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In a defensive tussle, Indianapolis Cathedral emerged the winner holding on for a 10-7 victory over previously unbeaten Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in the Class 4A state championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

It was the second state championship in three seasons and seventh overall for the Irish (12-2) who ended on an 11-game win streak. Bishop Dwenger (14-1) was seeking its first 4A title to go along with 3A titles it won in 1983, 1990 and 1991.

It was also the second meeting between the two schools for the state championship. Dwenger claimed a 34-27 victory in the 1991 when both teams were in Class 3A.

The Cathedral defense came up big in the final quarter when it was most needed.

Trailing 10-7, Dwenger moved the ball to the Cathedral 24 yard line but its 18-play drive that drained 8:51 off the clock went for naught when Emerson Ueber’s 41 yard field goal attempt was blocked by Cathedral’s Allen Richardson with 3:16 to go.

The Irish punted on their next possession giving Dwenger one last chance starting at their own 22 with 1:33 left.

Quarterback Trevor Yerrick’s first two passes fell incomplete. He connected with Joe Colone for 17 yards on third down but the play was called back on an illegal block and Yerrick’s next two passes fell incomplete under pressure giving the ball back to Cathedral to end the game.

Dwenger came in averaging 327 yards of offense but was held to just 179 for the game. Cathedral had been averaging 284 but was held to just 131.

Cathedral opened the scoring with a 32 yard field goal with 6:33 left in the first quarter but Dwenger took a 7-3 lead just before halftime when Yerrick connected with Robby Kimes on a 14 yard pass with :47 seconds left.

After halftime, Yerrick was intercepted on the second play from scrimmage by Cathedral’s Kevin Foley who returned it five yards to the Dwenger 28 yard line. The Irish regained the lead six plays later on fourth and two at the 10 yard line when Nick Najem carried it past several would-be tacklers to the endzone.

Ranked fifth in final regular season coaches poll, Cathedral topped its third top five team in the last four weeks with the win over third-ranked Dwenger. It was the fifth state championship in 14 seasons for the Irish under coach Rick Streiff, who’s in his second stint as leader after rejoining the program this year.

DWENGER’S JOE COLONE NAMED ESKEW MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER

Following the game, the IHSAA Executive Committee named Joe Colone of Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger as the winner of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award in Class 4A football.

Colone played both ways for the Saints at running back and linebacker and is also a three year letterwinner for the track and field team.  He led the Saints as captain of this year’s team and was named to the Summit Athletic Conference second team.

Colone is the vice president of his senior class and serves as president of Bishop Dwenger’s chapter of the National Honor Society.  He is a member of the Key Club, Spirit Club, and Bishop Dwenger Ambassadors.  He has volunteered with the Community Harvest Food Bank and “Lose the Training Wheels”, a bike camp for kids with special needs. 

Academically, Colone ranks 13th in his class with a 4.52 GPA on a 4.0 scale. He plans to attend Indiana University and study biology.

Colone is the son of Anthony and Jeri Colone of Fort Wayne.

The award is presented annually to a senior participant in the state finals who was nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. It is named in honor of the IHSAA’s third commissioner who served the association from 1962-76 and who helped initiate the state tournament in 1973.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance presented a $1,000 scholarship to Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger High School in the name of Colone.

Class 4A Game Quotes

Indianapolis Cathedral Head Coach Rick Streiff

“It’s a sense of relief. We knew it would be a dogfight. When you put two Catholic schools out there that are pretty good, you’re going to get a game like this. It was a great football game against a great football team.”

(On changes at halftime) “We made no changes. We asked the coaches are they (Dwenger) doing anything we didn’t prepare for…and they weren’t. So we said, ‘OK, lets go play football.’ ”

“It’s a great group of kids and I’m excited for them. The first championship for me (1992) was a big deal because it’s every coaches goal. Now I just look at the kids and I’m so happy for them.”

Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger Head Coach Chris Svarczkopf

“I’m really disappointed for our players because they played their hearts out. Mistakes ended up being the difference. Cathedral was very physical and they capitalized on our mistakes that we made.”

“Our defense played super. We just weren’t able to get things going offensively when we needed to. When we did, a mistake or a penalty cost us a score.”

“Our fourth quarter drive was just guts and our guys not wanting to quit. Trevor (Yerrick) did a great job keeping the ball alive. It’s too bad it didn’t end up the right way. We had the ball in the endzone but couldn’t score. We went play action and they took us out of field goal range.”