By Craig Adkins
Contributing Writer
FISHERS â??? In one sprawling town that is now back to two high
schools feeding off the same school system, families and friends that have been
a part of each othersâ?? lives for many years are now in separate cheer blocks â??? even
though they may live next door to one another.
Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern had been one school
since 1967, when they consolidated into Hamilton Southeastern. Until then, the
Fishers Tigers were a rival of the Hamilton Southeastern Royals. Now that the 2006-07
school year has begun, that 39-year gap has once again closed.
At Royals Stadium, the split served as an end and a
beginning for the two Hamilton
County teams. Behind a
stealth rushing attack that piled up 320 yards, including 202 on 15 carries by
Marcus Spann, defending Class 5A state runner-up Southeastern proved itâ??s
deserving of its No. 4 ranking with a 42-6 thumping of neighboring Fishers.
The Royals had mixed feelings about the win. They have,
after all, grown up playing on the same teams as the Tigers, and vice versa.
â??Itâ??s gonna be a rivalry for years to come now,â? said
Spann, a senior. â??We were all friends before, and now weâ??re divided.â?
The Royals took the ball 73 yards for their first score of
the night, capping off the opening drive with a 39-yard touchdown pass from
Josh Powers to twin brother Nate Powers. Sophomore Michael Stollmeyer booted
the PAT through, making it 7-0.
After forcing Fishers to punt for the second straight
possession, Southeastern got a nice run through the Tiger defense from 31 yards
out. The extra point bumped it up to 14-0, and the rout was on.
Another Fishers punt deep in its own territory created
great field position for the Royals. A 23-yard pickup by Spann moved it down to
the Tiger 12 before Brandon Kiel (the Royals alternate between a twin and the
son of former Columbus East and Notre Dame standout QB Blair Kiel) dumped a
pass over the middle to receiver Josh Arnold for a 12-yard score. Stollmeyerâ??s
kick failed, so the score stood at 20-0 Royal.
In the second stanza, Southeastern capitalized on two more
scoring opportunities, the first a five-yard pass from Kiel to Nate Powers (and two-point conversion
run by Spann) and the second a 15-yard run up the gut by fullback Mitchell
Armstrong. The Tiger crowd was pretty quiet as the teams went into halftime at
35-zip.
In the second half, Josh Powers returned a Fishers punt to
the Tiger 38 to set up the Royalsâ?? last score â??? a Josh Powers-to-Spann screen
pass that found paydirt from 23 yards out.
With reserves in the rest of the way for Southeastern,
Fishers played smart and kept the starters in the game, knowing that they were
fully capable of putting some points on the board in this reinstated rivalry. Quarterback
Zach Hoke led the Tigers on an 80-yard drive as running backs Nico Walker and
Zach Wallace rolled up some yardage to go along with Hokeâ??s 48 yards of
passing.
The Tigers finally got on the board when Hoke connected
with junior receiver Joel Kinsey through the middle from 21 yards out. In a
fitting conclusion to the Tigersâ?? tough night, the kick failed.
â??Iâ??m glad the hype is finally over,â? Southeastern coach
Rob Cutter said as his team celebrated its 2-0 start to the young season. â??Goal
number one is to win the conference championship, and this is one step closer
to that.â?
This night â??? the so called â??Rumble in the Jungleâ? â??? will
always be remembered as the night that the town of Fishers was split in half. Southeastern may
have all the seniors, but Fishers is full of underclassmen who might be turning
some heads the next couple years.
This rivalry is just getting started.
Here are your individual statistics:
14-33, Zach Hoke 5-0. HSE â??? Marcus
Spann 15-202, Brandon Kiel 2-25, Josh Powers 3-20, Kyle Fitzgerald 4-20,
Mitchell Armstrong 2-19, Jordan Hoffman 1-15, John Bainey 1-9, Zach Heiniger
1-(-3), Tyler Sherrier 1-(-5).
RECEIVING
Matt Hitt 2-18. HSE â??? Nate Powers
3-62, Ricky Wellington 2-33, Spann 1-23, Sherrier 1-17, Arnold 2-17, Corey
Sexson 1-6.
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