Guerin Catholic’s Isaiah Lewis (left) caught a touchdown pass right before halftime during the Golden Eagles’ 35-21 win over Culver Academies at the Eagles Nest. (Mike Navarro)
By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – The last three weeks turned out to be the toughest stretch of the regular season for Guerin Catholic with losses to Roncalli, Bishop Chatard and Pike.
The Golden Eagles were able to right the ship and get back to winning Friday, Oct. 10 in their Homecoming win over Culver Academy, 35-21.
The two teams traded punts throughout a majority of the first quarter, but late in the first Guerin got in prime shape for their first score.
“I give their defense some credit early on,” said Guerin Catholic head coach Tom Dilley. “Both defenses had big series to start the game. We were pretty confident that if we just slowed it down and executed, good things would happen.”
A muffed punt by the visiting Eagles gave Guerin prime real estate at the Culver 21. From there, it took just five plays to strike first. Jack Linden plunged in from one yard out for a 7-0.
“They did start to roll a little bit in the second quarter. We know what kind of back that Jack (Linden) is and that was our offense getting on track. Good reads by the quarterback. Good blocking up front. And, Jack always running hard, like he does, taking care of the football and it was certainly nice to get some more production than we’ve been getting out of the run game,” continued Dilley.
Culver Academy tied it 7-7 with 35 seconds left in the second. The Eagles had a fourth down and 15 at the Guerin 34. They went for it after a false start penalty moved them back five yards from the 29 to the 34. CMA had previously lined up for a Rafael Muniz 46-yard field goal attempt. Quarterback Owen Dorrel threw a touchdown pass to Will Dupuis for the 34-yard score.
The Golden Eagles responded perfectly. A few big pass plays set up the go-ahead score. In the final seconds of the first half, Quentin Klee found an open Isaiah Lewis for a 31-yard touchdown pass and a 14-7 lead.
“When Isaiah has an opportunity for what most people would call a 50/50 ball, we know that based on his ability, that’s more like a 70/30 ball,” Dilley said of Lewis. “He’s a knack and he prides himself in it and has really good ball skills. He’s a good route runner and gets open, but when he’s not open, he still has a real good chance to come down with the football, because of his determination.”
Guerin Catholic started the second half off with a bang. They moved the ball well, right down to the Eagles’ 27. After a 10-yard penalty, they were faced with 2nd and 20 at the CMA 37. It was Klee-to-Klee. Quentin found sophomore brother Kolbe for a 37-yard TD pass for a two-score lead at 21-7.
Culver Academy turned it over on downs at Guerin’s 31. The Golden Eagles sustained a solid drive that resulted in Linden’s second rushing TD and a 28-7 margin.
The Eagles cut it back to two scores at 28-14 when Dupuis caught a 40-yard TD pass.
Quentin Klee tacked on the final score for Guerin in the final seconds of the third when he ran up the middle for an 11-yard TD.
“That QB draw is simply a read play that put the ball into Jack’s belly. When he starts to produce a little, he gets some attention, opening it up and splitting like the Red Sea and Quentin read it property,” said Dilley.
Culver Academy scored with 9:15 left. The kick return was recovered by CMA, but they turned it over on downs at the Guerin 16.
Jack Linden ran 18 times for 96 yards and two TDs. Quentin Klee was 18 of 25 through the air for 257 yards and two touchdowns. Isaiah Lewis caught five for 105 and a score, along with Kolby Klee catching three for 60 and a TD.
Guerin Catholic (4-4) stays home next week for their regular season finale against Lafayette Central Catholic (2-6) this Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Knights snapped a five-game losing streak in Week 8 with a rout over Benton Central, 69-8.
