Top-ranked Cathedral defeated Castle, 32-7, on the road Friday night to win the Class 5-A southern semi-state and advance to the high school football state finals at Lucas Oil Stadium next Saturday (7:00 pm). The Irish (12-1) will face Zionsville (7-5) in the title game. The 11th-rated Eagles defeated third-ranked and previously unbeaten Valparaiso, 27-9, in the 5-A northern semi-state.
Cathedral received the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 15-yard pass from Nathan McCahill to Parker Spellacy. Jake Langdon’s 3-yard touchdown run capped the next drive, which lasted six plays and covered 74 yards.
McCahill ran for an 83-yard touchdown and threw a 25-yard TD pass to Cam Jordan in the second quarter. In between those two scores, Ben Gomez kicked a 35-yard field goal. The Irish led 29-0 at halftime with Cathedral’s defense limiting Castle to just 23 yards of total offense in the first 24 minutes.
Gomez added a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter. The Knights got on the board in the final period when Cameron Tilly connected with Evan Pritchard for a 37-yard touchdown pass.
McCahill completed 15 of 23 passes for 182 yards and ran for career-high 132 yards on just five attempts. His two touchdown passes give him 36 for the season, breaking the school record for most scoring passes set by Connor Barthel, who threw for 35 touchdowns in 2010. McCahill also becomes the fifth quarterback in school history to throw for more than 3,000 yards in a career.
Langdon rushed for 91 yards on 14 carries to become the tenth running back in Irish history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a career. Gomez now holds the school record for most made field goals in a season with ten. Cathedral’s defense forced two turnovers, giving the Irish 27 takeaways this season, off of which they have scored 124 points.
The semi-state title is Cathedral’s 14th, leading the Irish to a record-tying 16th state championship appearance, its first since winning the Class 5-A state title in 2014. Zionsville is making its first state championship appearance since 2000 and fourth overall. Cathedral has a 6-1 record all-time against the Eagles in tournament play with all of the previous meetings occurring in the sectional or regional rounds.