INDIANAPOLIS
The Roncalli defense held its own most of the game. It just wasn’t quite enough.
“We’ve got a great defense,” Roncalli football coach Eric Quintana said. “We let up on one big play. That big play was a crazy draw-up. Other than that, we were pretty solid.”
That big play was Aidan Arteaga’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Roman Barraza with 1:49 left in the first half, which gave Bishop Chatard a 14-7 lead. That was all the Class 3A No. 1 Trojans needed to beat Class 4A No. 6 Roncalli by that same score Friday night in Circle City Conference play.
“That’s a good football team,” Quintana said.”Coach (Rob) Doyle has those kids ready to play.”
Roncalli got a boost from a 30-yard punt return by Sam Roeder to put the ball on the Chatard 31 for its first possession. It took 11 plays before the Royals scored on a 1-yard run by sophomore quarterback Collin Ash.
The Trojans dominated the rest of the half. Chatard racked up 193 yards to 53 for Roncalli in the first half. Arteaga scored on a 8-yard run to tie it at 7-7 on the first play of the second quarter.
The Trojans then took the lead on Arteaga’s 13-yard TD pass, but nearly had a shot to score again before the half ended. After forcing Roncalli to punt, the Trojans drove to the Roncalli 2 on a 26-yard pass to Jack Weybright with 1 second left, but they had no timeouts and the clock ran out as Arteaga attempted to spike it.
Neither team scored in the second half. The Royals missed their only real opportunity when a drive stalled and Levi Wisler missed a 37-yard field goal attempt midway through the third quarter.
Chatard running back Riley Kinnett led the Trojans with 106 yards on 29 carries. Arteaga completed 12 of 23 passes for 131 yards.
The Trojans finished with 280 yards compared to 136 total yards for the Royals.
Ash connected on 12 of 25 passes for 71 yards with an interception. Senior tight end Charlie Elsener had seven catches for 49 yards. Roncalli managed just 2.2 yards per rush.
Sophomore Zach Dozier was the Royals’ leading rusher with 25 yards on 11 carries.
“He’s doing all the right things; he’s just young,” Quintana said of Dozier. “He just needs experience.”
“It’s tough. We’ve had some injuries that have plagued us early on,” Quintana continued. “We have great kids that are working their tails off every day. We just need time. That’s hard to say no one wants to not lose more than I do. We’re getting better.”
Unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t allow much of a break.
“We have teams coming for our necks,” Quintana said. “There are no moral victories. We’re playing to win — that’s our standard always.”
The Royals will play host to Columbus North next week.
