The Cathedral Fighting Irish will challenge the Center Grove Trojans at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Cathedral knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Center Grove likes a good challenge.
Cathedral is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped last Friday as they easily beat North Central 53-13 at home. Given the Fighting Irish's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana football rankings (they are ranked fifth, while the Panthers are ranked 55th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Xavier Dangerfield was his usual excellent self, rushing for 188 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 7.8 yards per carry. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 141 rushing yards dating back to last season. Cathedral also got help from Devaughn Slaughter, who showed off his sure hands for 82 receiving yards.
Cathedral's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Jack Lockhart and Aidan Hughes. Another thorn in North Central's side was Kyle Harden, who forced a fumble, made seven total tackles (2.0 for loss), and defended a pass.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Cathedral was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 251 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 213 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Center Grove entered their tilt with Lawrence Central on Saturday with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. They walked away with a 27-18 win over the Bears.
Center Grove's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Gabe Mcwilliams, who threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. Brevin Holubar was Mcwilliams' top target, picking up 141 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Cathedral now has a winning record of 3-2. As for Center Grove, their win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-1.
Cathedral came up short against Center Grove when the teams last played back in October of 2023, falling 45-38. Can Cathedral avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
