Andrean loses 3rd time to Chatard in State 3A title game, 31-12
A USA-365.com Special Report By Mark Smith

Saturday, Nov. 30, 2002  - 72 degrees (inside the RCA Dome) in downtown Indianapolis

Scoring Summary:

1st Q:  CHATARD (0-7) Dray Mason, 37 yard run (15th TD). Aaron Charles kick.
58 yards - 3 plays after the opening kickoff - 10:45 left.
CHATARD (0-10)  Aaron Charles, 25-yard field goal.
73 yards, 13 plays (including a 13-yard run by QB Mike Dury to the Andrean 14)
2:02 left.
2nd Q:  CHATARD (0-17)    Bart Early, 8-yard run (11th TD). 46 yards, 4 plays (including a 38-yard screen pass from Mike Dury to Dray Mason) Aaron Charles kick. - 8:38 left.
ANDREAN (6-17)    Roco Marcinak, 13-yard run (12th TD). 73-yard drive - 10 plays (including Brett Goins passes 12 yards to Derrell Tinner and 15 yards to Ty Harangody) Kick wide. 4:49 left.
CHATARD (6-24)    Bart Early, 2-yard run (12th TD). 53 yards, 8 plays (including a 30-yard pass from Mike Dury to Marques Presley) Aaron Charles kick.  -  0:46 left.
3rd Q:  CHATARD (6-31)    Mike Dury, 1-yard run (8th TD). 55 yards, 10 plays (including runs of 18 and 19 yards by Bart Early) Aaron Charles kick - 1:41
4th Q:  ANDREAN (12-31)    Ty Harangody, 6-yard halfback pass from Aaron Babb (1st TD pass).  82 yards, 16 plays (including 9 of 11 passing by Brett Goins)  2-point pass incomplete.  1:43 left

INDIANAPOLIS (11-30-2002) -  It all depends on the context you want to put it in.  You could say that Andrean has dominated their region, come to the state championship game three times and lost all three times. Or you could say that Andrean is well on their way to becoming Hobart, where high school football in concerned. When the Brickies won four state titles in seven years from 1987-to-1993, everybody forgot that they'd lost five times before 1987.

So when Andrean finally starts winning state football titles, nobody's going to remember last Saturday's 31-12 loss to top-ranked Bishop Chatard in the 2002 Class 3A state championship game under the Indianapolis RCA Dome. At least, I hope they don't.

"We just got beat by a better team," said Andrean coach Wally McCormack. "They didn't do anything we didn't expect. They were just a lot stronger than we were."

"I'd like to play them again," smiled QB Brett Goins. "But I don't know how or what the outcome would be. They were the best team we've played, by far."

There was no turning point in this game. Chatard, riding a 22-game winning streak and playing at their home away from home (Bishop Chatard high at 5800 north in Indianapolis has no football field) scored on the third play from scrimmage, a 37-yard run by sophomore halfback Dray Mason. The Trojans (15-0) kicked a 25-yard field goal on their second possession and Andrean never got within 10 points after that.

The 59ers (14-1), 3-0 losers to Chatard in the 2001 3A championship game, knows two things for sure as winter sets in.

1.) They have a better program than most 3A football playing teams in Indiana.
2.) Bishop Chatard, now a 6-time state champion, isn't like most football playing schools.

The Chatard advantage in total yards (332-258) and time of possession (27:40 to 20:20) didn't tell the whole story.  The 59ers had allowed only 147 points in 14 games but Chatard, a private school of almost identical size to Andrean, led them 31-6 after three periods Saturday. The Trojans moved the ball almost at will for three quarters, seemingly a step quicker on the speed-enhancing artificial turf.

"I think we came out and threw the ball a little more than they expected," said back-to-back state championship coach Tom Dilley. "We had the reputation that we ran the ball a lot."

Chatard, which defeated five ranked teams in the six weeks of the playoffs, fielded Andrean's pop-up kickoff at the 43-yard line and gained seven yards on a first down run by 208-pound junior fullback Ryan Edwards. Then the Trojans, a team that ran almost 70 percent of the time through 14 games, then stepped out of character. Mike Dury a 6-foot-5 Division I baseball player (headed to Notre Dame), fired a basic flat pass to senior end Marques Presley, who zipped to the Andrean 37-yard line.

Then, the Trojans stunned the 59ers on a basic but telling play. Operating out of a double wing formation, Dury pitched out to Mason, the Trojans speedy sophomore (116-886 through 14 games). Mason race around the wide side of the formation, turned the corner and zipped all the way to the end zone untouched.

