Last week, the Bishop Chatard High School football team won its Class 3A sectional championship with the help of a halfback pass. Friday, it threw an interception in the end zone on its final play of the first half and decided to go back to good, old-fashion Chatard football.

The Trojans ran the ball on all 33 of their second-half plays and turned a three-point halftime lead into a 31-14 victory over co-No. 4 Batesville in the regional championship as Nolan Miller and Ari Pappas each topped 200 yards on the ground. Top-ranked Bishop Chatard will host No. 9 Evansville Memorial (10-3) -- which ended the Trojans' season last year 27-14 -- at a time and site to be determined in semi-states.

"It's tough-nosed football," said Pappas after rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries despite not starting because of the flu. "We don't throw much in practice. That's what Chatard does; we run the football."

Miller (19 carries, 206 yards, two touchdowns) found out he was starting in place of Pappas, the school's all-time leading rusher, right before the game and said he wasn't prepared as Chatard went three-and-out on its first possession. On the second play of the Trojans' second drive, however, Miller went 55 yards for a touchdown.

Batesville (11-1) tied the score on an 89-yard pass play from Connor Kelley to Tom Jeffers with 9:26 left in the half, but that brought Pappas into the game.

After a 4-yard run by Miller, Pappas picked up 14, then 20 yards -- "I started to feel better after putting the pads on," he said of his 101-degree temperature -- setting up a 37-yard field goal by Cody Dickson with 6:41 remaining in the half.

Batesville drove 72 yards following Chatard's interception in the end zone, but Jeffers couldn't hold on to a pass from Kelley (16-of-28, 299 yards, two touchdowns) in the end zone as time expired, allowing Chatard to maintain its 10-7 lead.

The Trojans (12-1) didn't give Batesville another chance, scoring on three of their first four second-half possessions with Miller and Pappas combining to rush 30 times for 240 yards behind an offensive line of Mark Hanley, Drew Schmutte, Zach Hawkins, Eric Deitchman and Nick Martin, fullback Michael Adkins and tight end Garrett Arnold.

"We do what we do," Bishop Chatard coach Vince Lorenzano said. "We're going to run the ball and that's what we do. The kids responded great. They responded great to a difficult situation. I thought it was a beautiful game for us."

Bishop Chatard 7 3 7 14 -- 31
Batesville 0 7 0 7 -- 14

BC -- Nolan Miller 55 run (Cody Dickson kick)

B -- Tom Jeffers 89 pass from Connor Kelley (Dalton Rose kick)

BC -- FG 37 Dickson

BC -- Ari Pappas 5 run (Dickson kick)

BC -- Pappas 3 run (Dickson kick)

B -- Blake Westerfield 2 pass from Kelley (Rose kick)

BC -- Miller 1 run (Dickson kick)

Rushing -- Bishop Chatard: Miller 19-206, Ryan Kleinschmidt 2-14, Pappas 31-203, George VanVliet 3-1. Batesville: Zack Walsh 4-16, Kelley 7-30, Chris Miller 3-7, Tyler Leising 3-17.

Passing -- Bishop Chatard: VanVliet 1-4-1-5. Batesville: Kelley 16-28-1-299.

Receiving -- Bishop Chatard: T.J. Agnew 1-5. Batesville: Jeffers 7-170, Blake Cobb 1-3, Walsh 4-91, Westerfield 2-22.