Cathedral rolls past Anderson 56-13 for sectional title
By ROSS WEBER
ISL Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS — It was business as usual for the Cathedral Fighting Irish as they defeated Anderson 56-13 for their Class 5A sectional title on Friday night.
Cathedral has had three players splitting carries; junior Caleb Cross, sophomore Evan Christopher and senior Terry McLaurin. Against Decatur Central in the opening sectional matchup, McLaurin had a huge day with 312 yards rushing while Christopher had two touchdowns.
Cross set the tone against Anderson. He finished with eight carries for 81 yards and three touchdowns, with all the scores coming in the first half of the game played at Lawrence Central. sophomore safety Kyle Hoeper recovered a fumble for a touchdown, and Christopher and junior Venton Curry ran for touchdowns to give the Irish had a 42-0 lead at halftime.
“Our offensive line did an excellent job up front and got great push.” Cathedral coach Rick Streiff said, “All of our backs carried the ball well.”
The story wasn’t all about the offense though, as the Irish defense played excellent football all night. They forced three turnovers, limited the Indians to 3 of 10 third-down conversions and didn’t allow them into the red zone.
Senior defensive back Austin Compton, who had a pick six the previous game against Zionsville, recorded five tackles and his first sack of the season.
Cathedral had a comfortable enough lead that Streiff took the starters out near the end of the first half and all throughout the second half, giving some younger players a chance to play. Sophomore quarterback Max Bortensclager threw a touchdown pass that was caught one-handed by junior James Schultz in the third quarter.
“It’s always nice for those guys to get an opportunity to play on Friday night,” Streiff said. “They put their time in during the week, and a lot of times on scout (team), so it’s nice for them to get a chance to play.”
Now that Cathedral is halfway through its road to a fourth consecutive state title, the competition gets tougher. The Irish play 9-2 Whiteland in the Regional championship.
“One game at a time,” Coach Streiff said. “Let’s just line up and go play.”
