Road To History: Indianapolis Cathedral Fighting Irish

It is no secret that the 2020’s have been a strange time. But 2021 saw a very familiar occurrence: the Cathedral Fighting Irish hoisting a State Championship trophy at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Irish took down Zionsville 34-14 on championship weekend to lay claim to another title. They did so in their customary dominant fashion with their only loss coming against Class 6A State Champions Center Grove. This season was historic as Cathedral added more hardware to their expansive trophy cabinet. Offense While many of the state champions featured experienced quarterbacks, Cathedral’s offense was engineered by the talented sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="109625" first="Danny" last="O’Neil"]. O’Neil completed 231 of 367 passes for nearly 3,000 yards and 33 touchdowns. Those numbers alone are impressive, but the way that he took care of the football is almost incomprehensible. O’Neil threw just two interceptions the entire season. O’Neil also found ways to hurt opposing defenses on the ground. He mustered 305 rushing yards and ten touchdowns with his legs. O’Neil has terrific speed, and his footwork is outstanding. He is very accurate, and he does a good job of getting the ball out quickly, neutralizing the pass rush in the process. In the backfield, the Irish possessed a dynamic 1-2 punch. Leading the team in rushing yards was senior Seth Mencer. Mencer put up 1,005 yards on 183 carries, finding the end zone 12 times. Mencer is a solid one-cut runner who displays great vision. He is effective between the tackles, but he also has the speed and athleticism to do well on outside runs. Junior Carson Johnson gained 602 rushing yards this year on 102 carries. Johnson scored three rushing touchdowns. An explosive runner, Johnson can make defenders miss once he gets in the open field. Johnson has great speed, and he can be a big play threat for the Cathedral offense next season. Through the air, [player_tooltip player_id="107080" first="Jaron" last="Tibbs"] was a consistent threat all season long. Tibbs brought in 66 receptions for 1,105 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns. He was a constant big play threat, evidenced by the fact that he averaged 16.7 yards per catch this season. Tibbs is an explosive player, capable of picking up the chunk plays that get the offense in rhythm and moving the football. Tibbs is a prospect that scouts will want to watch next season. Defense The Cathedral defense was led by several outstanding players. [player_tooltip player_id="98003" first="Jeffrey" last="Utzinger"] was a force when it came to making stops and wreaking havoc. He accumulated 49 solo and 72 total tackles on the year. Utzinger had nine tackles-for-loss to go along with one and a half sacks. He also had one quarterback hurry. Utzinger created problems for opposing offenses when defending passes as he came up with three interceptions. There was also the special teams presence that Utzinger provided, blocking two punts. Utzinger has terrific a feel for the game. In pass coverage, he is excellent at reading the eyes of the quarterback. He is an outstanding tackler who can fly around the field and make plays. When Utzinger blitzes, he does so with ferocity and often gets to the quarterback or running back. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="98023" first="Bryce" last="Llewellyn"] is the expert defensive back who anchored the Cathedral defense. Llewellyn had 73 total tackles, 46 of which were solo. He also made an impact in the backfield, posting 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Llewellyn is a ball-hawking player. He came up with eight interceptions this year as well as one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Llewellyn possesses exceptional ball skills, something that is in even higher demand for today’s defensive backs. He is an elite pass defender, who also excels at playing the run. Llewellyn does a great job of coming down and making the tackle. [player_tooltip player_id="98023" first="Bryce" last="Llewellyn"] can be a game-changer in the defensive backfield for a college defense. For as effective as [player_tooltip player_id="98003" first="Jeffrey" last="Utzinger"] was at getting pressure, the leader in that department was Hudson Miller. The senior accumulated 71 total tackles with 36 being solo stops. He had an incredible 19.5 tackles-for-loss total. Miller led the team in sacks with nine. He also accounted for seven quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles as well as one fumble recovery. Miller is an excellent linebacker who reads the game well. His combination of instinct and tenacity would make him a great fit in a college defense. Proving that is the fact that Miller defends both the run and the pass at a high level. The Cathedral offense was regularly set up well thanks to the work of their special teams unit. Carson Johnson led the team in kickoff return yards with 97. Senior Dazzman Garrett paced the squad with 87 punt return yards. With an offense as efficient as the one the Irish had this season, any additional advantage that they got usually turned out to be lethal. Cathedral won in all three phases of the game this season.