The Fishers football team defended its Sectional 4 championship Friday, Nov. 7 by beating Hamilton Southeastern 28-20. (Joshua Herd)
Posted By: Richie Hall November 11, 2025
The REPORTER
Fishers defended its Class 6A Sectional 4 championship Friday, Nov. 7 by getting past Hamilton Southeastern 28-20 in a back-and-forth game at the Tigers’ stadium.
Fishers’ Ryan Thembulembu ran for three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter. (Joshua Herd)
Both teams scored a touchdown in the opening quarter. No. 9-ranked Fishers went first, with Gage Sturgill dashing off on a 29-yard run to the end zone.
The Royals tied the game after freshman quarterback Deaken Johnson tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Pennybaker. Southeastern then jumped ahead 14-7 at the start of the second period after Jack Jacobs made a four-yard touchdown run.
Ryan Thembulembu scored the first of his three touchdowns in the middle of the second quarter, and the score was 14-14 at halftime. Carter Reed made a 15-yard TD spring in the third quarter, so Southeastern led 20-14 going into the fourth.
Then Thembulembu took over. He scored with 6:32 left in the fourth, and Micah Hillen kicked the extra point to give Fishers a 21-20 lead. The Tigers got the ball back by recovering a fumble at the HSE 20, and Thembulembu made three carries, the third carry an 11-yard touchdown run.
“It was back and forth,” said Tigers coach Curt Funk. “We were just fortunate. Our kids stepped up and made the plays when they needed to. Credit to Hamilton Southeastern and coach [Michael] Kelly. They were prepared for us and had a good game plan. It was a battle.”
Funk credited his team’s offensive line and tight ends with doing “a good job” of making holes for Thembulembu, and praised both Thembulembu and Sturgill’s running games.
“They were doing a good job playing our pass and really trying to contain Gage on the scramble,” said Funk. “Because of that, we were able to open up some holes running the ball and Ryan ran really hard.”
Thembulembu totaled 174 yards rushing, while Sturgill gained 96 yards.
Johnson completed 17 of 27 pass attempts for the Royals for 154 yards. Pennybaker made six catches and Graham Toner had five. Southeastern finished its season 6-5.
The Tigers are 8-3 and play the Regional 2 championship this Friday at Westfield.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Carter Reed scored on a 15-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. (Joshua Herd)