The wing blocking on Andrean's end and outside linebacker foretold Chatard's line dominance. And when Andrean's Nick Stockwell closed to meet Mason, the Chatard touchdown leader quickly cut laterally and stepped out to the sideline to run away from the Andrean safety.  Stronger and faster. That would be the story of the day.

"They were too strong for our lines," said a 59er coach. "We'd been going against bigger lines all season and our guys got the job done. But this line was just too good."

Andrean's offense found the same problem. Senior quarterback Brett Goins (119 of 172, 22 TDs and 5 INTs in 14 games) threw interceptions on the 59ers first two possessions.

"I blame myself for killing those first two drives, said Goins, who would complete 23 of 37 for 205 yards on the day. "No. 90 (6-foot-6 defensive end Ryan Baker) is the best high school (defensive) player I've ever seen. We had to double team (block) him. That opened up some of their other linemen. I threw the ball before I wanted to."

McCormack added, "If you want to run anything to number 90's side, you have to double team him. "Then here comes the linebacker (202-pound junior linebacker Derek DiSalvo) and you have to help on him. We could not always block them all."

With the score 10-0, Mason, who has all-state potential in his future, returned a Mark Edwards punt 31 yards to the Andrean 46-yard line. Then Dury easily broke an Andrean sack attempt and tossed a short pass to Mason who rambled to the 59er 18-yard line. Early scored four plays later and it was 17-0 with 8:38 left in the half.

"We showed them a little something we had not done a lot of before," said Dilley, referring to a double-wing formation, using pitch power plays, some with the 6-5, 211-pound QB Dury as the lead blocker. "I thought we got the jump on them."

Andrean drove 73 yards in 10 plays to make it 17-6. The 59ers utilized shifts of three players just before the snap to overpower Chatard. Roco Marcinak scored untouched on a 13-yard run to the short side of the field with 4:49 left in the half.

But Chatard came right back to put the game out of reach. Chatard easily fielded Andrean's short kickoff (a strategy that recovered five onside kicks in the playoffs but did nothing to Chatard) at the Andrean 47. On a 3rd and 7, Dury lofted a 30-yard lob to Presley down the Chatard sidelines at the 59er 20-yard line. Then, on a 3rd-and-9 from the 19, Dury flipped a sideline pass to Early, a 1,000-yard rusher as a junior (180 carries, 1,115 yards) who carried to the Andrean 3-yard line. Early scored on a 2-yard run to make it 24-6 with just 46 seconds left in the half. 

The idea that your team was going to make up an 18-point deficit against the top-ranked, defending state champion, riding a 22-game winning streak in their hometown, was abject fantasy.

People in northwest Indiana underestimated how good Chatard was, is and will be (They return 15 starters next season). Chatard defeated Roncalli, which won the 4A state title Saturday 20-17 over Bishop Dwenger. In the last two state tournaments, the Trojans have defeated 10 top-10 teams. 

"We just prepare the same," said Dury, "whether the team is second ranked or 50th-ranked."

Dilley added, "I know what you're saying. Last year, because we'd lost some games early, some people maybe were surprised by what we did. Although, those who knew the schedule we'd played, were not. This year, being undefeated and number one, I think maybe we got everybody's best shot."

Dilley then said something that is ominous for anyone thinking about the 2003 3A title.
"A lot of our seniors this year had heard a lot about how great last year's senior class was," said Dilley, "or how great next years' senior class is going to be. They wanted to prove that this year's class is pretty good, too."  I hope he's not saying that this was a 'down year' for Chatard.

Andrean, which will return a strong squad next season, quarterbacked by highly regarded Tommy Finn, a 2002 wide receiver-safety who could not play because of a concussion suffered in the semistate victory over Concordia.  The 59ers also return top two-way player and receiver Nick Stockwell (44 - 780, 15th in the state), powerful linebacker Jeremy Robinson (5-11, 190), two-way TE-LBs Ty Harangody and Adam Hudetz, kicker Mark Edwards, linemen Nick Ohrn and Louie Grugel and running back Otis Walton (39 carries, 373 yards). Andrean figures to do very well against 3A teams in Lake County again next year.

And with the 3A team at new sectional rival Griffith and Morton suffering heavy graduation losses, and the top squads in the Lafayette area (Twin Lakes, Frankfort, Benton Central) also losing many key players, Andrean has a good chance to return to the semistate level, where they'll see either Concordia or two-time 2A champion Bishop Luers (which moves up to 3A next year).

