Class 6A third-ranked Cathedral defeated Class 4A tenth-rated Brebeuf Jesuit, 42-21, for a high school football homecoming victory Friday at Arlington. It’s the fifth straight win for the Irish (6-1) and the fourth consecutive game in which at least a portion of the second half was played with a running clock.
Cathedral safety Stu Smith recovered a fumble at the Irish 48-yard line on the third play of the game. Five plays later, Carson Johnson ran 10 yards for a score to give the Irish a 7-0 lead two minutes into the contest. Johnson’s second TD run, a six-yard burst, capped an 8-play drive that started at the Cathedral 44-yard line after Jackson Lockhart intercepted Braves’ quarterback Maverick Geske.
Geske responded by tossing a 12-yard scoring pass to Taylor Clark midway through the second quarter to pull Brebeuf to within 14-7. Cathedral then went on a 12-play, 80-yard drive. The result was David Ayers catching a short pass from Danny O’Neil and working his way through tacklers down the home sideline for a 42-yard touchdown reception.
The Irish opened the second half with a 71-yard, four-play, 58-second drive, which ended with O’Neil scoring on a 6-yard run. Early in the fourth quarter, O’Neil threw a 26-yard pass to Keith Long in corner of the end zone to make the score 35-7. Smith intercepted Geske on the next play and returned the ball 44 yards for a defensive touchdown.
The 35-point differential triggered the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s Mercy Rule requiring the remainder of the game to be played with a running clock. Brebeuf scored twice in the last six and a half minutes for the final margin.
O’Neil completed 22 of 31 passes for 303 yards. In doing so, he has now completed more passes in his career (365) than any other Cathedral quarterback, breaking Orin Edwards’ school record (355) set in 2019. Johnson rushed for more than 100 yards for a third straight game, gaining 113 yards on 18 attempts.
Cathedral travels to second-rated Center Grove next Friday to conclude the regular season. The two-time reigning 6A champion Trojans are 7-1 this season, losing only at Louisville Trinity, 29-28, in double overtime. Center Grove leads the all-time series against the Irish 6-4. Six of the last eight games between the two schools have been decided by seven points or less.