In a matchup of top-rated and undefeated high school football teams Friday night, Cathedral lost in the closing seconds, 17-13, at Center Grove. The Class 5A top-ranked Fighting Irish now enter the post-season with an 8-1 record, while the Class 6-A number-one Trojans improve to 9-0.
Center Grove jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first half on Tayven Jackson’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Connor Delp and Austin Watson’s 34-yard field goal. Cathedral responded with a 76-yard scoring drive. Nathan McCahill's 46-yard pass to Jaron Tibbs set up a 15-yard scoring throw to David Perry. A two-point conversion attempt failed, making the score 10-6 with less than three minutes to play in the first half.
Cathedral took the lead in the third quarter when J.P. Koscielski intercepted a Jackson pass and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown. Ben Gomez kicked the extra point to put the Irish ahead 13-10. After Watson missed a potential game-tying 30-yard field goal with 3:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, Cathedral went to work at its own 20-yard line trying to run out the clock.
After gaining two first downs and forcing Center Grove to use all three of its timeouts, the Irish decided to go for it on fourth and one at the Trojans’ 44-yard line. Center Grove stopped McCahill’s shovel pass to Cam Jordan running around left end for a 2-yard loss, giving the ball to the Trojans at their own 46-yard line with 1:14 remaining. Center Grove regained the lead for good on Jackson’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Trent Veith with 16 seconds to play.
McCahill completed 12 of 19 passes for 123 yards. Tibbs and Perry each caught three passes for 60 and 35 yards respectively. Jake Langdon rushed for 64 yards on 18 carries. Center Grove’s all-time leading rusher Carson Steele ran for 132 yards on 25 attempts to become the first player to gain more than 100 yards on the ground against the Irish this season. Jackson completed 11 of 19 passes for 179 yards.
Cathedral has a bye in Class 5A Sectional 13 next week. The Fighting Irish open tournament play at Terre Haute South Vigo October 30th. Cathedral defeated the Braves, 38-14, last season in the sectional semifinals at Arsenal Tech. The Irish have won 10 of their previous 11 meetings against South.