Fisher Catholic and Berne Union meet for 57th rivalry game
By: Caiel Woody
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LANCASTER, Ohio (WOUB) — After both teams have waited all week, Fisher Catholic and Berne Union finally get to play each other in Lancaster. The Irish (5-1), are attempting to three peat in the 57th matchup of the rivalry against the (3-3) Rockets on Fisher’s senior night.
With Berne getting ball first, they make a strong first drive, and just when they get in scoring range, a fumbled pitch by Mason Walton gives Fisher ball; keeping the Rockets out of the paint. One punt by the Irish later and Berne gets the ball back, finding the endzone with a catch by James Hocking, putting the Rockets up; 6-0 with 5:44 in the 1st quarter. On the ensuing drive Dillon Cornell gets a pick six off Fisher and scores a 2-point conversion, stretching the Rockets lead to 14.
For the rest of the first quarter both teams stayed quiet chewing time off the clock, but early in the second, Joey Ellis makes a touchdown catch putting the Irish on the board 14-7 Berne with 8:53 in the half. A forced punt later and Fisher is driving right back down the field, but Cornell puts another early stop to an Irish drive making his second pick of the game putting the ball back in Rockets hands. For the rest of the half neither team managed to put more points on the board with the offenses taking a backseat as both defenses showed their strength.
In the second half neither team made any noise until the 4th quarter when Anderson Crook made a pick six to help Fisher tie the game 14-14, then right after the Irish forced a fumble getting the ball back when Deaglan Neighbor recovered, helping lead to a Sam Tencza touchdown catch putting Fisher up 21-14 to end the game.
A hard-fought victory for Fisher as both defenses made their presence known the whole night, but the Irish ended the game on top taking home the big plays when it mattered most keeping the Rockets from scoring and finding a way to put their own points on the board at the same time.