NOBLESVILLE
In conditions where the ball proved to be slippery and elusive for both teams, Roncalli defensive back Dylan Lewis seemed to be the only player who had no trouble holding onto the pigskin Friday.
Lewis’ 95-yard interception return touchdown late in the first half, the second-longest in school history, extended the Rebels’ lead to 14-0. He added another interception at the end of the third quarter to stall a Guerin Catholic drive and help secure Roncalli’s 20-10 road win over the Class 3A No. 10 Golden Eagles.
“It’s harder to throw, harder to catch, but it just makes it a different kind of game,” Lewis said of the conditions, which included temperatures in the upper 30s and a steady rain throughout the first three quarters. “You’ve just got to adapt and do your best.”
The defense clearly handled the conditions better than the offense. Roncalli’s defense forced seven punts and collected three sacks, all from Brandon Berger. Guerin Catholic quarterback Christian Gelov finished with 112 passing yards, but 106 of those came in the second half after the rain let up.
Meanwhile, the Rebels held the Golden Eagles to just 46 yards rushing and 2 of 13 third-down conversions.
“The whole night, we couldn’t keep from getting penalties (seven for 70 yards), so for the defense to step up and make a big play like that, it was just what the doctor ordered,” Roncalli coach Scott Marsh said of Lewis’ interception return.
The Rebels (3-6, 1-2 Circle City Conference) struggled with the center-quarterback exchange all night, fumbling it five times, with one resulting in a safety. But their diverse running attack made up for it. Freshman QB Aidan Leffler collected 70 yards on 18 carries, while Elijah Mahan added 68 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries. Andrew Lockard added 49 yards on eight carries.
Mahan’s second touchdown, a 29-yard run that extended Roncalli’s lead to 20-0, came on a play where he appeared to be stopped after gaining six or seven yards, but he rolled off the top of a tackler without his knee hitting the ground, bounced up and ran the rest of the way for the score.
Guerin Catholic (5-4, 1-2) played without its top rusher, Dylan Crossen, and starting linebacker Charles Bock, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries in last week’s loss to Brebeuf.
Despite that, the Eagles still had a chance late. After the safety, they marched 55 yards in five plays, with a 41-yard touchdown pass from Gelov to Patrick Hagel and a two-point conversion cutting the deficit to 20-10 with 9:08 still to play.
Roncalli, however, held the Eagles at bay on the next three possessions, never letting them cross midfield. Berger’s third and final sack snuffed out Guerin Catholic’s final threat, and the Eagles, who had no timeouts at the time, were only able to run one more play before time expired.
The Rebels are off next week, and will play at the winner of next Friday’s Class 5A sectional matchup between seventh-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral and Plainfield.
