INDIANAPOLIS
Cathedral quarterback Danny O’Neil completed just three passes. Didn’t matter — the University of Colorado-bound O’Neil let his legs do the work.
The 6-foot-1 senior ran for three touchdowns and passed for another to lead the Class 6A No. 8 Irish to a 42-0 rout of host Roncalli on a windy Friday night. It was the first time Roncalli has been shut out in back-to-back games since 1973. Roncalli has lost three in row, losing 43-0 at Louisville Male last week.
The Irish (6-2) have now won 13 consecutive games against the Royals. This was the first regular-season game between the two schools since 2010.
“Cathedral came in and played hard,” said Roncalli coach Eric Quintana, whose team’s record fell to 3-5. “We are starting to get healthy. We’re starting to get some guys back. But our guys are competing. We’re starting to do some things right. We just have to keep focusing on us. We’re trying to get better for the playoffs and (visiting Class 4A No. 1) East Central next week. That’s where our heads got to be, and we have to go back to the drawing board as coaches.”
O’Neil ran for two of his touchdowns and passed for another to lead the Irish to a 28-0 halftime lead. O’Neil’s 1-yard TD run pushed the lead to 35-0 midway through the third quarter, starting a running clock with the IHSAA mercy rule. The final score came on Jimmy Pappas’ 5-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
Roncalli managed just two first downs in the first half. For the game, the Royals had eight.
Cathedral racked up 335 yards compared to 87 for Roncalli.
Irish junior running back Jalen Bonds rushed for 141 yards on 19 carries. O’Neil gained 84 yards on 12 attempts.
“It was very tough to throw tonight,” Irish coach Bill Peebles said. “The wind wasn’t just tough on the quarterbacks. For the receivers, the ball was moving. The receivers were dropping what they normally would catch. The running game was working, so if it’s working, why change it? This is the first time we’ve played in fall-like weather. Hopefully, we’ll be playing in winter-like weather before it’s all said and done.”
O’Neil scored on a 7-yard run to give the Irish a 7-0 lead with 4:44 left in the first quarter.
Cathedral went ahead 14-0 with Kyle Braun blocked a punt and Hosia Smith recovered in the end zone to take a 14-0 lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter.
The next two touchdowns were set up by interceptions. Braun intercepted and the Irish took over at the Roncalli 29. O’Neil scored from 1 yard out with 8:40 to go in the second quarter to give Cathedral a 21-0 lead.
Aden Chase’s 23-yard interception return put the ball on the Royals 24. O’Neil eventually connected with Devaughn Slaughter for a 27-yard TD pass to make it 28-0 with 1:09 remaining in the first half.
O’Neil finished with three completions in 10 attempts for 27 yards.
Royals sophomore quarterback Collin Ash was 7 of 18 passing for 55 yards with two interceptions.
“We didn’t help ourselves with some things,” Quintana said. “We’ve just got to keep competing.”
Roncalli sophomore Zach Dozier ran 20 times for just 38 yards. Senior Ben Bradenburg had just 7 yards on five attempts, but left early.
“He’s (Brandenburg) battling some shoulder stuff, so we’re just smart with him to get him ready for the playoffs,” Quintana said. “So we’re not going to keep beating our head against the wall (playing him). We pulled him precautionary.”
Peebles said it was the best game the team had in all three phases, offense, defense and special teams.
“They complemented each other well,” he said.
Cathedral will play Center Grove at Butler next Friday night.
“The last game of the year is a doozy and it’s turned into a nice little rivalry,” Peebles said.
