Bishop Chatard christened the 2024 season with a 48-yard kickoff return, then following a couple late-down conversions, capped their inaugural drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jack Harrington to Harrison Forestal.
Though not immediately obvious, that touchdown sequence was a harbinger of things to come in the defending Class 3A state champions’ opener at Brebeuf Jesuit. The Harrington-Forestal connection hit thrice, while the offense put points on the board nearly every time it took the field.
IHSAA football scores: Week 1 highlights and stats from Indy-area
Friday felt more like a mid-season tilt than a Week 1 opener — offensively and on special teams, at least (two big kickoff returns and a field goal made) — for the now-4A Trojans, who rolled to a 58-35 win at Brebeuf.
The offense ran like a well-oiled machine, special teams delivered a few big plays and the defense limited a high-powered Braves outfit to just 35 points, with a few critical stops on 2-point conversion attempts.
Turning point : Down six with the ball around its own 20 and possession to start the second half, Brebeuf gambled, going no-huddle after being stopped short on third down. The gambit appeared successful with Chatard caught out of position, but quarterback Maverick Geske — who had a very good game, connecting on a few long completions and having a couple other dimes dropped — was flushed from the pocket almost immediately. He managed to complete the pass along the sideline, but the receiver was short of the line to gain and Brebeuf turned over on downs.
Chatard cashed in with a field goal before half, then following a defensive stop to start the third quarter, tacked on seven more points with a three-play drive that included a big pass to Julio Graves and a short touchdown scamper by Daniel Shaws.
The visitors maintained a multiple-touchdown lead from there, despite a few big plays by the Brebeuf offense.
Plays of the game : We’ll hedge and provide a couple offerings here. The first POTG belongs to Harrington, who manhandled the defense on a 12-yard touchdown run, shedding a couple would-be tacklers on his way to his fourth score of the night.
The second goes to Geske and receiver Taylor Clark, who connected on an 80-yard touchdown pass that made it 30-20 midway through the third quarter. It wasn’t a particularly flashy play (though another terrific throw by Geske), but it gave the Braves some life — at least until the 2-point try failed and Chatard tacked on another TD on the next drive.
Top performers: Harrington and Forestal . If Friday was any indication, the Harrington-Forestal connection will be a whole lot of fun to watch this season. The junior-senior combo connected on three touchdown passes (12, 8 and 9 yards). They along with tailback Daniel Adams ensured the Trojans scored touchdowns on all but a couple drives through the first three-plus quarters. Harrington capped his night with a 26-yard strike to Kalen Sargent late in the fourth
Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen .
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Bishop Chatard beats Brebeuf in IHSAA football: Turning point, play of game, top performers
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