Hamilton County Reporter

Hamilton Southeastern toughed out a season-opening win Friday at Reynolds
Royals Stadium, holding off Lawrence Central 24-20.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Royals opened the second period with a
touchdown on the first play of the quarter. Chris Stein ran seven yards up the
middle into the end zone to get Southeastern on the board.

Minutes later, Jake Huston made an interception, and the Royals took advantage. They got into the red zone, and eventually Alex Geroulis kicked a 30-yard field goal. Southeastern later scored on a nice pass from Andrew Hobson to Deandre Rhodes, a 51-yard touchdown
reception. Geroulis kicked the extra points after both TDs.

The Bears scored before halftime, but HSE still held a 17-7 lead at the break.
Lawrence Central scored a third-quarter touchdown to get within 17-14, and the
score stayed there until the 7:12 mark of the fourth period. Hobson threw a 30-
yard pass to Nathan Wolf, who found his way into the end zone. Geroulis’ extra
point kick made the score 24-14.

The Bears got one more touchdown with less than a minute left in the fourth
quarter. Lawrence Central tried an onside kick, but touched the ball before it
went the mandatory 10 yards. Southeastern got the ball back and kneeled it out.

“It was nice to get some stops, but to be honest, we probably shouldn’t have
been in that situation,” said Royals coach Adam Morris. “I thought that we did a
good job in the first half. I thought we had energy, enthusiasm. I just thought it
kind of faltered in the second half. That’s why they were able to come back and we
were lucky to walk away with a win.”

Hobson finished the game passing 15-of-25 for 233 yards, including the two touchdowns. Rhodes caught six receptions for 144 yards, with Ben Boysen making five catches for 46 yards. Tylin Taylor led the rushing with 61 yards.

Southeastern will travel to North Central next Friday for what will be a
tough game with the Panthers.

“I think what people used to think of as North Central is no more,” said Morris. “They are an elite 6A MIC program. If you don’t play well, they’re going to beat you and beat you by a lot. So we’re going to have to have a good week of practice and show up with our best effort
next week to win it.”

Hamilton County Reporter

The first game of the 2019 Indiana high school football season turned into a big victory for Fishers on the biggest stage in the state.

The Tigers overwhelmed North Central 26-0 in the opening game of the Horseshoe Classic Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The victory was the first for Fishers over the Panthers since 2016 and also came over a North Central team that was ranked No. 7 in Class 6A.

The Tigers set up their first scoring drive after Jackson Dunn caught a Panthers pass for an interception. The drive culminated in a nine-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Roux to Jeffrey Simmons, getting Fishers on the board.

Grant Whetsel then collected another NC interception on the first play of
the Panthers’ subsequent drive. The Tigers eventually settled for a field goal,
a 19-yarder from Jack Phillips with 13 seconds left in the first quarter. Phillips
also kicked the extra point for the Fishers’ touchdown.

In the second quarter, Collin Shelton grabbed a North Central interception,
which set up a long scoring drive for the Tigers. The drive finished when Nick
Leath corralled Roux’s second touchdown, this one from 17 yards, which
Phillips followed up with another extra point kick. Phillips later kicked a 48-
yard field goal, putting the Tigers up 20-0. On the next drive, Geoffrey Brown
picked off a Panthers’ pass, and ran it in 20 yards for a touchdown.

All of the game’s scoring took place in the first half. The Panthers tried to
put together a couple of fourth-quarter drives, but Fishers held them off. Whetsel made a second interception; Fishers picked off North Central six times in total.

Dylan Scally led the Tigers’ rushing with 58 yards. Roux finished the game
completing 9 of 23 passes for 80 yards.

Fishers earned its first shutout since 2017, and the Tigers became the first
team to shut out the Panthers since 2015. Fishers will travel to Pike next Friday.

Motorists traveling north and south this weekend (August 24 & 25) will see brief 10 minute road closures.  Also, look for more construction work around I-69 in Fishers.

For more on that, and other road construction news in and around Fishers, here is the weekly report from the City of Fishers:

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The Fishers city general election is set for Tuesday, November 5th, and the Hamilton County League of Women Voters is sponsoring a candidate forum on Tuesday, October 1st, 7pm, at Fishers City Hall City Council Chambers.  The League plans to invite all candidates to the the event.

There  are four contested city council races this year in Fishers.

Democrat Samantha DeLong is challenging Republican incumbent Eric Moeller in the North Central District.

