Indiana high school football Class 3A state final preview: Bishop Chatard vs. Lawrenceburg
Bishop Chatard goes into Saturday’s Class 3A high school football state championship game as tested as any of coach Rob Doyle’s teams in his six seasons.
“Our schedule was particularly difficult this year,” Doyle said. “We had Roncalli on the ropes and fumbled late (a 17-14 loss to the Class 4A second-ranked Royals). CBC (out of St. Louis) is not even a real high school team. They have six Division I guys on each side of the ball (a 55-24 loss). We had a tough night against Cathedral (a 38-0 loss), but each time we had a tough game we kept fighting back. We kept telling them, it’s what you do after you get knocked down that counts.”
Sixth-ranked Chatard (10-4) took its share of punches during the regular season, but stayed upright and put together an impressive tournament run to set up Saturday’s state finals matchup against No. 9 Lawrenceburg (13-1) at 3 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In five tournament games, the Trojans are winning by an average margin of 27.4 points per game. In last week’s 21-3 win at top-ranked West Lafayette, the Chatard defense intercepted five passes.
“One of our big problems early was that we were giving up pass yardage,” Doyle said of the defense, which is allowing 190 passing yards per game. “Jack Feeney blew out his knee before the first game he started at safety the year before. We are all juniors back there and we just weren’t quite ready. We made some changes and cleaned that up, but losing him was tough.”
An area where Chatard has been consistent all season is on offense, particularly the passing game. Senior Drew VanVleet, in his only season as a starter, is completing 68.2% of his passes for 2,732 yards and 28 touchdowns. Noah Dudik and Aiden Duncan have combined for 138 receptions and 1,604 yards.
VanVleet sat last season behind Carter St. John, an all-conference quarterback as a freshman at Division III Alma College (Mich.). VanVleet, who started as a freshman and sophomore at Richmond, waited his turn last year behind St. John.
“Our system is a little hard to get through so he had a year to learn it,” Doyle said. “He’s really executing at a high level now and we have so many different receivers who can do things with the ball.”
Here is a closer look at the Class 3A title game:
Matchup
Bishop Chatard (10-4) vs. Lawrenceburg (13-1)
Rankings
Bishop Chatard No. 6; Lawrenceburg No. 9
Kickoff
3 p.m. Saturday, at Lucas Oil Stadium
How to watch
Bally Sports Indiana and IHSAAtv.org
Championships
Bishop Chatard is the state’s all-time leader with 15 state championships. The Trojans also have two state titles in volleyball and one in boys basketball. Chatard is 15-1 in state finals appearances. Lawrenceburg won state football championships in Class A in 1975 and ’78. The Tigers were state runners-up in 1976, ’85 and 2016.
Coaches
Chatard coach Rob Doyle, 62, is in his sixth season at Chatard after 11 seasons as an assistant at the school. Doyle led the Trojans to state championships in 2019 and 2020. He coached in the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) program for 12 years prior to joining the Chatard staff. He graduated from Andrean in 1978 and DePauw in 1982.
Lawrenceburg coach Ryan Knigga, 44, is in his 12th season at Lawrenceburg. He led the Tigers to the state finals in 2016. The 1996 Lawrenceburg graduate and 2001 Indiana State grad was an assistant at Lawrenceburg from 2001-04 and then went to East Central as an assistant from 2005-10.
A closer look at Bishop Chatard
The sixth-ranked Trojans are looking to win the 3A title for the third time in four years and 16th time overall. Chatard knocked off No. 9 Guerin Catholic 49-13 in the sectional championship and defeated No. 1 West Lafayette 21-3 in the semistate. Chatard is plus-12 in turnover margin this season and has intercepted 18 passes, including five in the semistate
Chatard is led on offense by senior quarterback Drew VanVleet (2,732 passing yards, 28 TDs) and senior receivers Noah Dudik (66 catches, 816 yards, eight TDs) and Aiden Duncan (72 catches, 788 yards, seven TDs) and junior receiver Colin Guy (51 catches, 523 yards, six TDs). Senior Jef Waugh has 49 catches for 377 yards and eight TDs. Chatard has had some injuries at the running back spot with juniors Jack Weybright (673 yards, seven TDs) and Luke Purichia (499 yards, nine TDs in five games) as the top rushers.
The defense is led by junior linebacker Sam Feeney (74 tackles, five sacks in 10 games), Purichia (58 tackles, three interceptions) and senior linebacker Nate Meyer (125 tackles, two interceptions).
A closer look at Lawrenceburg
The Tigers played Chatard once previously, losing 26-14 in the semistate in 1984. Lawrenceburg leads the state in points allowed at 6.1 per game. The Tigers shut out six consecutive opponents to end the regular season and have not allowed more than a touchdown to any of their tournament opponents, including a 31-7 win over ninth-ranked Southridge in the regional.
The Tigers average 34.7 points per game, leaning mostly on a ground attack that averages 247.5 yards per game. Lawrenceburg averages 332 yards per game overall. The top rushers are junior Teagan Bennett (1,410 yards, 18 TDs) and senior Alex Witte (1,201 yards, 18 TDs). Junior quarterback Logan Ahaus has thrown for 1,106 yards and 11 TDs.
The defense is led by senior linebackers Jake Pierce (114 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four interceptions) and Niko Ferreira (95 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three forced fumbles), sophomore linebacker Noah Knigga (79 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, four sacks) and junior defensive back Zavyn Slayback (64 tackles, four interceptions).
How Bishop Chatard can win
Air it out. The Trojans have done that well all season and the playing on the turf, in the dome, should fit this team well. On defense, force Lawrenceburg into obvious passing situations.
How Lawrenceburg can win
Get off to a good start. The Tigers have forced 36 turnovers this season and are an amazing plus-27 in the turnover category this season. Maybe an early turnover leads to an early lead. That would be ideal for a Lawrenceburg team that relies on its running game and defense.
Prediction
Bishop Chatard 28, Lawrenceburg 14
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football 3A state final preview: Bishop Chatard vs. Lawrenceburg
