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INDIANAPOLIS – Their pathways to the state finals have not been easy, but a championship finale on Saturday afternoon will be more than satisfying for either Class 3A No. 2 Heritage Hills or unranked Fort Wayne Bishop Luers.
A state champion in 2A for a 12th time in 17 tries last year, the Bishop Luers Knights (10-4) return to Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis up a classification as the lone defending champion in the Thanksgiving weekend field.
Meanwhile, the Heritage Hills Patriots (13-1), who haven’t won a title since 2000, return to the football state finals for a third time in six years and fifth time overall with their last appearance a year ago.
“This is the first time in our history we’ve ever been back-to-back. When we lost last year, those kids on the field said, ‘Coach, we’re coming back.’ As a coach you’re thinking, ‘Gosh, you kids don’t know how hard it is to get back.’ But they didn’t think that way. When the sectional realignment came out, it was like ‘wow.’ But that was their mindset, and they are playing their best football at tournament time. They believed in themselves,” Heritage Hills head coach Todd Wilkerson said.
The Patriots reached their first state finals and won 24 years ago. However, in each of their past three trips since, they’ve fallen short with 3A runner-up finales in 2004, 2019 and 2023.
The Patriots opened the season 1-1, but from week three on, they’ve put together a dominating 12-game winning streak with five shutouts tallied and nine victories with seven points or less surrendered.
This season, the Patriots are averaging 39.8 points scored per game with 559 points in total, while holding teams to 9.43 points per game, which ranks them eighth best in the state.
That level of focus served the Patriots well during their postseason run, which required them to trek through a gauntlet of a sectional, including a rematch against No. 7 Gibson Southern, 35-18, to start, a 34-14 win against Vincennes Lincoln and a 38-24 sectional finals victory over top-ranked Evansville Memorial.
“I think just whoever survived that sectional was going to have some success. Obviously, Memorial was just an outstanding football team (ranked No. 1). Then you have Mater Dei and Gibson Southern, Southridge and Vincennes, who were all playing really well at that time. So, stringing three games together, back-to-back-to-back, in a sectional that is so tough to win,” Wilkerson said. “But we were fortunate to be healthy and went over and beat Gibson Southern at their place, which is not easy to do, especially the second time playing them, then got through Vincennes and then just played a really great football game at our place for the sectional championship against Memorial. I think coming out of that our kids knew we were a pretty good football team.”
The key to Heritage Hills’ success on offense has been junior quarterback Jett Goldsberry, who has passed for 1,736 yards and 27 touchdowns while rushing for 1,499 yards and 25 touchdowns in the Patriots’ multiple/spread formation.
“He’s been tremendous. He’s been a great running quarterback but last year we only completed about 40 percent of our passes. This year, he’s up over 60 percent, making great decisions and it’s really helped us to be more explosive offensively because if you pack the box on us to stop him or our other running back, Hunter Meredith, we can throw the ball much better this year,” Wilkerson said. “His maturity is just understanding that he had to grow in that respect of understanding coverages better and getting the ball out of his hand sooner. It’s made us a much better football team.”
Meredith, a senior, has accounted for 946 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Tyler Ruxer has 42 receptions for 852 yards and 12 touchdowns this season just ahead of junior Payton Gray’s 475 yards and eight receiving TDs.
Defensively, the Patriots attack from all angles in their multiple formation with senior linebacker Parker Hart (94 tackles) and senior Alex Smith (80 tackles, four interceptions) setting the tone.
The Class 3A State Championship featuring Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (10-4) and Heritage Hills (13-1) will stream via PPV on IHSAAtv.org this Saturday at 3 pm ET / 2 CT!
The Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Knights won their 12th state title all time last year and first since four-peating (2009-12) with a 12-3 record. As a result of the IHSAA success factor, they moved up to 3A this season where they previously competed from 2013-18.
The Knights are chasing a 13th state championship in 17 attempts, which would give them the third-most titles in state history and a first in 3A. Their 17 trips to the state finals are tied for second most in state tournament history.
“It would mean a lot because it would be the first 3A state championship in program history. With such a strong tradition that we do have at Bishop Luers, we were definitely spoiled as a community by successes,” FW Bishop Luers coach Kyle Lindsay said. “At the same time, it means a lot more because of this group of kids and what they’ve been through. The fact that not until week nine, we didn’t have our offensive line together one time. Out of 14 weeks, we’ve had nine different starting offensive line lineups throughout the year.”
With four of their five offensive linemen from last year’s championship lineup back on the field, the Knights are situated to potentially make program history while facing their fourth consecutive top 10 team in the state tournament.
In the sectional finals, the Knights defeated No. 2 Mississinewa, 34-28, before eliminating No. 8 Maconaquah, 31-28, at regional and No. 4 Garrett, 28-14, in the semi-state championship game.
“We learned that this team could play through adversity. That was a big question mark because we had a lack of experience in some ways coming back from last year’s team,” Lindsay said. “We have a good nucleus of kids coming back, like four of our five on paper on the offensive line from a state championship team, so that was always good. The backend of our defense was coming back, but the big question marks were about how we were going to perform in pressure-packed moments.”
Lessons learned through four losses this season have helped the Knights develop into a 3A contender, particularly a three-game skid in early October after turning an 0-1 start into a 5-1 stretch.
“This has been just a season marked by adversity from the get-go,” Lindsay said. “We had four games where we lost in the fourth quarter. Our four losses we had the ball in our hands to either tie or take a lead or to put a team away. So, we’ve lost some tight ball games, and honestly, we have not played very well in the fourth quarter for the majority of the season, so to be down 14-0 at halftime against a very good Garrett team, the odds were stacked against us. We found out last week just how well we can play with the season on the line, and we played our best 24 minutes, our best second half the entire season, so that was really awesome, very fulfilling and rewarding.”
The Knights trailed Garrett during their semi-state matchup last week, which marked the first time they’ve faced a postseason deficit since the sectional opener at Churubusco in 2023.
Much like in the past, the Knights turned to a defense that has allowed a mere 15.1 points per game and a rushing attack that’s fueled their 25.9 ppg scoring average.
Senior running back Daryea Williams has capitalized behind Bishop Luers’ experienced front line with 1,351 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns. Junior Dee Hogue has netted 679 yards and seven rushing TDs.
“To put a team away, not just battle back or claw back and tie a ball game, but to put a team away like we did in the fourth quarter by running the ball down their throat and playing championship defense, physical defense, playing a physical brand of football that we knew we were capable of but we just hadn’t done it, in a spurt like that when it mattered the most, I’d say that’s what we found out the most about our team,” Lindsay said.
“Having the senior leadership of Michael Brough, a team captain at center for your offense has been huge. Four of the five starting offensive linemen for this game coming up were on the field last year, and that helps you stay calm offensively. It also lets you know these guys have run the ball in big moments before. When the going gets tough, you can lean on them a bit, and that’s what we did.”
The defense’s multiple formation is powered by junior Jarron Taylor at defensive tackle where he’s posted a team-high 90 tackles (17 for a loss) and eight sacks. Middle linebacker Brayden Mygrant, a junior, has 74 tackles (12 for a loss) and seven sacks. Hogue, who also starts at safety, leads the group with nine interceptions while adding 72 tackles.
“Just to get to this point, it makes me proud. Everything else here is icing on the cake, but these kids certainly aren’t just happy to be here. We’re not satisfied. This is a group from day one had a mission to win a 3A state championship. To be the first team in program history to do it and to have an opportunity is awesome. If we can pull it off, it’ll be a heck of a celebration on Saturday,” Lindsay said.