Lane Skeeters, a Democrat, is running against Republican incumbent South Central District Councilman John Weingardt.

Democrat Adam Kaps is running against long-time Republican incumbent David George in the South West District.

Democrat Jocelyn Vare is challenging the three Republican at-large council members…Rich Block, Cecilia Coble and Todd Zimmerman.  The entire city votes in the at-large election, with the three top vote-getters winning a council seat.

The League plans on sponsoring other city election candidate forums this year.  All start at 7pm.  They include:

• Sept. 5th at Carmel City Hall
• Sept. 26th at Noblesville City Hall
• Sept. 30th at Westfield City Hall

If you are looking for yoga in Fishers, you will soon find it.  Developer Thompson-Thrift announced Thursday the Hot Room Yoga studio is coming to the new Fishers District development, near The Yard & IKEA, along 116th Street and I-69.

“We’re excited to have The Hot Room Yoga studio as part of our retail mix at Fishers District.” said Brandon Borah, Senior Leasing Representative for Thompson-Thrift, in a company news release. “Fishers District promises to be more than just a culinary destination for the Fishers community, but a place where people can also enjoy services promoting a healthy lifestyle all in one convenient location.”

The Hot Room Yoga studio will occupy about 2,804 square feet of retail space beneath the multi-family residential building known as The Mark at Fishers District, in the Spring, 2020.

“At The Hot Room, we’ve curated the most effective hot yoga and hot Pilates classes so students can experience massive physical and mental transformations quickly and jumpstart their most powerful life, regardless of their fitness level. We are beyond excited to expand our presence to the Fishers area and be a part of this growing community and beautiful development.” according to Hye Jin Kalgaonkar, The Hot Room Owner and Instructor.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

The football fans who will be attending Friday’s season opener for Hamilton Southeastern will see an experienced home team at Reynolds Royals Stadium.

Southeastern hosts Lawrence Central in its opener, which kicks off at 7 p.m. That will begin the second season at HSE for Adam Morris as head coach of the Royals, and he is highlighting the experience that will be returning at several positions.

One of those positions is at quarterback, where senior Andrew Hobson is returning. Hobson finished last season very strong, throwing for 555 yards and seven touchdowns in the final three games of the season.

The Royals will also be strong at the wide receiver position, with two returning seniors. Ben Boysen is led Southeastern in receptions last year with 49, gaining 464 yards. DeAndre Rhodes had 10 catches, including one for a touchdown. As for the line, Morris said his team will have a “lot of talent but youth” on the offensive line.

Morris said that Southeastern will also have experience returning on the defensive line and in the defensive back group. The defense includes a host of seniors, James Pflumm, Evan Lantz, Chris Stein and Jake Huston, plus junior John McCall . Lantz had 5.5 sacks last season, while McCall totaled 54 tackles.

After hosting Lawrence Central, the Royals will travel to North Central for a Week 2 game, then host Avon in Week 3 to begin Hoosier Crossroads Conference play. Southeastern will travel to Fishers for the Mudsock game in Week 4; the Tigers are a potential Class 6A Sectional 4 opponent, along with Carmel and Westfield.

“In 6A football your sectional is always going to be tough,” said Morris.

by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Fishers will play in the very first football game of the 2019 Indiana high school season.
The Tigers will start an hour ahead of everyone else, as they will be playing North Central at 6 p.m. Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium. It will be a re-match of last year’s Class 6A Sectional 5 championship game, which the Panthers won for their first sectional title in over 20 years.

Fishers last won a sectional title in 2017, so it knows how to play in the post-season. The Tigers have many of their players back from last season, so they have the experience to get back in the winner’s circle.

“My expectation is that we are an improved team who will play hard to the final seconds, competing hard against all opponents,” said Fishers coach Rick Wimmer.

Leading the way is senior Geoffrey Brown, a defensive linebacker who led the Tigers in total tackles with 112, including 16 for a loss. Brown also had five sacks last year.
The defensive linebacker group will be intact from last year, as juniors Matt Hohlt and Billy Reiter will join Brown in returning. Defensive backs who are returning are senior free safety Collin Shelton and senior cornerback Jackson Dunn. Two more seniors are back in the defensive end slots: Josh Ibey and Alex Lemaich.

All of the above players are listed as probable starters for Fishers. Other starters include senior Collin Worley on defensive tackle, with junior David Dilley and sophomore Andre Glover splitting time in the other DT slot. Rounding out the defense are junior Shane Cole in the second cornerback position and senior Grant Whetsel at strong safety.

