By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – With the right plays at the right time, the Fishers football team picked up a huge comeback victory on Friday night.
The Tigers were down 14-0 to Noblesville with under four minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but Fishers came back to win in overtime 17-14 at Everwise Credit Union Field. The Tigers scored two touchdowns in those final few minutes, then Jon Tangara kicked a field goal in the extra period for the win.
The Millers scored first, with Israel Oladipupo running into the end zone from four yards midway through the second quarter. Caden Lytle made the extra point kick.
Right before halftime, the Tigers tried to make one more drive down the field, with Gage Sturgill connecting three passes to JonAnthony Hall and one to Denkota Fletcher. But Fishers was stopped at midfield. Noblesville went into the break leading 7-0.
“Our defense has played tough,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk. “Our offense, we were struggling there. We were trying to run the ball but we didn’t have the wind. We just couldn’t sustain drives.”
Neither team scored in the third quarter. The Millers put together a resolute drive with 10 minutes left in the quarter, making two fourth-down conversions along the way. The second conversion saw Ty Holmes make a 16-yard run on 4th-and-1 carrying what seemed like all of both teams on his back.
Noblesville’s Ty Holmes converted a 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter, then took the ball in three yards for a touchdown. (Julie Brown)
But he made it and gave Noblesville 1st-and-goal at the three. Holmes then cruised the three yards for the score, and Lydle’s kick put the Millers up 14-0.
With 3:57 left, the Tigers began their comeback. Sturgill sent a pass to Carsen Eloms, who took it 48 yards into the end zone. Fishers got the ball back after inducing a Noblesville three-and-out, and Sturgill struck again, sending a nine-yard TD throw to Hall. Tangara kicked both extra points.
Sturgill finished the game 16-of-29, totaling 177 yards.
“Gage, he’s a fighter. He’s a warrior,” said Funk, who praised his quarterback with making good decisions for the entire game.
The Tigers got another three-and-out, giving them the ball back at the 50-yard line. Fishers made a couple of first downs to reach the 18-yard line, but a 1st-and-10 pass was intercepted by Holmes. That sent the game to overtime, where Tangara’s 3rd-and-5 field goal from 22 yards won the game.
“I thought, ‘Well, maybe we can sneak it in, maybe a run where it doesn’t even come down to that,’” said Funk. “But we decided to go third down kick in case we had a bad snap or something, we’d have a little chance.”
Hall, a Stanford commit, made 11 catches for 97 yards. Brady Griffits led the rushing with 91 yards. TJ Grace had nine total tackles, while Jev Hutton made six solo tackles, including a sack.
Holmes led Noblesville’s rushing with 94 yards.
“Very proud of our guys,” said Millers coach Dave Sharpe. “They didn’t deserve to lose this one, but sometimes funny things happen in the final couple minutes of a game. But I’m incredibly proud of how hard we played.”
The game was the first Hoosier Crossroads Conference contest of the season for both teams. Overall, Fishers is 2-1 and plays the Mudsock game at Hamilton Southeastern next Friday. Noblesville is also 2-1 and hosts Westfield next Friday.
