Aylsworth
Managing Editor
With
less than a minute to go before halftime of the Nov. 22 Class 4A northern
semistate showdown between undefeated No. 2 Lowell and undefeated No. 3 host
Fort Wayne Dwenger, the score was 0-0. But the teams combined for two
touchdowns in 25 seconds before the half, setting the stage for a second-half
offensive bonanza.
When
the icicle-tinged dust settled, Dwenger (14-0) had won not only the second-half battle
(four TDs, a pair of two-point conversions, and one field goal to Lowell’s two
TDs and one two-point conversion) but also the war, rallying from a 22-16 deficit
late in the third quarter with the game’s final 22 points in a 38-22 victory.
Dwenger
senior quarterback Trevor Yerrick bounced back from a so-so first half (3
of 8 passing for 25 yards with one TD and one interception) with a magnificently
efficient second, going 4 of 6 for 136 yards and three TDs after intermission.
Two of those scoring passes went to 5’7” junior wide receiver Joel Gerardot,
whose 63-yard reception erased Lowell’s final lead with 1:30 left in the third
period before his 26-yard catch finished the game’s scoring with 57 seconds to
play.
The Saints’ humongous second half trumped a
very solid performance from junior running back Brandon Grubbe, who carried 26
times for 147 yards and a touchdown and added another 20-yard TD on his lone
reception for Lowell (13-1).
Dwenger advances to the 4A state championship Nov. 29, where No. 5
Indianapolis Cathedral awaits in a hugely anticipated throwdown of parochial football factories.
Between the two Catholic powerhouses, a total of nine state titles have been
won in 15 state championship appearances.
That
includes Dwenger’s 34-27 victory in the schools’ only head-to-head finals matchup
in 1991.
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