The regular season is over and now we enter the portion of the season where if you don’t bring your best each and every week, there’s a good chance your year is gonna end.
The mission is a simple one, win and advance or lose, turn in equipment and begin getting ready for a long off-season.
Let’s take a look at Class 6A, Sectional 4.
THE DRAW
Hamilton Southeastern (5-4) at Homestead (6-3), 7 p.m.
Fishers (6-3) at Noblesville (1-8), 7 p.m.
THE FAVORITE
FISHERS (6-3)
The defending sectional champion, Fishers enters the postseason as the favorite to repeat in Sectional 4.
The losses are all to 6A powers – Carmel, Brownsburg and a tough 14-7 setback at Westfield in Week 8.
Quarterback Gage Sturgill has thrown for over 2,000 yards to go with 20 touchdowns. He is also a threat when his legs when needed, although fellow senior Ryan Thembulembu is the leading rusher with 635 yards and nine touchdowns. However, Thembulembu has not played since early October and is status for the postseason is uncertain.
Sturgill’s favorite target is Vincent Rozzi, a player very similar in talent and stature to Carroll’s Jaidon Vanpelt. Rozzi has hauled in 63 receptions for 1,149 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Defensively, Fishers allows 26 points per game, but remember who they are playing during the year. They have amassed 43 tackles for loss over the course of the season, with senior Tyler Maynard at 6-foot-3 and 255 a big problem with 12 TFL and four sacks along the front.
The Tigers have to go on the road to start the playoffs, but it is to a Noblesville team it handled 42-17 in the regular season. Fishers also beat Hamilton Southeastern in Week 4.
THE CONTENDER
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN (5-4)
It has been a tough season for HSE by its standards, with injuries being prevalent. The biggest one of those is Terry Walker III, the 6-foot-3 quarterback committed to Duke that hasn’t played since September.
Most recently, it has been freshman Deaken Jackson behind center for the Royals. In a trial by fire situation, he has thrown for 920 yards and seven touchdowns, with a 56 percent completion percentage and five passes picked off.
The defense is stout, with senior Matthew Ruiz a menace at linebacker as he leads HSE in both tackles for loss (seven) and sacks (nine).
Remember, HSE limited Carroll to a single touchdown in Week 1 in a 14-7 victory.
THE REST
HOMESTEAD (6-3)
You never know what you are going to get week to week from the Spartans.
For instance, the Spartans went to rival Carroll in Week 7 and got absolutely blitzed, losing 49-0 in the most lopsided game in the rivalry’s history. Homestead followed it up by a blanking of North Side, then continued to roll with a 42-0 win over Concordia.
But how does that momentum carry into Class 6A? Well, not much. Homestead showed last year that it has closed the gap with HSE, but it will need a big night from junior quarterback Logan Frieden to have a shot.
Defensively, Homestead is disciplined and sound. The breakdowns against Carroll seem to have been rectified, but high-powered offenses like Carroll, Northrop and Westfield have posted problems this year.
NOBLESVILLE (1-8)
The Millers are the lone team to have played all three opponents in this sectional, and they lost all three of them.
Coach John Hebert came over from Carmel and is in the midst of a rebuild in Year 1. Noblesville’s lone win of the season came in Week 1 against a Mt. Vernon team that finished 0-10 this year.
To have a chance against Fishers, the Millers would have to play their best game of the season by a significant margin.
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