2000 IHSAA FOOTBALL STATE FINALS

Class 2A

November 24, 2000

RCA Dome, Indianapolis

 

EVANSVILLE MATER DEI CLAIMS FIRST FOOTBALL TITLE

Riding the hot hand of junior quarterback Jake Schiff, second-ranked Evansville Mater Dei stormed to a 42-3 halftime lead on the way to a 56-10 victory over top-ranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers and its first IHSAA football state championship.

Schiff opened the game by hitting his first 11 passes. By halftime, Schiff had connected on 15 of 17 attempts for 206 yards while guiding Evansville Mater Dei to touchdowns on each of its first six possessions. Schiff finished 16 of 23 for 218 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior running back Nathan Wildeman complemented Schiff’s passing with 169 yards and four touchdowns on a Class 2A championship game-record 29 carries. Wildeman finished the season with 1,870 yards and 31 rushing touchdowns.

Wildeman scored on runs of 1, 4, 12 and 10 yards for the No. 2-ranked Wildcats, who accumulated 432 yards of offense (214 rushing, 218 passing).

Kyle Lindsay kicked a 19-yard field goal in the first quarter for Bishop Luers and Troy Wyss caught a 25-yard pass from Lindsay in the third quarter.

The victory capped a perfect 15-0 season for the Wildcats and fourth-year head coach Mike Goebel. The championship was the first in football for Goebel, now in his 22nd year with the program, but the eighth in his coaching career. He has led the Wildcat wrestling team to seven IHSAA state championships, including its state record sixth consecutive last winter.

Evansville Mater Dei became the first Evansville school to win a football state championship in the 28-year history of the tournament.

It was the first loss in 22 games for Fort Wayne Luers, and ended a tournament run of 11 games for the 1999 state champions.

 

Fort Wayne Luers (14-0)

3

0

7

0

--

10

Evansville Mater Dei (14-0)

21

21

0

14

--

56

 

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

Evansville Mater Dei – Nathan Wildeman 1 run (Brandon Porter kick), 10:18.

Fort Wayne Luers – Kyle Lindsay 19 field goal, 7:38.

Evansville Mater Dei Patrick Mallory 17 pass from Jake Schiff (Brandon Porter kick), 6:00.

Evansville Mater Dei – Nathan Wildeman 4 run (B.J. Porter kick), 1:00.

2nd Quarter

Evansville Mater Dei – Nathan Wildeman 12 run (Brandon Porter kick), 8:03.

Evansville Mater Dei – Jared Schiff 11 pass from Jake Schiff (Brandon Porter kick), 4:09.

Evansville Mater Dei – Albert Schmitt 60 pass from Jake Schiff (Porter kick), 1:15.

3rd Quarter

Fort Wayne Luers – Troy Wyss 25 pass from Kyle Lindsay (Jason Egts kick), 5:47.

4th Quarter

Evansville Mater Dei – Nathan Wildeman 10 run (Brandon Porter kick), 7:27.

Evansville Mater Dei – Eric Dewig 1 run (Brandon Porter kick), 2:27.

 

 

Team Statistics

Fort Wayne Luers

 

Evansville Mater Dei

10

First Downs

26

28/43

Rushes/Yards

41/214

166

Passing Yards

218

11-23-1

Passing Comp./Att./Int.

16-23-1

51/209

Plays/Total Net Yards

64/432

188

Return Yards

59

4/27.8

Punts/Avg.

2/23.0

5/54

Penalties/Yards

0/0

3/2

Fumbles/Lost

0/0

22:40

Time of Possession

25:20

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Fort Wayne Luers – Michael Ledo 14-58; Anthony Spencer 4-9; Matt Millhouse 1-9; Kyle Lindsay 8-minus 30.

Evansville Mater Dei – Nathan Wildeman 29-169; Eric Dewig 6-53; Dan Schenk 1-0; Doug Martin 2-minus 1; Jake Schiff 3-minus 7.

Passing

Fort Wayne Luers – Kyle Lindsay 11-23-166-1-1.

Evansville Mater Dei – Jake Schiff 16-23-218-3-1.

Receiving

Fort Wayne Luers – Steve Shank 3-40; Adam Griffith 2-32; Troy Wyss 2-31; Matt Millhouse 2-29; Anthony Spencer 1-24; Michael Ledo 1-10.

Evansville Mater Dei – Jared Schiff 4-45; Albert Schmitt 3-89; Pat Mallory 3-27; Dan Alcorn 3-15; Andrew Musick 1-19; Eric Dewig 1-12; Nathan Wildeman 1-11.

Tackles

Fort Wayne Luers – Kevin Budenz 10; Brian Carsten 9; Brian Kurtz 7; Adam Griffith 5; Matt Millhouse 4; Mike Oberholtzer 4; Anthony Spencer 3; Jason August 3; Michael Ledo 3; Chris Custard 3; Ryan Egts 3; Dan Bowers 2; Ben Wyss 2; Troy Wyss 2; Jason Harless 1; Pat Burkhaart 1; Justin Gerardot 1; Tony Kleber 1; Adam Krouse 1; Brad Knipp 1; Nick Smith 1.