On the offensive side, seniors Dylan Scally and Matt Noble will handle the running back duties. The Tigers also have two quarterbacks returning, senior Marcus Roux and junior Lucas Prewitt. Both have started games for Fishers. Senior Jack Phillips is back as kicker and punter.

The offensive line will be experienced. Returning starters are senior Ethan Dye (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) at left tackle, junior Jonah VanDer Kamp (6-6, 302) at right guard and senior Hayden Tobias (6-3, 276) at center.

Other offensive linemen on the starting list are junior Max Kohn (6-3, 278) at left guard and senior Wyatt Puff (6-4, 250) at right tackle. Juniors Silas Martin and Caleb Gates are slated in the tight end positions. Four players will handle wide receiver duties: Seniors Nick Leath and Reece Boland, junior Reggie Cook-Graham and sophomore Jeffrey Simmons.

After playing the Panthers, Fishers travels to Pike for its Week 2 game, then plays at Noblesville in Week 3 to start Hoosier Crossroads Conference play. The Tigers will compete in Sectional 4 this year, with Carmel, Westfield and city rival Hamilton Southeastern, whom Fishers will host in Week 4 for the Mudsock game.

“They are familiar opponents,” said Wimmer. “Carmel is always a tough opponent to get by in the sectional but all of the sectional opponents are excellent programs and will be tough games.”

(Editor’s Note:  I began writing about this issue on July 15th, and the Reporter has published some of my material as part of our news-gathering partnership, and I am posting Fred Swift’s commentaries under that partnership.  As a reminder, the opinions expressed in Fred’s commentaries are his alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of LarryInFishers.com)

by

Fred Swift

Hamilton County Reporter

A 10 percent increase in Hamilton County’s local income tax, which so far has been made generally known only by the Reporter, has created a lot of conversation among the limited number of folks who know about it.

The new tax is to become effective January 1 assuming the Carmel and Fishers city councils adopt resolutions favoring it. The tax is designed to cover the costs of the county’s Emergency 911 communications operation.

The tax will raise about $17 million next year and mean that the county’s cities and county government will no longer have to budget for their share of maintaining the communications.

The plan may be quite all right, but it’s hard to understand the quiet advance of this financing plan with almost no discussion in public meetings, and very little news coverage. There will be public notices in the newspaper advertising a public hearing, but very few folks attend public hearings.

There should be no question that keeping our 911 service working at top efficiency is vital. And, the service is working well at present on an annual budget of about $10 million. But, the smaller towns have been paying very little for their service. So, to equalize the burden, the new tax is planned.

It is here that some legitimate public scrutiny is warranted. Why, for example, could county government not take over financing the communications within its budget? It would be fair because everyone pays county taxes.

The county next year will collect $3.3 million more in overall taxes than its budget requires. The county already has surplus and Rainy Day funds of more than $33 million.

In addition, the State of Indiana contributes $3.6 million annually to our 911 communications operation. So, paying the 911 expenses would have little impact on the county’s financial picture.

But, most city and town administrations want the added tax. In the case of the cities, millions of dollars now being paid for 911 will be freed up for other spending, and for the small towns, there will be no contributions needed.

Although few folks have heard of the Local Income Tax Council, it is that council which will vote to impose the tax increase. And, because of their populations, Fishers and Carmel together control more than half the council votes.

It’s a little complicated, but that’s sometimes the way the state and local leadership likes it. So, now you know. Just thought you might like to be aware of what all is behind your tax increase.

Wednesday was a big day for Bob Rice.  He was there at Hamilton Southeastern Intermediate & Junior High School (also known at “The HIJH”) for the “Flip the Switch” ceremony, marking the start of generating electricity for the school building through the solar arrays on the HIJH property.

You can read more about the solar array project in a story I posted July 23rd at this link.

The local school district is partnering with a private firm, Ameresco, in this solar endeavor.

HSE High School Athletic Director Jim Brown flipped the switch Wednesday morning, starting the solar power to be used at the school building next door,

To have support for any foundation, you must have solid fund-raising efforts locally and use the money raised to support local people.  In watching the work of the Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation over several years, I have seen that group check both of those boxes.

I sat down recently with Hamilton Southeastern (HSE)Schools Foundation Executive Director Justin Hirnisey and talked about the work of the foundation.