INDIANAPOLIS

Drew Wheat knows what to do with a hint of daylight.

After a half in which Class 6A No. 1 Center Grove accomplished little offensively, the junior speedster sent a desperately-needed jolt of adrenaline through his team with a 67-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

In a battle of unbeatens in which little margin for error existed, Wheat’s play proved the biggest as the Trojans rallied to knock off 5A No. 1 Cathedral, 21-6, on the grass-mud mixture at Arlington Middle School.

It was Center Grove’s 23rd consecutive victory, keeping it alive for a run to a second consecutive undefeated state title.

Wheat, who like the majority of his teammates had a barely visible jersey number because of splotches of mud, describes what proved to the game-winning points after the Irish had been leading courtesy of two Ben Gomez field goals:

“It was muddy out, so it was very hard to cut, obviously,” Wheat said. “When I hit that cut up the middle, I saw an open hole. I made a cut on the linebacker and he missed me, saw the opening and just ran.”

From that point forward, Center Grove (9-0) was the aggressor on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

After the Trojans’ defense stuffed Cathedral on a fourth-and-1 from the Irish 42, the offense went back to work. On third and long, CG quarterback Tayven Jackson was flushed out of the pocket to the right and, on the run, lobbed a perfect touchdown pass to junior Eli Hohlt only 53 seconds into the fourth.

“We called the post and I just went for it, and I was ready. I was ready for the ball,” Hohlt said. “At halftime, coach (Eric) Moore had told us to keep our head up. We’re always a second-half team, so we’ve just got to come out and be ready and not look defeated after that first half.”

The Irish led 3-0 at the half despite rolling up a 136-59 advantage in total yardage, the majority being through the air with sophomore quarterback Danny O’Neil connecting with junior wideout Jaron Tibbs seven times.

Gomez drilled a 30-yard field goal from the left hash mark on the first play of the second period. His 25-yarder at 9:13 of the third doubled the advantage.

The Trojans, meanwhile, spun their wheels to the tune of five punts before halftime, the third of which was partially blocked by the Irish defense to set the hosts up at Center Grove’s 20. The Trojans defense stiffened, and on the previous Cathedral drive used Mitchell Evans’ interception on a pass that glanced off Tibbs’ right hand.

Center Grove’s offense didn’t venture beyond midfield the first two quarters until the final play of the half.

The final two periods were dominated by the Trojans. The special teams stepped forward with a pair of huge plays, though one, Evans’ 42-yard punt return for a score in the fourth, was nullified by a holding penalty.

Jackson provided the other, his leaping one-handed snag of a high snap from center while in punt formation, leading to him delivering a punt that pinned the Irish at their own 2 with 4:30 remaining. Cathedral couldn’t move the ball in four plays, and Jackson’s 1-yard plunge with 27.7 seconds left providing the final points.

“Cathedral’s a great football team, and so is Center Grove, and it was a great game tonight,” Moore said. “We didn’t do some things in the first half and made some mistakes, and they did a really good job defending us. Our game plan sort of took over a little bit in the second half and made some plays. That’s what we do.

“I’m just proud of our guys. It’s one game, and now it’s time for the tournament. We want to win a state championship.”