Cathedral now owns 14 Indiana high school football championships after beating Zionsville 34-14 Friday night for its second straight Class 5A crown. It’s the second consecutive year the the Fighting Irish beat the Eagles in the championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts, who also sponsor the state championships.
Zionsville (9-6) opened the scoring on its second possession. The Eagles drove 56 yards in four plays, while taking advantage of two Cathedral penalties to go ahead 7-0 on a Christian Abney 17-yard pass to Trey Firestone.
Related: High School Football America 100
Cathedral, ranked No. 26 in the High School Football America 100 national rankings, powered by NFL Play Football, responded immediately, scoring on a 7-yard pass to Jaron Tibbs from quarterback Daniel O’Neil. The Irish took the lead for good with the only score in the second quarter, a 7-yard touchdown run by Seth Mencer.
Tibbs caught 10 passes for 210 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Cathedral amassed 467 yards in total offense, with 355 coming in the air. Danny O’Neil threw touchdown passes, completing 25-of-35 passes.
The Irish finish 14-1. Cathedral is now one state title behind Bishop Chartard, which owns a state record 15 high school football championships.
Cathedral’s Cooper Koers earns the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award
During the awards ceremony, Cooper Koers of Cathedral High School was announced by the IHSAA Executive Committee as the recipient of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award in Class 5A Football.
The award is annually presented to a senior who is nominated by his principal and coach, and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability during his four years of high school.
Cooper is a member of the National Honor Society, has made high honor roll every semester, and will graduate with academic honors.
Besides football, he has participated in track and field, lacrosse, Math League and also works as a youth social worker at the Indianapolis Catholic Crisis Center.
He is the son of Jim and Christine Koers of Indianapolis and will attend Princeton University beginning next fall where he will play football for the Tigers while studying Medicine.
The award is named in honor of Commissioner Phil N. Eskew, who served as the IHSAA’s third commissioner from 1962-76. Under his leadership, the IHSAA football state tournament was initiated in 1973.
The Indianapolis Colts, a corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Cathedral High School’s general scholarship fund in the name of Cooper Koers.
Cathedral’s Cooper Koers earned the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award in 5A Football presented by the Indianapolis @Colts!
— IHSAA (@IHSAA1) November 27, 2021
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