But if through grace and good fortune the 59ers get to the RCA Dome again next November, odds are, they'll still be looking across the field at their 'evil' Indianapolis twin. 


NINER NOTES: The TV broadcast of the state finals was clearly Indianapolis-flavored, as might be expected.  Chatard is a high profile multiple state champ while Andrean is still somewhat of a wanna-be as a state power.

The IHSAA TV announcers had trouble with several Andrean names. Ty Harangody, pronounced Hare-an-go-dee, was called Hare-an GOD-dee all day. Roco Marcinak (Mar - sin - ack) was called Mar-cin-ee- ack much of the game. Game announcers also told a cute story about why Andrean sports teams are called the 59ers.   They said that the teams are named after the address of the school, which is 5959 Broadway. Nice story. But I don't think it's true.

When Andrean was built, obviously, there was nothing else on the 5900 block of Broadway in Merrillville. The most believable story I've heard (from graduates) is that the school chose their own address. Andrean school officials asked to be 5959 when the Merrillville post office said they could have any 5900 block address.   Andrean athletes are 59ers, a takeoff on the San Francisco 49ers (who were a relatively new National Football League team at that time), reportedly because the school opened in 1959. The San Francisco NFL team is called the 49ers because, during the gold rush craze of the 1800s, east coast folks who rushed to the west coast to dig for gold were called 49ers.  It's a phrase that relates to San Francisco history.

But the IHSAA and WYIN Channel 56 fared better than AT and T Broadband and local Channel 3 tape-delay TV team.  After being denied credentials at the gate until about 30 minutes before game time, the Channel 3 broadcast team's efforts never got on the air Saturday night, due to technical difficulties.  The game was to run Monday (Dec. 1) and Wednesday (Dec. 3) at 7 p.m.

Both Chatard and Andrean brought about 3,000 fans and the atmosphere was very loud and colorful in the RCA Dome. God Bless the RCA Dome. The weather conditions in downtown Indianapolis Saturday were: Mid-20 temperatures, northwest winds: 20-30 miles-and-hour, snow flurries.  Of course, inside the Dome, it was 72 degrees with no wind.

Aaron Babb caught eight passes for 70 yards while Roco Marcinak caught six balls for 43 yards. Nick Stockwell ( 5 catches - 48 yards) was glad to have been a part of Andrean's 14-1 season.

"I was just a special teams player last year," he said. "To me, it was all about the seniors. They did a great job. A lot of other teams would kill to be here. We had a great season."

The 59ers were held to 63 yards rushing on just 20 carries. True, Andrean could not afford to try to run the ball because they were 10 points behind for all of the final three quarters. But Chatard allowed only 1,556 yards rushing in the previous 14 games.

Mike Dury, who at 6-foot-5 will be a left-handed first baseman for Notre Dame's baseball team in the spring of 2004, hit 6-of-10 passes for 115 yards. Chatard, behind seniors David Jackson (5-10, 220), Bob Schaffner (5-10, 200), juniors Steve Young (6-3, 260) and Kevin Conard (5-9, 233) and sophomore Michael McNellis (5-11, 225) and tight end Ryan Baker (6-6, 218) gained 217 yards rushing on 45 carries. Chatard has no home field because no field was put in when the school opened in 1961.

Dilley says the school is looking into purchasing land nearby for a field but they also have signed an agreement with their community for no outside athletic events after dark. The Trojans ride the bus for every game home and away. The Indianapolis-Fort Wayne match-ups in Class 4A and 5A went decisively to Indianapolis. Roncalli beat Bishop Dwenger 27-24 and Ben Davis crushed undefeated Snider 31-7.  In the 30 years of the Indiana state playoffs, two teams have met in back-to-back years in the state finals only four times. In each of the other three matchups, the team that lost the first game won the second game.

We can make all kinds of excuses as to why Indianapolis area schools dominate the state football tournament but let the record show: Chatard is 6-0 in state title games and has won six titles. Roncalli's championship was the sixth in their long history. Ben Davis won their seventh state championship Saturday afternoon. That doesn't count Carmel (5 titles) or Cathedral (5 crowns).

Only seven Lake County teams in 30 years have ever won state championships.
Hobart (4 times), Merrillville (1976), Griffith (1997), Bishop Noll  (1989).
Merrillville beat Cathedral. Noll beat Roncalli.  None of Hobart's four title game wins came against an Indianapolis-area school.

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Revised: July 10, 2004 .