Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
_________________________________________________________________________
November 29, 2008
CATHEDRAL HANGS ON FOR
SECOND CROWN IN THREE SEASONS
In a defensive tussle, Indianapolis
Cathedral emerged the winner holding on for a 10-7 victory over previously
unbeaten Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in the Class 4A state championship game at
Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
It was the second state championship
in three seasons and seventh overall for the Irish (12-2) who ended on an
11-game win streak. Bishop Dwenger (14-1) was seeking its first 4A title to go
along with 3A titles it won in 1983, 1990 and 1991.
It was also the second meeting
between the two schools for the state championship. Dwenger claimed a 34-27
victory in the 1991 when both teams were in Class 3A.
The Cathedral defense came up big in
the final quarter when it was most needed.
Trailing 10-7, Dwenger moved the
ball to the Cathedral 24 yard line but its 18-play drive that drained 8:51 off
the clock went for naught when Emerson Ueber’s 41 yard field goal attempt
was blocked by Cathedral’s Allen Richardson with 3:16 to go.
The Irish punted on their next
possession giving Dwenger one last chance starting at their own 22 with 1:33
left.
Quarterback Trevor Yerrick’s first
two passes fell incomplete. He connected with Joe Colone for 17 yards on third
down but the play was called back on an illegal block and Yerrick’s next
two passes fell incomplete under pressure giving the ball back to Cathedral to
end the game.
Dwenger came in averaging 327 yards
of offense but was held to just 179 for the game. Cathedral had been averaging
284 but was held to just 131.
Cathedral opened the scoring with a 32
yard field goal with 6:33 left in the first quarter but Dwenger took a 7-3 lead
just before halftime when Yerrick connected with Robby Kimes on a 14 yard pass
with :47 seconds left.
After halftime, Yerrick was
intercepted on the second play from scrimmage by Cathedral’s Kevin Foley
who returned it five yards to the Dwenger 28 yard line. The Irish regained the
lead six plays later on fourth and two at the 10 yard line when Nick Najem
carried it past several would-be tacklers to the endzone.
Ranked fifth in final regular season
coaches poll, Cathedral topped its third top five team
in the last four weeks with the win over third-ranked Dwenger. It was the fifth
state championship in 14 seasons for the Irish under coach
Rick Streiff, who’s in his second stint as leader after rejoining the
program this year.
DWENGER’S
JOE COLONE NAMED ESKEW MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER
Following
the game, the IHSAA Executive Committee named Joe Colone of Fort Wayne Bishop
Dwenger as the winner of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A
football.
Colone played
both ways for the Saints at running back and linebacker and is also a three
year letterwinner for the track and field team.
He led the Saints as captain of this year’s team and was named to
the Summit Athletic Conference second team.
Colone is the
vice president of his senior class and serves as president of Bishop
Dwenger’s chapter of the National Honor Society. He is a member of the Key Club, Spirit Club,
and Bishop Dwenger Ambassadors. He has
volunteered with the Community Harvest Food Bank and “Lose the Training
Wheels”, a bike camp for kids with special needs.
Academically, Colone ranks 13th in his class with a 4.52 GPA on a 4.0
scale. He plans
to attend Indiana University and study biology.
Colone is
the son of Anthony and Jeri Colone of
The award
is presented annually to a senior participant in the state finals who was
nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental
attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. It is named in honor of
the IHSAA’s third commissioner who served the association from 1962-76
and who helped initiate the state tournament in 1973.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance presented a $1,000 scholarship to
Class 4A Game Quotes
Indianapolis Cathedral Head Coach
Rick Streiff
“It’s
a sense of relief. We knew it would be a dogfight. When you put two Catholic
schools out there that are pretty good, you’re going to get a game like
this. It was a great football game against a great football team.”
(On changes
at halftime) “We made no changes. We asked the coaches are they (Dwenger)
doing anything we didn’t prepare for…and they weren’t. So we
said, ‘OK, lets go play football.’ ”
“It’s
a great group of kids and I’m excited for them. The first championship for
me (1992) was a big deal because it’s every coaches
goal. Now I just look at the kids and I’m so happy for them.”
Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger Head Coach
Chris Svarczkopf
“I’m
really disappointed for our players because they played their hearts out.
Mistakes ended up being the difference. Cathedral was very physical and they
capitalized on our mistakes that we made.”
“Our
defense played super. We just weren’t able to get things going
offensively when we needed to. When we did, a mistake or a penalty cost us a
score.”
“Our
fourth quarter drive was just guts and our guys not wanting to quit. Trevor
(Yerrick) did a great job keeping the ball alive. It’s too bad it didn’t
end up the right way. We had the ball in the endzone but couldn’t score.
We went play action and they took us out of field goal range.”
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