McLaurin does it all, leads Cathedral past Westfield for 5A title
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — Cathedral’s Terry McLaurin did just about everything in the Class 5A final.
The senior caught six passes for 91 yards and a touchdown, ran three times for 79 yards and two scores, had 25 kickoff return yards, intercepted a pass on defense and had four solo tackles to help the Irish defeat Westfield 42-18 Friday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I want to think of myself as a game changer and a playmaker, and being a senior leader and a senior captain, doing whatever it takes to help the team win is definitely what I take pride in,” the Ohio State commitment said. “And being able to do that in every aspect of the game possible is really good for us.”
Cathedral quarterback Collin Barthel believes McLaurin should win the Mr. Football award.
“Just watching this game — they (Westfield) were ranked No. 1 in the state. Obviously, a great team. And for Terry to have a game like that – hardly practices defense a lot — he came up with a bunch of tackles, had an interception, and we’re using him on defense, special teams and on offense. So, hat’s off to Terry. He’s a great player.”
It was Cathedral’s fourth consecutive title and fifth in six years.
“Winning a fourth state title for each other and going undefeated through the playoffs all four years for all of us seniors, it’s a great feeling,” Barthel said.
Rick Streiff won his ninth state title, tying him with Sheridan’s Bud Wright and Fort Wayne Luers’ Matt Lindsay for the most by an Indiana prep football coach.
“It’s the program,” Streiff said. “It’s a program kind of place where you move pieces in and out. It’s interchangeable, and I’m blessed with some tremendous assistant coaches and some kids who really work very hard. So it makes the things kind of fall into place.”
Here are highlights from Fox 59, with commentary from Ken Sothman:
Barthel completed 13 of 17 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown and ran for 35 yards, Caleb Cross ran 16 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns and Evan Christopher had two catches for 30 yards and ran for 24 yards and a touchdown for the Irish (10-5). The variety of weapons overwhelmed Westfield.
“They’re talented all over the place,” Westfield coach Jake Gilbert said. “Offensively, they’re like a college offense. Very impressed with them. You have to pick your poison and what you’re going to take away.”
Nick Ferrer completed 18 of 31 passes for 201 yards and Elvin Caldwell ran 23 times for 114 yards for Westfield (12-2). Devin Reece, a Ball State commitment, had five catches for 54 yards while being defended primarily by McLaurin.
The Shamrocks averaged 34 points heading into the game, and the Shamrocks had blown through postseason play, outscoring its opponents 156-45.
Cathedral caught the first break of the game when Turner Edwards fumbled a punt and the Irish recovered at the Westfield 7-yard line. On the next play, Cross scored to give Cathedral a 7-0 lead.
On Westfield’s next drive, McLaurin intercepted a pass in the end zone after it was tipped by Ben Baker.
Later in the quarter, McLaurin got away from the Shamrocks’ secondary and caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Barthel to bump the lead to 14-0.
“We wanted to keep him under wraps and keep him from hitting a big one in the passing game,” Gilbert said. “He didn’t get over the top on us on the passing game, except for a blown coverage, which we’ve never done, but we did today.”
Nick Dowd’s 24-yard field goal with 6:27 left in the second quarter cut Cathedral’s lead to 14-3.
Cross scored on a 23-yard run to push Cathedral’s lead to 21-3 with 3:32 left in the 2nd quarter.
Westfield reached the Cathedral 35 on its first drive of the third quarter, but Ferrer threw incomplete on fourth-and-3. Cathedral took advantage when McLaurin ripped off a 28-yard touchdown run to increase the Irish’s lead to 28-3.
Caldwell scored on a 5-yard run to cut Westfield’s deficit to 28-11, but McLaurin followed that with a 47-yard touchdown run to kill the Shamrocks’ momentum.
A brutal schedule prepared the Irish for Friday’s game. Cathedral lost to 6A powers Ben Davis and Warren Central the first two weeks of the season, and later lost to three out-of-state teams — Cincinnati St. Xavier, Louisville Trinity and Cincinnati Moeller.
“We know every year, year in and year out, that we’re going to have a tough schedule,” Barthel said. “We don’t base ourselves going into the playoffs on our record. We wanted to get better each and every game.”
Westfield (12-2) 0 3 8 7 — 18
Cathedral (10-5) 14 7 14 7 — 42
C — Caleb Cross 7 run (Mitch Gerbers kick)
C — Terry McLaurin 41 pass from Collin Barthel (Gerbers kick)
W — Nick Dowd 24 FG
C — Cross 23 run (Gerbers kick)
C — McLaurin 28 run (Gerbers kick)
W — Evan Caldwell 5 run (Ben Lotfalian pass from Nick Ferrer)
C — McLaurin 47 run (Gerbers kick)
C — Evan Christopher 4 run (Gerbers kick)
W — Ferrer 1 run (Dowd kick)
