Royals kick past Tigers

Southeastern earns Mudsock title after overtime faceoff

By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com

FISHERS – In order to make the big kick to win the big game, Hamilton Southeastern’s Carter Gutt zoned out.

The Class 6A No. 5 Royals were hosting Fishers in one of the more exciting Mudsock football games in recent memory, even for a series that has a recent history. The game had gone to overtime, and the Tigers were leading 27-21.

On third down and 1, Southeastern’s Azariah Wallace ran the ball into the end zone, tying the game. That brought up Gutt, and he kicked the extra point to send the Royals to a 28-27 victory. Southeastern thus defended its Mudsock trophy on its home field in front of a screaming crowd of over 8,000 people.

The score was tied at 21-21 at the end of regulation, so both teams got four downs from the 10-yard line to try to score. The Tigers went first, and scored on third and 1 when Khobie Martin ran in for the touchdown. A two-point try didn’t go, and with that, Southeastern stepped up to the 10-yard line.

The Royals took care of business, with Wallace pushing in to score to tie the game.

“I just play for teammates and play for God,” said Wallace, who also said he had “no doubt” that his team would come back after Fishers went up 14-0 in the first half.

Southeastern sophomore Azariah Wallace scored a touchdown for the Royals during the overtime period. (Kirk Green)

After that, it was Gutt’s turn to step up, and he did just that.

“As soon as we blocked that extra point, my brain just turned off,” said Gutt. When it was time to kick the game winner, he went out there and did what he’s done “a million times.”

“It took me a couple minutes to realize what happened,” said Gutt. But he will be thinking about it for quite a while. “It’s a moment I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” he said.

Fishers was in control early, using an eight-minute drive to open the game, and get from one end of the field to the other. Carson Dunn’s 16-yard run got the Tigers to the one-yard line, and Lucas Minns punched the ball in on the next play.

Fishers scored again early in the second quarter. Martin blasted out of the crowd and ran 62 yards into the end zone. After a Jon Tangara kick, the Tigers led 14-0.

The Royals stormed back to tie the game by halftime, with Ty Bradle making a pair of huge touchdown passes. He made a long throw to John McCoy, who got into the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown with 4:54 left in the half. Bradle did it again with 18.9 seconds left, finding Silas Newton on a 42-yard score. Gutt kicked both extra points.

Fishers took the lead again midway through the third period, when Dunn took off on another 11-yard run to score. The score would stay the same until the fourth quarter, when HSE’s Eli Brantman took over. Brantman made several huge runs in the second half, including a 47-yard touchdown rush to get the Royals within 21-20. Gutt’s kick tied the game, and it would stay tied until overtime.

“We talked a lot about just managing the waves of the emotions of the game,” said Southeastern coach Michael Kelly. The coach said that instead of getting overexcited, the team needed to take “a deep breath and just focus on doing your job.”

“When we go out, that’s what we say,” said Kelly. “Do your job. For us, that’s what we coach every day in practice. And the conditioning part of it is a huge part of what we do all year long. Our strength program. Steve Krzyminski does a phenomenal job in the weight room, just keeping on the intensity overall, the course of the season. Lots of guys take it easy during the season, we’re going to bust our tails during the season.”

The Royals’ Bradle totaled 175 yards through the air, while Brantman led the Southeastern rushing with 132 yards.

As for Fishers, Martin led the rushing with 152 yards, while Minns was 8-of-17 passing for 90 yards.

Fishers quarterback Lucas Minns (12) hands off the ball to Khobie Martin (24). Martin scored two touchdowns for the Tigers in the game. (Joshua Herd)

“I thought both teams played hard and battled,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk. “The difference in the game was, they just made more plays than we did. But it wasn’t a lack of effort on our part. A game like this, someone’s going to come out on top.”

The Royals are still unbeaten for the season at 4-0, including a 2-0 record in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. Southeastern travels to Westfield next Friday.

Fishers dropped its first game of the season, falling to 3-1, 1-1 in the conference. The Tigers host Brownsburg next Friday.

HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 28, FISHERS 27

Score by Quarters

Fishers 7 7 7 0 6 – 27

Southeastern 0 14 0 7 7 – 28

Team Stats FISH HSE

First Downs 15 17

By Rush 10 9

By Pass 5 8

By Penalty 0 0

Rushes-Yards 47-253 31-208

Yards Passing 90 190