HSE football will 'never give up. Ever.' Even when the ball looks destined for the ground

FISHERS — It marked a significant turning point in Hamilton Southeastern's 38-21 victory over rival Fishers in Friday's Class 6A Sectional 3 championship game, but there are conflicting reports on how Donovan Rhodes' shoestring interception at the goal line came to be.

Fishers coach Curt Funk didn't have a good view of the play standing on the opposite sideline, but heard the ball hit off an HSE player, while Royals coach Michael Kelly was convinced the pass hit off the receiver's thigh.

For his part, Rhodes — the main protagonist in all this — said the ball actually hit off the receiver's hands.

Whatever happened, the ball popped up and hung in the air just long enough for Rhodes to make a play on it, with the 6-1 senior defensive back snatching the interception and returning it to the 35-yard line.

IHSAA football: Scores, highlights, stats from sectional finals

"It was dang near on the ground," grinned Rhodes. "I don't know how I caught it. I got hands, though."

On a night littered with big plays, perhaps none were as important as Rhodes' two interceptions. The first halted a seemingly inevitable Fishers scoring drive; the second, which came just a few minutes later, deflated any hopes of a Fishers rally and put HSE on course for its third consecutive sectional championship.

"A big part about Donovan is he's nonchalant, unassuming," Kelly said of Rhodes. "He just does his thing. ... He's a good football player. A very, very good football player."

Overtime was required when Hamilton Southeastern traveled to Fishers back in early September, and the postseason rematch appeared destined for a similarly dramatic finish.

The teams traded three touchdowns over the first seven minutes with HSE scpres by Chandler Weston (52-yard run) and Donovan Hamilton (4-yard reception) sandwiched around a 70-yard touchdown pass by Fishers from Bennett Gorak to Joe Syrus.

The host Royals gained some breathing room midway through the third — Jalen Alexander cracked off a 27-yard touchdown run — but Fishers promptly answered with beautiful 29-yard touchdown reception by JonAnthony Hall, wherein two defenders collided as he made a tougher-than-it-looked catch over the middle.

"Our kids kept battling the whole night," Funk said. "Unfortunately, they made more plays than we did, but it wasn't for a lack of effort by us. I credit HSE with making the plays when they needed to and coming up with the big plays when they needed them."

That touchdown was negated early in the fourth with a 5-yard run by Alexander, but the Tigers were unfazed, piecing together a long drive that featured a third-down conversion around midfield and saw Gorak complete a pass to Noah McPeek at the 1-yard line.

Fishers was poised to make it a one-score game once again, but then Rhodes happened.

Gorak rolled to his left and rifled a pass toward the front of the end zone. The ball hit off — someone — and popped up. As his teammates began signaling for an incompletion, Rhodes reached down and snagged the pass.

"The ball was hanging in the air and it was like 'knock it down, knock it down,' but then I'm like, 'No, pick it off!'" Kelly laughed. "That was huge."

The Tigers' defense stepped up and forced a punt on the ensuing drive. But a special teams blunder pinned the visitors at their own 5, then Rhodes tracked down an overthrown pass along the far sideline for his second interception of the night and third of the season.

"We're all a bunch of dogs," Rhodes said. "Our whole defense, we never stop. We'll never give up. Ever."

More HSE: Kaylyn Christy faced a year-long recovery process. She made it back in four months.

Rhodes' pick put the game away for all intents and purposes, but Alexander left no room for doubt, punching in his second touchdown of the night with 44.2 seconds left.

HSE improves to 9-2; Fishers finishes the season 7-4.

The Royals have won four straight and five of the past six vs. their in-town rivals. They lost to regional foe Westfield, 30-28, on Sept. 15.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football: HSE maintains sectional dominance over Fishers