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_____________________________________________________________________________
November 26, 2005
A blocked extra point by
At the 1:25 mark in the
third quarter, Roncalli senior Brandon Axum scored on a 24-yard touchdown run
to give the Rebels a 27-14 lead. Lowell
senior Jimmy Ritter got a hand on the extra point try to keep Lowell’s deficit
at 13.
Ritter would then answer
Roncalli’s touchdown with a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior Jeff Clemens,
capping a 10-play, 65-yard drive that cut the Rebels’ lead to 27-21 with 9:12
left to play in the game.
Three plays from scrimmage
later, Lowell junior Josh Kuiper intercepted a Roncalli pass and returned it to
the Roncalli 28-yard line. Lowell would
take its first and only lead of the game four plays later on a four-yard
touchdown run by senior running back Scott Gray.
Roncalli, looking to become
the first school in IHSAA history to win four consecutive football state
championships, took command of the game early when Axum returned the game’s
opening kickoff 44 yards to the Lowell 42-yard line. The Rebels then marched the remaining 42
yards on nine plays with senior running back Chris Merkel scoring from four
yards out to take a 7-0 first quarter lead.
Gray, who rushed for a
game-high 153 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries, scored Lowell’s first
touchdown with 6:11 left in the second quarter.
Roncalli would score twice more before halftime to take a 21-7 lead into
the locker room, with Corsaro tossing two touchdown passes, one to senior wide
receiver Andy Barkocy that covered 64 yards and another to senior running back
Bill Perry from seven yards out. Corsaro
finished 7-of-10 passing for 120 yards, two touchdowns and an
interception. Merkel led Roncalli with
109 yards on the ground on 22 carries.
Lowell finishes its state
championship season with an 11-4 record.
Roncalli, which had won a state-record 23 consecutive IHSAA tournament series
games coming into Saturday’s game, ends the season at 12-3.
Class 4A State Championship Game Records
Longest
Longest
Touchdown Reception; 64 by Andy Barkocy, Roncalli vs.
RONCALLI’S NICK BANICH HONORED WITH MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD
Members of the
IHSAA Executive Committee selected Roncalli linebacker Nick Banich
as the winner of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude
Award for Class 4A Football.
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.
He is a
co-captain of the football team and a two-year starter. Aside from the sport,
he also has participated in basketball and been a three-year member of the
track team having qualified for the state meet last spring.
Academically, he
maintains a 4.1 GPA while enrolled in Honors and Advanced Placement courses at
the school. He has been heavily involved in many school activities including
serving as a German Club Officer, Student Council Representative and the
National Honor Society. He was a part of the IHSAA Student Leadership
Conference and won the Kiwanis Club Service Leadership Award. He is undecided
on his college plans at this juncture.
He is the son of
Joseph and Jeannie Banich of New Palestine.
Indiana Farm
Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner,
presented a scholarship check for $1,000.00 to
VSN MEANS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Visit our friends at Visual Sports Network, the IHSAA’s official photographer for all state championship
events and one of the leading action photographers in the
STATE FINALS PROGRAMS AVAILABLE
Couldn’t be in there for the
state finals? 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 (
Quotes from the Class 4A Game
“Let me tell you something
about adjustments. They are highly overrated. Our adjustments (in the second
half) were in our hearts and in our brains. We weren’t playing Red Devil
football in the first half. We were making silly mistakes that we knew would
get us beat in this game. We told them at halftime they had 24 minutes for the
rest of their life.”
“We knew we had to stop
making mistakes and make them beat us on the field. We practically gave them
their 21 first half points.”
“A lot of plays were made in
the second half and every one contributed to our win. Everybody will talk about
the interception, the blocked extra point or the fourth down stop. But it was
the other plays that had just as much impact. We just hung in their and found a
way to get it done.”
“This is a great victory for
our community and school and everyone who has ever won a
“We had to make sure to take
care of their cut-back runs because we over-pursued a lot. We found a way to
win down the stretch.”
Roncalli Head Coach Bruce Scifres
“We just kind of shot
ourselves in the foot in the second half.
It’s not like Roncalli football to give up
leads. A couple of mistakes and the long
touchdown return called back, those mistakes cost you against a good team and
they cost us here tonight.”
“Their (
“All five of our games
leading up to this were right down to the wire, just like this one. I just can’t express how proud I am of our
kids for the way they have played this year.”
“We talk all time about
limiting mistakes and making plays when opportunities present themselves. Unfortunately, in the second half we did not
do that. When we made mistakes, (
Senior linebacker Nick Banich
“It’s so hard out here
looking at my (teammates) and seeing the looks in their eyes. We knew what they wanted to do and we talked
about it all week. And that is what
makes it so hard. We knew what they
wanted to do and we didn’t execute and let one another down. We knew they were tough…we said in the locker
room at halftime there are 20-some seniors on that team and they are not going
to give up in the second half…we needed to step up and play them big in the
second half and just didn’t do it. When
it came down to it, they made more big plays than we did.”