1998 IHSAA STATE FINALS

Class 4A

November 28, 1998

RCA Dome, Indianapolis

 

Concord (10-5)

0

0

7

0

--

7

Indianapolis Cathedral (13-2)

0

10

14

14

--

38

 

Scoring Summary

2nd Quarter

Indianapolis Cathedral -- George Allen 19 run (Ben Allen kick), 7:33.

Scoring Drive -- 4 plays, 49 yards, 1:40.

 

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Ben Allen 51 field goal, 0:00.

Scoring Drive -- 5 plays, 47 yards, 1:31.

 

3rd Quarter

Concord -- Rickey McKenzie 72 pass from Russ Mann (Brant Fowler kick), 10:26.

Scoring Drive -- 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:34.

 

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Otis Shannon 71 run (Ben Allen kick), 7:03.

Scoring Drive -- 1 play, 71 yards, :12.

 

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Phil Brown 1 run (Ben Allen kick), 2:12.

Scoring Drive -- 7 yards, 45 yards, 3:22.

 

4th Quarter

Indianapolis Cathedral -- George Allen 5 run (Mike Huntington kick), 10:05.

Scoring Drive -- 2 plays, 19 yards, :35.

 

Indianapolis Cathedral -- William Birdsong 8 run (Ben Allen kick), 1:02.

Scoring Drive -- 3 plays, 13 yards, 1:32.

 

Team Statistics

Concord

 

Indianapolis Cathedral

11

First Downs

13

38/71

Rushes/Yards

294

117

Passing Yards

17

5/14/2

Passing Comp./Att./Int.

2/7/0

52/188

Plays/Total Net Yards

47/311

112

Return Yards

84

5/33.2

Punts/Avg.

5/43.6

3/20

Penalties/Yards

6/63

3/2

Fumbles/Lost

1/0

26:12

Time of Possession

21:48

 

Individual Statistics

Rushing

Concord -- McKenzie 19-57; Staley 7-33; Espinas 1-1; Martin 1-0; Wakeman 2-minus 3; Matney 1-minus 5; Mann 7-minus 12.

Indianapolis Cathedral-- Allen 14-125; Shannon 12-119; McGrath 3-16; Pitrelli 2-13; Birdsong 3-13; Brown 3-6; Tillis 2-5; Matthews 1-minus 3.

 

Passing

Concord -- Mann 5-14-117.

Indianapolis Cathedral-- McGrath 2-7-17.

 

Receiving

Concord -- McKenzie 2-78; Myers 2-35; Lyon 1-4.

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Rinehart 1-9; Hayes 1-8.

 

Tackles

Concord -- VanPutten 6; Martin 5; Mann 4; Poe 4; Rickard 4.

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Brown 8; Stanback 8; Pitrelli 5.

 

Sacks

Concord -- None.

Indianapolis Cathedral -- G. Allen 1; Broadus 1.

 

Interceptions

Concord -- None.

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Matthews 1; S. Peterson 1.

 

Fumble Recoveries

Concord -- Myers 1.

Indianapolis Cathedral -- Pitrelli 1; Peters 1; Kiwanuka 1.

 

CLASS 4A GAME NOTES

 

Cathedral's Fourth State Championship

The Fighting Irish earned their fourth football state championship and second in Class 4A. They won the Class 3A title in 1986 and the 4A crowns in 1992 and 1996. Cathedral joins Ben Davis, Franklin Central, Hobart, Indianapolis Chatard, Penn and Roncalli as the only schools with four state championships. Sheridan's six titles and Carmel's five rank one-two on the IHSAA state charts.

 

Cathedral, Jimtown, Penn Best In The 90s

Indianapolis Cathedral equaled Jimtown and Penn with its third state championship in the 1990s, each of which came under 10th-year head coach Rick Streiff. Jimtown won a Class A title in 1991 and 2A titles in 1997 and 1998. Penn won three straight Class 5A crowns in 1995, 1996 and 1997.

Record Field Goal

Indianapolis Cathedral's Ben Allen booted a 51-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to set the overall record for longest in a state championship game. He bettered the mark of 48 yards set by Trinity Hines of Ben Davis in the 1991 Class 5A game against Penn. The previous Class 4A standard was a 45 yarder by Hobart's Bill Manolopolous in the 1989 final against Franklin Central.

 

Record Punt

Cathedral's Scott Peterson drilled two record-setting punts in the second half. Peterson hit a 55-yarder in the third quarter that tied the Class 4A record held by Jeff George of Warren Central vs. Hobart in 1984. He followed up that effort by kicking a 62-yard punt in the fourth quarter to set the 4A record.

 

Concord's Russ Mann Named Eskew Award Recipient

Russ Mann, the starting quarterback for Concord, was selected by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the 1998 recipient of the Phil N. Eskew Award for Mental Attitude in Class 4A football. Mann battled back from an early season shoulder injury to lead the Minutemen to their first state finals appearance since 1984. Also a starter in the defensive backfield, Mann was a three-year letterman for Concord and served as team captain. He is a two-year lettermen in baseball, earning All-Northern Lakes Conference honors in 1998. Academically, Mann ranks in the top third of his senior class. He is involved in several other extracurricular activities at the school and has been an active volunteer in the community. Mann plans to attend Ball State University and major in education.

Farm Bureau Insurance, corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Concord High School in Mann's name.

 

CLASS 4A QUOTES

 

Concord Head Coach Tim Dawson

"We ran into a better team today. We had some turnovers and that gave them some opportunities."

 

"It was hard to believe that the game was 10-7 at one time. In a 48-minute game, it gets pretty hot in here and that worked on us a little bit."

 

"Defensively, they were quicker than we anticipated. Give them a lot of credit, we have not seen a pass rush like that all year."

 

"They made the big plays and we only made a few. When they scored right after we did (score being 10-7), it was a killer. We've kept the momentum most of the year, but they grabbed it right back from us."

 

"We talked at halftime about just being down 10-0. We came out and gained some momentum, but it was short lived."

 

"They did a good job taking away our long passing and that, in turn, hurt our running game."

 

"Last year we were 2-8 and this year we walked off the field State Runners-Up. I was proud of the effort our team, especially the seniors, made."

 

Commenting on Russ Mann, Mental Attitude Winner, "When he got hurt in the season, it hurt us. When he came back in the Plymouth game, that gave us a shot and that carried us here to the Dome."

 

Russ Mann, Quarterback and Mental Attitude Award Winner

"It (winning the award) takes a little off of the loss today and I'm proud to win the award. Cathedral made too many plays and that was the difference."

 

Indianapolis Cathedral Head Coach Rick Streiff

"It was a tough football game and the score was not indicative of the game. We made some big plays when we had to."

 

"At halftime, we looked at the stats and we felt we had stopped ourselves with penalties. We had to change that in the second half and we eliminated the penalties and the mistakes and made some big plays."

 

Commenting on Otis Shannon's 71-yard touchdown run, "We had seen them make big plays all year. We needed to counter a score with a score. Our press box people had been on me to run that play. I called it just to say that it might not work, but it went 71 yards. We got a good seam and blocks from our wideouts and Otis did the rest.

 

Commenting on Ben Allen's 51-yard field goal, "Ben had a shot at it and our special teams coach Chris Kaufman said he was good from 55 yards. It was huge for us right before the half."