua Herd/File photo)
Parker was itching to contribute more and that’s exactly what he did. He ran back the opening kickoff of the third quarter 92-yards for a touchdown for a 35-0 advantage.
Zionsville scored twice in the second half, but the Shamrocks had the game wrapped up at that point for their fifth consecutive sectional title and 13th in program history.
Melvin led with 85 rushing yards on two carries, both scores and King had 73 on 10 rushes. Melvin didn’t need to pass much, completing 3 of 4 for 70 yards.
Westfield started off 5-0, then had a mid-season roadblock loss at Brownsburg (17-13). The Shamrocks have won five in a row since with four 40-plus point outputs in those games.
The Shamrocks also have seven regional and five semi-state titles, as well as the 2016 5A state championship over Columbus East.
Fishers got a monkey off its back last Friday, winning its first sectional trophy in seven years (2017) over neighboring rival Hamilton Southeastern in a shootout, 44-41. It is their fourth sectional in program history.
Starting out 3-1, Fishers lost three of four heading into the final regular season game. Three road wins in a row against Zionsville (30-6), Noblesville (31-21) and HSE (44-41) and the Tigers are rolling at the right time.
The Tigers had the ball last and drove all the way down the field, scoring with 0.7 seconds left to win, 44-41. The victory gave Fishers its first sectional title since 2017 and fourth overall.
In that final drive, the Tigers had great time management and took it all the way down to the final seconds. Hill threw three consecutive incompletions, forcing fourth and goal from the Royals’ four.
On fourth down, Caden Hill found Jase Ruggles for the game-winning four-yard touchdown pass for the final count of 44-41.
“Players made the plays, and our players did what it took on that final drive,” said Fishers coach Curt Funk.
The Tigers used eight plays and 66 yards and struck first on a JonAnthony Hall rushing TD for a 7-0 lead on the first possession.
Fishers grabbed the lead on a Ryan Thembulembu run. Tyler Maynard ran in the two-point conversion, and it was 15-7.
Southeastern grabbed some momentum with two straight touchdowns for a 20-15.
Hill connected with Hall with 1:34 left in the second. Thembulembu ran in the two-point try for a 23-20 slight edge.
But that would be too much time on the clock for HSE. Weston found Boyd once again, a 20-yarder with 36 seconds left that gave the Royals a 27-23 halftime advantage.
Thembulembu scored in the third to push it to 30-27.
“Ryan ran hard all night. I’m proud of our line up front for creating opportunities for him,” said Funk.
Hill gave Fishers its largest lead at 37-27 on a 73-yard pass and catch to Hall.
The Royals scored twice in the fourth for a 41-37 HSE lead. After that, it was all Tigers.
“Every week, we do two-minute drills in practice. It’s been the same scenario since Aug. 5,” said Funk. “In practice, we told them that there’s going to be a game we’re going to have to use this. We’re built for this.”
Caden Hill has 1,241 yards passing and 9 TDs. Hall is having a tremendous season with 83 catches for 1,308 yards and 12 touchdowns. Ryan Thembulembu has 669 on the ground with 7 touchdowns.
Fishers has one regional and semi-state title (2010). That season, the Tigers won the 5A state title against Lawrence Central.
*If Westfield wins, the Shamrocks will host Crown Point or be on the road at Fort Wayne Carroll. If Fishers wins, the Tigers will automatically be on the road at either Crown Point or Fort Wayne Carroll in the semi-state on Nov. 22.