Phone:
317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
____________________________________________________________________
MEDIA
ADVISORY
CARDINAL
RITTER TAKES CLASS A STATE CROWN
Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter
got all the points it needed early on in a 28-0 shutout of Seeger
in the Class A championship game at the RCA Dome.
The Raiders’ Devin Moore
rushed for 210 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown to help capture the school’s
second state championship and first since 1977 when the school defeated
Tippecanoe Valley in the Class A title game.
It was the first shutout in
a Class A state title contest since 1992 when the
Raiders were on the wrong end of a 6-0 defeat to
Cardinal Ritter coach Jim
Boswell’s group finished the season 12-2 and held its opponent scoreless for
the first time this year. Besides the 1977 and 1992 games, the Raiders also
finished as runners-up in 1987 (2A) and 1991 (A).
The opening possession of
the game proved costly for the Patriots, who were backed up deep in their own
end of the field. On a 2nd and 14 from their own 5 yard line,
Cardinal Ritter’s Dustin Cronnon intercepted Seeger quarterback Matt Pruitt at the 12 and returned it
for the first score of the game. The extra point kick was blocked.
Cardinal Ritter’s second
score came with 1:16 to go in the first quarter as Moore scooted 65 yards around
the right end and went untouched to the endzone.
Ritter converted the two-point conversion to take a 14-0 lead.
The Raiders got two more
touchdowns in the third quarter as quarterback Alex Byrnes scored on a sneak
from one yard out at the
The Raider defense held Seeger to 231 yards (177 below their average) and kept the
Patriots, fourth in the state at 43.0 points per game, out of the endzone. The Patriots converted only one of their five
attempts on fourth down and were 0-for-3 in the first half.
Seeger’s best chance at the endzone
came in the fourth quarter following a 52 yard pass on fourth down from Pruitt
to Kyle Killin that set the Patriots up first and
goal at the 2 yard line. Cardinal Ritter stuffed a couple of Seeger running plays and were helped out on a 10 yard
holding penalty before Pruitt was sacked for an eight yard loss on fourth down.
Seeger’s Thomas Marshall Named Eskew Mental
Attitude Award Winner
Thomas Marshall
of Class A state runner-up Seeger was named winner of
the 2003 Class A Football Phil N. Eskew
Mental Attitude Award.
At the
conclusion of each state championship game, the IHSAA Executive Committee presents
the award to an outstanding senior participant in the football state
tournament. The recipient of the award,
who was nominated by his principal and coach, must excel in mental attitude,
scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. The award is named in honor of
the third commissioner of the IHSAA who served from 1962 to 1976 and oversaw
the beginning of the state football tournament.
Thomas
ranks 6th in his senior class of 107 and is a member of the National Honor
Society. He plans to major in Business
at
He is the
President of the school’s Spanish Club, as well as Secretary of his class. Thomas also is a member of the National Art
Honor Society, Students Against Destruction Decisions,
Student Council, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Art Club and Knowledge
Masters.
His volunteer
work includes participation in Special Olympics and service as a Teaching
Assistant.
Athletically,
this year’s team MVP, Thomas was a member of the
Junior All-State squad in 2002 and was All-State Honorable Mention in 2001. He
captured All-Wabash River Conference honors the past two seasons, as well as
being named the Patriots’ Defensive Lineman of the Year each campaign. He is the first four-year starter in the
school’s football history. He also was a
member of the basketball and track teams.
Thomas is the
son of Nancy and Tim Marshall of
Farm Bureau
Insurance, the IHSAA corporate partner, presented a $1,000.00 scholarship to
Notes
It was the second state
championship in any sport in school history for Cardinal Ritter. The other also
came in football when the Raiders defeated
Championship Game Records
Shutouts:
Fifth time in Class A; last time in 1992, Sheridan 6, Indianapolis Cardinal
Ritter 0.
Most
Interceptions: 2 by Alex Byrnes, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter; tied old record
held by several players.
New IHSAA Book, Play On,
Recaps 100 Years Of High School Sports in
Looking for
holiday gift ideas? The exciting new book, Play On, celebrating 100 years of
high school sports in
Team Posters And
Individual Action Photographs Available
Visit 20-20 Photographic, the IHSAA’s photographer and the
For t-shirts and other
merchandise commemorating this year’s tournament or for any of our events,
visit our friends at Morris,
Inc.
State Finals Programs Available
Couldn’t be there for the
football state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official state
finals program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in
person at the IHSAA Office (
Quotes
Indianapolis Cardinal
Ritter Coach Jim Boswell
“We knew coming in that Seeger was a great offensive team. We expected a low
scoring football game and it turned out to be something like a basketball
score. Today I have nothing
but great things to say about our defense. After No. 1 (Alex
Byrnes) made that touchdown saving tackle, they still had four chances to put
it in the endzone. I still think that was a huge key
point in this ballgame. Seeger tends to score in
flurries. We saw that on film from earlier in the season. At no time did we
ever think we had this thing completely wrapped up.”
“Offensively, a lot of it
was Devin Moore. But our offensive line deserves a huge amount of credit. Devin
made some great runs and cutbacks. There aren’t many guys that can do it like
him. The big pass play from Alex Byrnes to Keith Radcliff was a huge play and
helped us spread them out to assist our running game.”
“Defensively our top
priority was to stop their wing-T offense by using our outside linebackers to
force the play to our corners. Our inside linebackers responsibility was to
take away their dive. We were very concerned about their team speed but our
kids played well in the trenches.”
Cardinal Ritter Player
Devin Moore
“I give all the credit to my
offensive line. They created some huge holes. Once I got through, I had to
break out the speed. Going into the game, I didn’t think we’d be able to shut
out their offense. They have some great players. We had a great gameplan and our guys really stepped it up and that’s a
credit to our coaches.”
Seeger Coach Brian Moore
“We had a bad break to start
the game with that interception. We dug ourselves a hole, but we had some
opportunities to make a few plays that we didn’t make. Penalties and mistakes
hurt us. Ritter is a great team and Devin Moore is one heckuva
back.”
“That big run that Devin got
was pretty important. We thought we could contain him. We made a mistake and he
got loose. After that we made them drive the ball. Unfortunately for us we
didn’t do very well offensively.”
“I’m a little disappointed.
That wasn’t Seeger football. We are a better football
team than we showed today. We belonged in this game but we didn’t play well.”
“At halftime we were still
in the game. But they had a nice drive to start the second half and they put us
in a hole that put us away. We had a couple of drives and we started to get
some rhythm, but something would happen to us with a penalty or a mistake.”