The 30th Annual IHSAA Football State Finals

November 29-30, 2002, RCA Dome, Indianapolis

Roncalli Rallies Past Bishop Dwenger For Class 4A Title

Sophomore Tim Sergi scored from one yard out with 1:09 left in the game to help Roncalli rally past Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, 24-21, in a thrilling conclusion to the Class 4A state championship game.

Sergi also ran in the two point conversion to give the Rebels the three-point cushion. The defense held on downs in the final minute and secured Roncalli’s record sixth state championship and its first in Class 4A.

Sergi, a starting defensive back, entered the game on the offensive side of the ball in place of star running back Marcus Nalley who was injured late in the third quarter. Nalley finished the game with 64 yards on 18 carries, while Sergi gained 35 yards on eight rushes.

Bruce Scifres guided the 10-4 Rebels as he has in the school’s four previous championship campaigns.

Sergi’s score capped a 14-point fourth quarter that also saw Nick Johnson score on a four yard carry to pull Roncalli within 21-16. Dwenger made a great defensive stop on the two-point conversion attempt holding Johnson short of the goal line that would have pulled Roncalli within a field goal.

Bishop Dwenger (13-2), also making its first appearance in the 4A title game, seemingly had the game under control when it took a 21-10 lead on Dan Kimes’ one yard run with 9:33 left to go in the game.

After the Rebels took a 10-0 lead on Jake McCoy’s 17 yard reception from Johnson in the first quarter and Kevin Trulock’s 36 yard field goal in the second quarter, Dwenger countered with a touchdown before halftime.

Kimes ran in a four yarder with 1:48 left and the point after made it 10-7 at the break. In the third quarter, Kimes found Matt Talarico for a six yard score at the 8:41 mark to give Dwenger its first lead at 14-10.

Dan Kimes finished the game with 92 yards on the ground for Dwenger and Dan Kimes passed for 105 yards completing eight of 14 passes and a touchdown for the Saints. Roncalli’s Nick Johnson finished with 75 yards completing 10 of 16 passes and a score.

Tyler Warner of Roncalli High School Named Eskew Award Winner

The 2002 Class 4A Phil N. Eskew Mental Award has been presented to Tyler Warner of Roncalli High School. The award goes to an outstanding senior participant in the football state tournament

Tyler was voted Outstanding Offensive Lineman for the Rebels in 2001 and is the leading candidate again this year. As one of this year’s co-captains, he was awarded the top honor of the Ironman Coaches Award, as the hardest worker in the off-season and, as a result, is the only player on the squad who has started both ways for each game of the campaign.

Tyler also has participated in wrestling and track.

Academically, Tyler is ranked first in his class of 255 and a member of the National Honor Society. He was a National Merit semi-finalist; Butler Math Contest winner; Indianapolis Colts Academic All-Star; Purdue University Academic Success Award winner and; Purdue University Indiana Resident Top Scholar Award recipient. He scored a perfect 800 on the math portion of the SAT and a near perfect 760 on the English portion of the SAT.

He is also active in the Spanish Club, Student Government and the Science Fair. In his free time, he is a Parish Family Life Center and Parish Festival volunteer, as well as a contributor to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry, Roncalli Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive and Center City Food Distribution.

A winner of a Purdue University Valedictorian Scholarship, Tyler will attend school in West Lafayette, with plans to major in Chemical Engineering.

He is the son of Teesia and Art Warner of Indianapolis.

Farm Bureau Insurance, corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a check for $1,000.00 to Roncalli High School in the name of Tyler Warner.

Game Notes

Four-Loss State Champions

Roncalli finished the year with a 10-4 record, the most losses for a Class 4A state champ. In tournament history, one team, the 1990 Indianapolis Scecina team (9-5 in Class 2A), won with five losses. Two other teams have collected state titles with four losses…2001 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard in 3A and the 1992 Sheridan team in Class A.

Roncalli’s Nalley Among Season Scoring, Rushing Leaders

Roncalli running back Marcus Nalley finished second on this year’s state rushing list with 2,316 yards. He carried 18 times for 64 yards in this afternoon’s game. He also finished fourth among leading scorers this season with 216 points, including 36 touchdowns.

Team Posters And Individual Action Photographs Available

Visit 20-20 Photographic, the IHSAA’s photographer and the Midwest’s Leader in Sports Action Photography, for images captured during this weekend’s state championship games! Action photos and team photos as well as the 20-20’s Ultimate Sports Poster will be available for purchase later in the week following the state finals.

State Finals Programs Available

Couldn’t be there for the football state finals weekend? You can still purchase a copy of the official souvenir program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in person at the IHSAA Office (9150 N. Meridian Street in Indianapolis) or $5.00 by mail (postage included). To order, send a check for $5.00 made payable to the IHSAA, a note with your return address and brief description of your request and mail to: IHSAA Programs, PO Box 40650, Indianapolis, IN 46240-0650. Sorry, no credit cards. To further inquire, e-mail Assistant Sports Information Director Jason Wille at jwille@ihsaa.org.

Quotes

Roncalli Coach Bruce Scifres

“I’ve been coaching high school football for 23 years and I’ve never had a group of kids that had to deal with this much adversity. It’s been a theme of this season to deal with adversity but they kept their heads up and become more determined and that’s a credit to our guys.”

“We had three deaths in our Roncalli family this year and we started out 0-4. I think the rest of the state gave us little chance to get here and win it like we did. It’s just a testimony to these kids and their determination and I’m blessed to have a bunch of kids like this.”

“In the first quarter we moved the ball with some consistency. We didn’t have good field position or the ball in the second quarter. The third quarter was all Dwenger. Give them credit, they played hard and made big plays and to score 21 straight points. The fourth quarter was ours. The kids stepped up and made things happen especially at the end of the game.”

“I expected our kids to play their hearts out. I hated to see Marcus (Nalley) go down. Tim (Sergi) stepped in and played a great game. I was confident that we would play our hearts out and credit our entire offense. They buckled down and went to work.”

(On Tyler Warner winning the mental attitude award) “Tyler is the epitome of a student-athlete. He’s ranked number one in his class and he’s one of our hardest workers and our only starter both ways. What a great honor.”

Bishop Dwenger Coach Chris Svarczkopf

(Being ahead 21-10 and losing late in the game) “It’s something I never thought could happen. Our only other loss was to Snider and they jumped out to a big lead. We’ve never had a game where we’ve had the lead and not come through at the end.”

“Roncalli made some tremendous third and fourth down conversions. They were real heartbreakers. Their tremendous running back (Marcus Nalley) was out in the fourth quarter and they did what they had to do. They’re a tremendous team.”

(On Sergi coming into the game for Nalley) “We saw him on film when Nalley was injured. We thought he was a tremendous athlete. I played high school football with his dad (Frank Sergi) and knew he was a competitor. He did a great job at the end of the game and it just wasn’t meant to be for us.”

“I’m awfully proud of our team. They came from behind and took the lead and played awfully hard. I’m saddest for our seniors. They made a tremendous investment in our team.”

Bishop Dwenger’s Zach Till

“When we went up 21-10, we didn’t get over-confident. We knew they were a good football team and we just didn’t convert.”

“I thought when we didn’t convert the third down late in the fourth quarter that was really big. They played a great game and we respect them very much.”