By JAMES SEAY
For The Reporter
FISHERS – The No. 10 Westfield Shamrocks defeated the No. 8 Fishers Tigers 28-17 with strong play from senior quarterback Cole Ballard in a Hamilton County showdown Friday night.
In the first half, both teams exchanged body blows with each defense stepping up with early three and out drives. Westfield got the scoring started in the first quarter with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Ballard to Junior Max Nosler. The pass was the first of four TDs that Ballard accounted for on the night.
“He [Ballard] is the heart and soul of our team, he is an elite competitor and any time the ball is in his hands it’s a good thing for us” said Westfield coach Jake Gilbert about his quarterback.
Fishers was able to respond with a quick strike drive which was capped off by junior Khobie Martin with a 30-yard run into the end zone. After stalled drives and turnovers were exchanged between the two teams the ‘Rocks were pinned deep in their own territory when something noteworthy happened. Late in the second quarter junior Brody Boehm blasted a 76-yard punt to pin the Tigers deep into their own territory.
“I wasn’t thinking and then there was a high snap, but with a 3 mph wind behind my back and I just let her eat,” Boehm said about the punt. While it wasn’t an Indiana high school record, it was one of five punts that consistently set up the Westfield defense in great position. Boehm averaged 42.8 yards on five punts on the night to help power the win.
The Tigers, however, were not daunted and marched down field with the dynamic running back duo of Martin and senior Carson Dunn which was bookended by a 21-yard field goal by senior Jon Tangara. Both Martin and Dunn eclipsed 100 yards rushing on the night and Fishers went into halftime with the 10-7 lead.
Fishers’ Khobie Martin gained 152 yards rushing and scored a touchdown for the Tigers. (Joshua Herd)
In the second half Ballard took over and fueled the Fishers High School field with three TDs, including at 51-yard run early in the second half. Ballard finished the night with 103 yards on the ground and 113 yards in the air.
“Knowing my coach and my teammates have my back is a great feeling. It starts with our offensive line, but the receiver blocking on our team is incredible and that’s what we praise every day,” said Ballard.
Towards the end of the third quarter, momentum shifted as Tigers quarterback Lucas Minns went down with an injury. Fishers coach Curt Funk had to quickly adjust with three different Fishers passers attempting to throw the rest of the night.
“[Minns] was not able to go back into the game due to his injury so we had to adjust. We know we will learn a lot from every regular season game and we learned a lot from this loss. Tonight, there were too many drive-stopping situations. We are still getting to a point where we will put our best product on the field,” Funk said after the game.
Fishers sophomore Huston Dunn was able to connect with senior Joey McDermott for a seven-yard pass into the end zone late in the fourth quarter for the final touchdown, but the damage was done by that point.
“We started seven sophomores tonight, something I haven’t done in 20 years of coaching. We started slow this year, but our defense is really coming into form like I know we are capable of. Right now, we are building towards the post season” commented Gilbert.
Going into the sectional, Ballard added, “We are starting to play our best football – we will get back Ryan Barker, Ryan Creager and Dillon Thieneman. We are going to surprise some people.”
Westfield (5-3) will close out the regular season at home versus Franklin Central next week. Fishers (5-3) will travel to Zionsville for the season finale. Both teams will know their sectional openers on Sunday when the IHSAA draw is revealed.
WESTFIELD 28, FISHERS 17
Score by Quarters
Westfield 7 0 7 14 – 28
Fishers 7 3 0 7 – 17
Team Stats WFLD FISH
First Downs 12 16
By Rush 7 12
By Pass 5 4
By Penalty 0 0
Rushes-Yards 31-179 45-255
Yards Passing 113 136
Comp-Att-Int-TD 8-14-1-1 10-27-1-1
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-1
Penalties-Yards 1-10 5-35
Punts-Average 6-40.8 7-30.1
Scoring
First Quarter
W, 6:47 – Max Nosler 23-yard pass from Cole Ballad (Brody Boehm kick)
F, 0:46 – Khobie Martin 30-yard run (Jon Tangara kick)
Second Quarter
F, 0:12 – Tangara 21-yard field goal
Third Quarter
W, 8:53 – Ballard 49-yard run (Boehm kick)
Fourth Quarter
W, 9:12 – Ballard 51-yard run (Boehm kick)
W, 3:17 – Ballard 12-yard run (Boehm kick)
F, 0:47 – Joey McDermott 7-yard pass from Huston Dunn (Tangara kick)
Westfield individual stats
Rushing: Ballard 12-103, Kendall Garnett 15-73, Gabe Aramboles 1-2, Andrew Lieske 1-1, team 2-0.
Passing: Ballard 8-14-113.
Receiving: Nosler 3-51, Aramboles 2-19, Garnett 1-26, Grant Harlowe 1-9, Mikeah Webster 1-8.
Fishers individual stats
Rushing: Martin 23-152, Carson Dunn 18-96, Lucas Minns 3-4, H. Dunn 1-3.
Passing: H. Dunn 4-9-66, Minns 5-13-54, Bennett Gorak 1-4-16, C. Dunn 0-1-0.
Receiving: Aidan Zimmer 5-65, C. Dunn 3-59, McDermott 1-7, Joe Syrus 1-5.