News

A formidable running game, powered by Ryan Kleinschmidt, carried Indianapolis Bishop Chatard to a 28-14 victory over South Bend St. Joseph's in the Class 3A state championship game and elevated the Trojans to an unprecedented position in the IHSAA record book.

Bishop Chatard became the first school to win 10 Indiana football championships. Coach Vince Lorenzano, who made his seventh finals appearance, has led the Trojans to their last four titles. Bishop Chatard finished the season with 10 straight wins after a 1-4 start and outscored its six postseason opponents by a 230-59 margin.

Kleinschmidt rushed for 247 yards on 41 carries. His attempts set a new Class 3A game record and his yardage tied a record. Kleinschmidt and Bishop Chatard's sturdy offensive line set the tone on the opening drive as the junior running back rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.

Bishop Chatard, ranked No. 3 in the state coaches poll and No. 4 by the Associated Press, turned to its passing game to pull away in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Stephen DeSchryver completed three of four passes for 70 yards and a touchdown to give the Trojans a 14-point lead with 6:28 left. DeSchryver was 9-of-13 for 115 yards in the game.

Coach Ben Downey's unranked St. Joseph's team finished 9-6 after starting the year 0-3. Senior quarterback Max Matthews passed for 191 yards on 15-of-21 with two interceptions and also rushed for 71 yards on 17 carries.

Bishop Chatard’s Joe Fehribach Named Mental Attitude Award Winner
Bishop Chatard’s Joseph Fehribach was selected by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee as this year’s winner of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award in Class 3A Football.

The award, named in honor of the IHSAA’s third commissioner who served from 1962-76, is presented annually to a senior in each classification who best demonstrates excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.

At Bishop Chatard, Fehribach serves as student council president, is class president for the third consecutive year, is a member of the retreat team as well as the National Honor Society.

He is a two-year letterwinner in football and will earn his fourth letter in wrestling this winter.

Fehribach ranks 21st in his senior class and intends to study engineering or business. He is undecided on his college choice.

He is the son of Steve and Lauri Fehribach of Indianapolis.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, presented a scholarship check for $1,000.00 to Bishop Chatard High School in the name of Fehribach.  Since 1989, more than $707,000 in college scholarships have been presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance to deserving high school students in Indiana.

Comments from Indianapolis Bishop Chatard Coach Vince Lorenzano
“I can’t say enough about our coaching staff and our seniors.  They’ve been leading all along and it’s a great thing when great kids succeed.  My hats off to South Bend St. Joseph’s.  They fought their way to get to this point.  I’m proud of all these kids that get to state championship games.”

(On Ryan Kleinschmidt’s tied record)
“Ever since he’s been a tailback, he’s been our go-to guy.  He’ll tell you that the offensive line blows holes open for him and all he has to do is run through them.  That’s what it’s about.  It’s a team game, but he’s a hard, tough kid.  He comes from a great family and a long line of players that have played at this school.”

(On Offensive Line)
“Those offensive linemen and blockers have been doing it all year.  Nick Martin, Pat Fagan, Eric Deitchman, Luke Engle, Mike Adkins.  It’s a great group that puts out maximum effort. I love them with all my heart.”

“Most important thing is that we honor our school, honor our faith, and honor our God and play as hard as we can.  I love my wife, Jan, and my family and I want to thank them for letting me do this year after year.  I’m just proud to be a part of this program.”

(Ranking this championship)
“I would say this is the greatest one of all because of what we went through.  The team saw one of its leaders go down early and other events occurred that were difficult to overcome.  You feel for them, you want to help them, and the players picked themselves up and succeeded.”

(On Mental Attitude Award winner Joe Fehribach)
“He’s a special kid.  He’s quiet.  He’s the school president.  He never says a word, but he’s absolutely an outstanding kid.  I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

(On going out on top)
“It just feels really good. We were going for number 10 all year long and we got that goal.  I can’t even describe it, it feels so good.”

Comments from South Bend St. Joseph’s Coach Ben Downey
“I’ve been impressed with Chatard since I’ve watched any film of them any year.  One thing you can count on is they will do a very good job of blocking and tackling.  Rarely do they turn the ball over because they have a potent running attack.  That’s why you have to be really careful with the ball.”

(On St. Joseph’s turnovers)
“In a game, bad stuff happens. How you handle that determines what type of team you are.  We kept fighting during the year and that made us able to fight in this game.”
“The game in the first half was just like a few games in our season and in the playoffs-we had adversity.  But we all stayed together and we never felt like we were out of the game.”

“Nobody gave our defense a chance of stopping their offense.  Statistically, it might not have looked good, but we fought them hard until the end.”

“In the tournament we got accustomed to fighting back and making good things happen.  The ending today was a little different than what we’ve grown accustomed to.  No matter what the score is, there is always a chance with the weapons we have.  Offensively, we liked what we saw.  We had some mistakes, and against a team that good, it can cost you the game.”

“Hopefully people understand that we belonged here.  It wasn’t a Cinderella situation.  As bad as our record was, our opponents deserve a lot of credit for being good early in the year.   We were very competitive today.”

“I’ll remember this team because it was my first year.  I’ll remember these seniors because they never gave up on St. Joseph’s and they had a lot of heart and soul.”