Indiana High School Athletic Association's career rushing king goes out in style with key run in championship victory; Carmel (6A), Evansville Memorial (4A) and Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (3A) win crowns on Saturday.
Video: Charlie Spegal highlights New Palestine senior is Indiana's all-time leading rusher.
Almost 20,000 fans showed up at Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the last high school football game played by
Charlie Spegal.
No one was disappointed.
For much of the the day, Valparaiso shut down Indiana's career rushing leader. But Spegal broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to give New Palestine the lead for good on its way to its 28th consecutive win, 27-20 in the Indiana 5A state championship.
Spegal finished with 23 carries for 160 yards but it was his 80-yard jaunt that made it 17-10. After a field goal,
Ryker Large added a 34-yard pick six as the Dragons (14-0) won their second straight state title.
Lincoln Roth added a 24-yard touchdown pass to
Blake Austin for New Palestine, one of three state champions crowned on Friday. Spegal finished as the career Indiana leader in rushing yards (10,867), touchdowns (175) and rushing touchdowns (173).
The other champions crowned were Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (14-1), which had little trouble with Heritage Hills (14-1), winning 34-3 in 3A championship action.
The best game of the day was Lafayette Central Catholic (10-3), which defeated Indianapolis Lutheran 29-28 in the 1A title game. A touchdown and two point conversion with 10 seconds left decided the latter.
On Saturday, three more state champions were crowned.
In 6A, Carmel (11-3) defeated Centeral Grove 20-17, while Evansville Memorial (4A) and Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (3A) win easily, 21-3 and 34-3 over East Noble and Heritage Hills, respectively.
Champions in 2018 were Warren Central (6A), New Palestine (5A), Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger (4A), West Lafayette (3A), Western Boone (2A) and Pioneer (A).
Indiana 6A Full bracket can be found here - 2019-20 IHSAA Football State Tournament presented by the Indianapolis Colts Class 6A State Championship
