No one can call Vince Lorenzano a sissy anymore.
The Bishop Chatard High School football team regularly works on a halfback option pass in practice, but coach Lorenzano never calls it. But with less than a minute to play in the first half of Friday's Class 3A Sectional 21 championship game at Brebeuf Jesuit, running back Andrew McDonald threw a beautiful 33-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Agnew to send the top-ranked Trojans to a 21-7 victory before a standing-room-only crowd.
"We work on it every year, (but) I'm a sissy and won't call it," said Lorenzano, whose team will play at co-No. 4 Batesville (11-0) next week in regionals. "I'm such a conservative guy, sometimes I don't want to pull the trigger. But they were playing us pretty tough, so I figured I'd better pull out every stop."
A 51-yard punt by Bishop Chatard's Cody Dickson to the Brebeuf 11-yard line flipped field position late in the first half and, after a three-and-out by the Braves, a short punt set the Trojans up at Brebeuf's 45. Ari Pappas converted a third-and-9, then pushed the ball to the 18 on four carries to set up a 35-yard field goal by Dickson with 3:49 to play in the half.
Brebeuf (10-2) answered by driving the ball 33 yards to the Bishop Chatard 44, but on second-and-8, defensive lineman Eric Dietchman snatched an Aloyis Gray pass out of the air to set up McDonald's touchdown pass. A Brebeuf penalty brought Bishop Chatard's kicking team off the field and Pappas ran in the two-point conversion for the 11-0 lead.
"We went over it every day this week, (so) I was expecting it," said McDonald, who also had a rushing touchdown and caught a 16-yard pass. "I saw a running lane and coach told me if (Agnew) wasn't open to run it, but I saw him deep, thought I could get it there and so I just threw it."
On the ensuing drive, Brebeuf called a timeout on fourth-and-8 from Bishop Chatard's 36 to stop the clock with less than 15 seconds to play, then ran a fake punt for no gain, turning the ball back over to the Trojans with eight seconds left. After an 8-yard gain by Ryan Kleinschmidt -- playing in place of No. 2 tailback Nolan Miller, who injured his throat hugging a teammate before the game -- Dickson kicked a 45-yard field goal as time expired for a 14-0 lead.
"If that's how we have to go down, with halfback passes, then we're pretty close," said Brebeuf coach Ryan Gallogly, who led his team to a school record-tying 10 victories. "That was the No. 1 team in the state. They've got nine state titles, may get No. 10 (this year) and may not have a better test the rest of the way.
"I did not have a speech prepared for losing. We had some good teams here in the '60s, but I wonder if this group may not be the best that's gone through (Brebeuf). We're not going to win a state title this year, but we're coming awfully close."
| Bishop Chatard | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | - 21 | |
| Brebeuf Jesuit | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | - 7 |
BC -- FG 35 Cody Dickson
BC -- T.J. Agnew 33 pass from Andrew McDonald (Ari Pappas run)
BC -- FG 45 Dickson
BC -- McDonald 3 run (Dickson kick)
BJ -- Aloyis Gray 1 run (Erich Toth kick)
| BC | BJ | |
| First Downs | 13 | 15 |
| Rushes-Yards | 43-145 | 39-154 |
| Passing Yards | 76 | 81 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 5-8-0 | 9-25-3 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-45 | 4-17 |
| Punts-Avg. | 5-31.4 | 1-30.0 |
Rushing -- Bishop Chatard: Pappas 36-132, George VanVliet 2-(-7), Ryan Kleinschmidt 3-15, McDonald 2-5. Brebeuf Jesuit: Gray 15-63, Evan Kroot 20-71, D.J. Perdue 1-0, Austin Bruen 2-20, Tommy Green 1-0.
Passing -- Bishop Chatard: VanVliet 4-7-0 43, McDonald 1-1-0 33. Brebeuf Jesuit: Gray 9-25-3 81.
Receiving -- Bishop Chatard: Agnew 2-44, Michael Adkins 1-1, McDonald 1-16, Jack Treesh 1-15. Brebeuf Jesuit: Ryan Huguenard 4-35, Bruen 1-(-3), Kevin Bennett 3-42, Kroot 1-7.
Missed Field Goals -- Bishop Chatard: Dickson, 40.