In the end, my wife actually had the audacity to suggest that maybe I could just stay home and spend time with the family. I did and there appear to be no lasting effects from my one week hiatus from high school football.

Even so, the IHSAA tournament draw was this past week, so at least there was something to think about in terms of preparation for future broadcasts. My concern obviously is Class 4A Sectional 14 where Indianapolis Cathedral is assigned.

Sectional 14 features three teams with winning records: Whiteland, Cathedral and Indianapolis Roncalli. When looking at the tournament draw, I always look fo...

The game itself was a typical hard-fought rivalry game.  The Irish jumped out to a 17-3 lead in the first half.  Neither team scored in the final 24 minutes.  The Cathedral offense continues to be exciting to watch, but inconsistent in its performance.  It can brilliant at times, but last...

When I prepare for radio broadcasts as the play-by-play announcer, I occasionally have a feeling that the game might go a certain way.  Going into last Friday’s broadcast of the Indianapolis Cathedral-Indianapolis Arlington game; I had a feeling that it would be a closer game than expected. 

However, I did not expect the Golden Knights to complete a 68-yard pass on the first play of the game to start a five-play, 83-yard drive that would give them a 7-0 lead.  I also did not expect them to force the Irish to punt after three plays on their first offensive possession. 

After that though, the game went pretty much as expected with Cathedral jumping out to a 23-7 lead at the half and extending the lead to 37-7 late in the third quarter.  Arlington<...

My game last Friday was Indianapolis Cathedral against Indianapolis Chatard played at Indianapolis Broad Ripple.  The Irish prevailed in a hard-hitting, good old-fashioned, muddy, rivalry game 15-14.  It wasn’t the best or easiest game to broadcast.  I know it was a one point game and I’ll admit the last seven minutes were exciting, but before that point, it was rather ugly on the field and in the press box.

Chatard jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.  Cathedral tied the score a minute into the second quarter. Not the best football at this point, but enough scoring to make it interesting on the radio.  Neither team scored again until the Irish put up seven with 5:40 to play.  The nearly 30 minutes between the Cathedral scores were less than exciting and even the normally raucous fans from t...

Last Friday, I had the Indianapolis Cathedral-Cincinnati St. Xavier game. St. Xavier stadium on the north side of Cincinnati is a beautiful facility that holds about 6,000 fans. It is one of the few high school stadiums that I’m familiar with that has reserved seats. On the other hand, it’s also the only field I’ve been to in recent years without a 25- second play clock at either end. Think for a moment the impact that could have on an opposing team.

St. Xavier won 17-3 in a game in which Cathedral could very easily have prevailed. As Irish coach Rick Streiff said when we talked on his Monday night radio show, “We played well enough to win, but did not make enough plays to win.” In a Yogi Berra sort of way, that was a very accurate description of the contest.

Cathedral dominated the first 20 minutes and lead 3-0 with the ball at the St. X two-yard line, first and goal. The next four minutes were disastrous with a turno...