Quarterback Rob Doyle was facing a third-and-long situation early in the season, and Bishop Chatard High School coach Vince Lorenzano sent in . . . a pass play?

"He's a lot more willing to throw the ball," Doyle said. "On third-and-long, he's not afraid to throw it out there. In years past we'd run the sweep because that's what we did. Last year it hit us that the run's not always going to be there and if (the opponent) stops it, we've got to have a counterattack. It's opened up the running game and made our offense so much more successful."

Last year, Bishop Chatard reached the Class 3A state title game with a dominant running game -- it ran a variation of the sweep on 13 straight plays to score a go-ahead, fourth-quarter touchdown against Heritage Hills in a semistate game the Trojans won 21-20 in overtime. But NorthWood allowed just 122 rushing yards on 34 carries in a 7-0 victory over Bishop Chatard in the championship game.

This season, the Trojans are back in the championship -- facing Norwell at noon today in the RCA Dome -- with the same punishing running game and a passing attack to complement it.

"Any defense usually can take away something," Norwell coach Jeff Miller said. "If you're a running team, (defenses) can get matchups, put guys in the box, outnumber them and then they have to be able to throw the ball. (Bishop Chatard) does both. They run the ball so well you're going to have to get people in there to stop the run and then, as soon as you do that, you've got to be aware of their passing capability."

Norwell is also a running-oriented team with tailback Cole Hoopingarner rushing for 1,932 yards with 31 touchdowns and quarterback Chandler Harnish running for 1,345 yards and 24 touchdowns. But it, too, has an effective passing attack. Harnish, a Northern Illinois recruit, is 93-of-158 for 1,490 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Bishop Chatard still relies heavily on the run as Joe Holland and Tyler Kleinschmidt have each topped 1,000 yards. Doyle averages just 7.5 passes per game. But the 6-foot, 189-pound junior has been efficient, completing 56.2 percent of his attempts for 1,040 yards and 15 touchdowns with three interceptions.

The Trojans have won so many blowouts (their plus-33.3 scoring margin is fourth in the state) it has limited Doyle's opportunities, but the team has made it a priority to throw early to establish the threat. Doyle had a touchdown pass in each of the first eight games.

"The play-action game has been there every week," said Doyle, whose primary targets have been Brandon Newbern and Kyle Dietrick. "Joe or Tyler come to the line, you fake the ball and guys swarm to them. The corners bite. The safeties bite. Sometimes the deep post and deep fade are wide open. We've pretty much had a big play from the play action every week."

Lorenzano wanted to open up the offense, but Doyle's emergence expedited that decision. His father, also named Rob, was a three-year starter at quarterback for DePauw University and had Doyle throwing the ball in the back yard when he was in kindergarten.

"He's a Howdy Doody-looking kid, (but) he's a lot tougher than he looks," Lorenzano said. "He and I have become close, and it's hard to become close to me as a quarterback because I'm such a maniac. I can really irritate quarterbacks, but he's not intimidated by me. He's going to do what he's going to do. He's a lot of fun to be with."

Except for the defense.

Finals history: The Trojans won titles in 1983, 1984, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003. They were runners-up in 2005. . . . The Knights were runners-up in their only previous appearance in 1999.

DEFENSE	Rushing	Passing
Norwell	75.4	73.4
Chatard	45.3	117.1