INDIANAPOLIS — The Class 4A No. 2 Bishop Chatard Trojans stayed hot on Friday, holding off Circle City Conference rival and Class 4A No. 10 Roncalli Royals 9-3.
Both teams appeared evenly matched. Several drives during the first half ended in punts for both teams. However, Roncalli was able to take a slight advantage near the end of the first half by blocking a Chatard punt and recovering it in Chatard territory at the 28-yard line.
As the clock ticked down, Roncalli kicker Gavin Louthain came onto the field to kick a 32-yard field goal to give the Royals a 3-0 lead at the end of the first half.
Bishop Chatard came out of the halftime break with a deficit for the first time all season. However, the second half did not start out great for the Trojans. Early on in the third quarter, Roncalli sacked Chatard quarterback Jack Harrington, but were unable to capitalize on the sack and forced to punt once again.
The Trojans took over at their own 28-yard line and began to drive downfield. Harrington eventually found Kenton Farris for a long pass to give Chatard the ball at the Roncalli 1-yard line. Running back Kolby Rickard punched it in to give the Trojans a 7-3 lead after the extra point.
Scoring cooled off again until late in the fourth quarter. With about two minutes to play, Chatard quarterback Jack Harrington had the ball knocked out of his hand at the end of a short run. The refs ruled it a fumble recovered by Roncalli.
The Royals took over at their own 9-yard line, but again were unable to capitalize on their surprise possession. On second down, Roncalli quarterback Jayden Buchanan was nearly sacked for a safety with about a minute-and-a-half to play. The Royals elected to surrender a safety rather than punt from their own end zone.
After being unable to recover their own onside kick, Roncalli conceded to Chatard as the Trojans kneeled the game out.
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