Evansville Mater Dei – Allen Weinzapfel 6; Garen Garrison 6; Keith Herrmann 6; Scott Lewis 5; Nick Gaffney 5; Ryan Dewig 4; Albert Schmitt 4; Eric Dewig 4; Pat Mallory 3; Bryan Benke 3; Aaron Knight 3; Matt Hoon 3; Doug Cardin 2; Logan Riggs 2; Jared Schiff 1; Dan Alcorn 1; Chris Folz 1.

Sacks

Fort Wayne Luers – Anthony Spencer 1.

Evansville Mater Dei – Garen Garrison 2; Allen Weinzapfel 2; Aaron Knight 1.

Interceptions

Fort Wayne Luers – Michael Ledo 1.

Evansville Mater Dei – Eric Dewig 1.

Fumble Recoveries

Fort Wayne Luers – None.

Evansville Mater Dei – Ryan Dewig 1; Blake Kollker 1.

 

CLASS 2A GAME NOTES

JAKE SCHIFF RANKS THIRD IN SEASON PASSING, SIXTH IN CAREER PASSING – Junior quarterback Jake Schiff hit 16 of 23 passes for 218 yards against Fort Wayne Luers to finish the 2000 season with 3,780 passing yards. That’s the third highest total in state history, behind only Rick Mirer of Goshen (3,973 yards in 1988) and Schiff’s 1999 total of 3,947. With a season to go, Schiff ranks sixth on the state’s career list with 7,727 yards. The career leader is Martinsville’s Earl Haniford with 11,110 yards.

WILDEMAN BREAKS 2A RUSHING ATTEMPTS RECORD – Senior running back Nathan Wildeman broke the 2A state championship game record with 29 attempts on the way to a 169-yard performance. The previous 2A record was 26 by Fred Moore of Fort Wayne Luers in 1989 against Tri-West Hendricks.

JARED SCHIFF FINISHES SIXTH ON SEASON RECEIVING LIST, EIGHTH ON CAREER CHART – Senior wide receiver Jared Schiff of Evansville Mater Dei grabbed four passes for 45 yards to finish the season with 1,347 yards. That total ranks sixth on the state season list. Schiff finished his career with 2,393 yards, good for eighth on the state career chart.

MATER DEI IS EVANSVILLE’S FIRST IHSAA FOOTBALL CHAMPION – Mater Dei became the first Evansville school to capture an IHSAA football state championship in the 28-year history of the tournament. Mater Dei was the Class 2A state runner-up in 1994. Evansville Reitz was the Class 3A runner-up in 1977, while Evansville North was the Class 5A runner-up in 1995.

MATER DEI’S GOEBEL A TWO-SPORT CHAMPIONSHIP COACH – Evansville Mater Dei coach Mike Goebel became the first coach to win state championships in football and wrestling. Last winter, his Wildcat grapplers became the first school in Indiana history to win six straight wrestling state titles. He has coached wrestling at the school since 1978 and has won seven titles overall (1986-95-96-97-98-99-2000). This is his 22nd year as a coach with the football program and the fourth as the head coach.

DOMINIC FARAONE NAMED CLASS 2A MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD RECIPIENT

Dominic Faraone, a senior at Evansville Mater Dei High School, was selected by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the 2000 recipient of the Phil N. Eskew Award for Mental Attitude in Class 2A football.

Faraone was a three-year starter at offensive tackle for the Wildcats and a key factor in the success of Mater Dei’s high-powered offense that averaged more than 400 yards per game this season.

Faraone also has lettered three years in track and field and once in basketball.

Academically, Faraone ranks 36th in a senior class of 149 students with a 3.58 grade point average. He is a member of the National Honor Society and is involved in several extracurricular and volunteer activities.

His college choice has yet to be decided, but he intends to major in pre-law and hopes to continue his football career.

Farm Bureau Insurance, corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 check to Evansville Mater Dei High School in Faraone’s name.

CLASS 2A QUOTES

Evansville Mater Dei Coach Mike Goebel

"Even I was totally amazed at how they (Mater Dei offense) performed."

"The defense did an outstanding job and the offense responded by making big play after big play. The coach can call plays but its up to the players to execute them. These guys have doing that all year. I couldn’t be prouder. They are truly winners and a lot of fun to be around. They’ve been fun all year long from day one."

"It’s the perfect ending to a perfect season. We’ve never tasted this…it’s been 50 years coming."

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Coach Matt Lindsay

I thought that Mater Dei’s first half was about as good a half as I’ve seen anyone play. They were almost flawless. They executed tremendously. I would give them the credit.

"We didn’t quite have an answer for their passing game tonight. What happened was pretty obvious.

We thought we were good enough defensively to counter their passing attack. When we got at (the quarterback), he got rid of the ball. When we didn’t pressure him, he found an open receiver. They do pretty well with that passing game…about as well as I’ve seen. They spread you out and force you to play pass and that opens up some running lanes. We were too tentative playing defense."

(On Luers’ running game) "I felt we could run the ball all over the place. But once we fell behind 14-3 and 21-3 you need to change your scope a little bit. Pounding away was no longer feasible."