It's Vince Lorenzano's mantra: Each season, each game is treated the same.

The Bishop Chatard High School football coach answers any number of questions with a variation of that statement -- adding a chuckle the third time. Spreading that approach to his players has been a key factor in the program's consistent success.

And this postseason has been the same as last year. Starting with the Class 3A sectional semifinals, the Trojans have played the same opponents as last season -- from Crawfordsville to Danville to New Palestine -- and will face No. 2 Heritage Hills (12-1) at Broad Ripple High School at 7 tonight, the fifth straight season the two have played for the semistate title.

"I'm not surprised," said Lorenzano, his team 11-2 and ranked No. 4 in the state.

"Coach (Bob) Clayton does a great job, and Heritage Hills is always there. That it's something you expect is a tribute to what he does and how he does it. We look forward to playing them again. It's always great to play great programs."

Said Clayton: "It makes things a little easier in preparation because there's not the shock of facing a team you've never seen before. You've got some kind of reference point . . . but it's never easy."

The teams' five-year semistate run is the longest in state history, with only Bloomington South and Ben Davis (1997-99) and Fort Wayne Wayne and Hobart (1991-93) meeting as many as three consecutive seasons. This will be the sixth straight season Chatard or Heritage Hills reached the 3A state title game and the eighth time in the past nine years.

Chatard won the first three semistate games -- and defeated Heritage Hills, 24-21, in the 1997 regional championship -- but the Patriots ended the Trojans' three-year championship reign last year with a 13-10 victory.

"I'm not going to say it wasn't a great win, but we're not stupid. We were very lucky," said Clayton, whose team lost the title game to Andrean, 21-14. "We had a miracle catch, and a few penalties went our way. It wasn't like we just lined up and kicked their (butts). It doesn't hurt to get over that hump, but it has no bearing on this year."

These programs reach this level year after year with philosophies more conservative than a 90-year-old Republican. Heritage Hills leads the state in scoring defense, allowing just 5.3 points per game with a unit paced by linebackers Seth Johanneman (101 tackles, 3 interceptions) and Cory Cambron (91), plus lineman Dave Maddox (6.5 sacks).

Legion baseball caused both of Heritage Hills' quarterbacks -- Tony Butcher and Jacob McGrew -- to miss practice at the beginning of the preseason, and the team was shut out 7-0 by Vincennes Lincoln in the season opener. But the wishbone attack rebounded to outscore the next two opponents by a combined 116-0, and the Patriots defeated 4A regional champion Jasper 31-17 in Week 4.

The offense is averaging 40.8 points per game (11th in the state) behind running backs Jacob Nichols (110 carries, 779 yards, 15 touchdowns) and Johanneman (106 carries, 677 yards, 12 tackles). The quarterbacks -- McGrew starts -- completed 73-of-116 passes (63 percent) for 1,019 yards with 17 touchdowns and three interceptions.

"We had a rough start but got a big win against a good Jasper team and got things going from there," Clayton said.

"I've been very happy with the kids, and they've played well through adversity with the tornadoes and devastation (near the school in Santa Claus, Ind.). We didn't practice Tuesday because of the storm situation, and the kids have had friends and family that lost homes, (but) they've played well through the adversity."

Chatard's power-I offense is paced by running backs Joe Holland (272 carries, 1,964 yards, 28 touchdowns) and Tyler Kleinschmidt (89 carries, 629 yards, 7 touchdowns), with quarterback Matt Lubbers completing 45-of-79 passes (57.0 percent) for 535 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. The defense has allowed 37 points in the postseason.

"(There's a lot of) respect between these programs," Lorenzano said.

"For me, coaching against a future (state) Hall of Famer, it's a respect thing all the way. I have nothing but the utmost respect for their program. It's fun to play against teams like this because you can trust it'll be a good, tough game, and we'll get their best."