Class 5-A second-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral scored on four of its first five possessions Friday night then cruised to a 42-14 victory at Class 6-A Noblesville to open the 2019 high school football season. When the Irish advantage reached 35 points in the third quarter, the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s new “Mercy Rule” took effect and the last 17 minutes of the game were played with a running clock.
Cathedral took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in eight plays, finishing with a seven-yard touchdown run by senior running back Daylen Hall. Late in the opening period, senior quarterback Orin Edwards connected with junior wide receiver David Perry on a 28-yard scoring pass to improve the lead to 13-0.
On the first play of the next series, Edwards completed a short pass to junior wide receiver Cam Jordan who then raced through the Noblesville defense for an 87-yard touchdown. Hall scored two more times before the intermission on runs of 45 and 72 yards to put the Irish ahead 34-7 at the half.
Cathedral junior running back Jake Langdon scored on a one-yard run at the 5:32 mark of the third quarter. Jordan added a two-point conversion on an end run to make the score 42-7. A 35-point second-half differential is the threshold in which the running clock begins. Under the Mercy Rule, the game clock does not stop during play with the exception of timeouts, scores, or injuries.
Cathedral’s rolled up 509 total yards on offense in the game, with 436 of those coming in the first half. The Irish defense held Noblesville to just 90 yards of total offense for the night, 61 yards rushing and 29 yards passing.
Edwards completed 13 of 18 passes for 256 yards. Perry and Jordan Thomas each caught four passes, while Cam Jordan had three receptions for 117 yards. Hall led the Cathedral ground game with 184 yards rushing on just nine attempts.
Cathedral is now 13-3-1 all-time against Noblesville. The Irish have won their last six outings against the Millers dating back to 1944. Cathedral travels to Cincinnati next Saturday to face Archbishop Moeller at St. Xavier High School in game two of the Cincy – Indy football challenge. The Irish are 3-6 all-time against the Crusaders. Cathedral lost to Moeller, 21-19, in the most recent meeting between the schools in 2015.