INDIANAPOLIS — Brownsburg held off Cathedral to gain a measure of revenge for last year's playoffs, beating the Irish 45-31 Friday night.
Cathedral ended the Bulldogs' season in last year's regionals with a 14-7 victory.
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs scored first in this year's matchup when Jake Dunn connected with Cayden Olinger for an 80-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Cathedral, ranked 2nd in Class 6A, tied things up moments later on a big play of their own. Danny O'Neil threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Albren Johnson to knot the score at seven.
With less than a minute to go in the first quarter, Dunn and Olinger teamed up again, this time on a 17-yard touchdown.
Cathedral pulled within four on a 21-year-old field goal from Van Krisiloff, then took their first lead after a Brownsburg punt on the ensuing possession. O'Neil capped the drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Desare Thomas for a 17-14 advantage midway through the second quarter.
The Bulldogs took over from there, scoring 24 straight points to take a 38-17 lead through three quarters. Garrett Sherrell had a 2-yard touchdown run just before halftime and a 1-yard score early in the third quarter to open the run. Dunn called his own number on an 8-yard touchdown run to make the score 35-17 before Spencer Porath increased the lead to 21 with a 25-yard field goal.
The Irish responded in the fourth quarter with a 7-yard touchdown pass from O'Neil to Keith Long to pull within 38-24. But the Bulldogs answered with another Dunn touchdown pass, this time to Corey Smith, making the score 45-24.
O'Neil found Long for a second touchdown in the closing minutes, but it was not enough to knock off the Bulldogs.
Brownsburg (2-0) will host Franklin Central next week, while the Irish (1-1) will host Penn.