Cathedral rolls past Whiteland, into IHSAA semistate play
By ROSS WEBER
ISL Correspondent
WHITELAND, Ind. — Since the IHSAA football playoffs started, Cathedral has played in, and won, three games in which senior quarterback Collin Barthel has only thrown the ball an average of 11 times a game, for less than 100 yards per contest.
The Irish running game had been dominating, rushing for 327 yards per contest over that time and winning each game by healthy margins.
Barthel threw the ball only 13 times on Friday, but he made the most of them. He completed 12 of those throws for 239 yards and three scores, by far his best game of the postseason, as Cathedral defeated Whiteland 56-28 in regional play.
“We won,” Barthel said after the game. “That’s all that matters.”
Cathedral will take on Terre Haute North next week at Arsenal Tech High School with a trip to the 5A championship game on the line.
Cathedral’s running game was also a large part of the Irish’s winning effort against Whiteland. Junior Caleb Cross continued his red hot playoffs with 138 yards on 12 carries, 11.5 yards per rush, and three touchdowns. Cross has now totaled 394 yards and nine scores on only 36 carries in Cathedral’s four playoff games.
One player who stepped up and played a big role in the game was senior wide receiver Jack Gomez, who caught four passes, three for first downs, for 69 yards. He hadn’t caught a pass yet this postseason before Friday.
“I hadn’t caught a pass in a couple of weeks,” Gomez said, “I wasn’t feeling any (hits), I was too hype.”
Ohio State commit Terry McLaurin, who ran for 312 yards in Cathedral’s opening playoff game against Decatur Central but had been relatively quiet the last couple of weeks, accounted for 82 total yards on ten touches and no scores against Whiteland. McLaurin hasn’t reached the end zone since playing Decatur Central.
The Irish scored 35 of those 56 in the first half and had a 35-0 lead at the break, but coming out after halftime game, up three scores in the third quarter to let Whiteland back into the game.
Cathedral then put its starters back in to seal the deal and outscored Whiteland 14-7 in the fourth quarter to get the Irish into 5A semistate for the first time.
“It wasn’t the best way to finish off the game,” Barthel said, “but we got the job done, and we’re excited to play another week.”
