The Irish persevered, and maintained tradition. Cathedral High School football in 2025 overcame a slew of key injuries, turned in many memorable moments and remained one of the state’s elite problems. This was a season Bill Peebles will remember fondly. “Our kids were resilient and tough,” he said. The Irish in Peebles’ eighth season as head coach finished 7-4 in 2025, losing to New Palestine 20-15, in the Class 5A, Sectional 13 title game. They finished the regular season tied for No. 2 in the Class 5A Associated Press rankings, with New Palestine – unbeaten at 11-0 when they beat the Irish – ranked No. 1. “They played really hard and we could've won the game,” Peebles said. “We made too many mistakes against New Pal. We had three turnovers and a couple of those were forced. We had a few too many penalties that stopped drives and a couple of penalties that extended drives. “You can’t make mistakes against a really good team. We were resilient and played hard. We just didn’t have enough juice to get over the hump against New Pal.” The Irish three times in 2025 won with scores in the final two minutes, beating a strong Warren Central team in the regular-season finale with eight starters – including senior starting quarterback Cameron Koers – out with injuries. “We overcame a lot of adversity and may have overachieved in a lot of situations,” Peebles said. “Our kids fought. We met a really good team and had a chance to win and didn’t get it done.” The Irish not only beat Warren Central in 2025, they beat Class 6A perennial power Center Grove for a second consecutive season – that program’s lone regular-season loss in ’25. “To beat that team two years in a row in both tough, hard-fought games stands out,” Peebles said. The Irish’s lone losses in 2025: 29-0 to Class 6A state-finalist Brownsburg, Class 5A state-finalist New Pal, 24-6 to Ohio Region 4 champion Cincinnati St. Xavier and 17-10 to Kentucky Class 4A state quarterfinalist Covington Catholic. “We got beat by some really good teams and had opportunities to extend the season against New Pal just didn't get it done,” Peebles said. “We do a lot of leadership training in the offseason. It helps prepare them for some adversity that we're going to face during the year because we just talk about it. We say, ‘OK, it's going to happen. How do we handle when it happens?’ “Our guys can draw from some of those conversations that, ‘Hey, this is very normal to go through this during the season.’ Eight injuries isn't normal in any given game, but adversity is very normal. It's one of great things about football and athletics in general and our kids can draw from some of those conversations we have in the offseason. It gets them calmed down a little bit: ‘OK, this is normal.’’’ The Irish in 2025 were led by a strong senior class that included: *Kyle Harden (62 tackles, 12 for loss), linebacker. “He was kind of the heart and soul of our team,” Peebles said. *Gannon Knowles (56 tackles, 13 for loss), middle linebacker. *Alex Couch (61 tackles, 2.5 for loss), outside linebacker. “We had a really good senior class – a really good group of individuals,” Peebles said. “Those are our guys.” Keying the Irish in 2025: A strong defense that allowed more than 20 points in a game just twice, a group led by Harden, Knowles and Couch. “Defensively, we were really solid all year,” Peebles said. “We were strong in the box, strong up front. Even against New Pal, they completed a couple third down, a couple big passes that were the difference in the game.” The Irish also were strong on special teams in 2025, with the offense keyed by a strong running game that featured senior running back Jimmy Pappas (974 yards, 6 touchdowns, 204 carries) and junior running back Xavier Dangerfield (604 yards, 4 touchdowns, 111 carries). “We were a good rushing team this year,” Peebles said. Senior kicker Van Krisiloff converted 13 of 21 field goals with a long 46, also converting 15 of 15 extra points. He had 22 touchbacks on kickoffs, punting 34 times for 37.3 yards and 15 punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. “He broke all of our kicking records this year,” Peebles said of Krisiloff, who will play collegiately at Eastern Michigan. Junior tight end Owen Peterson, who sustained a season-ending broken leg in Week i2n 2025, also cwill return in 2026. “We had a really good freshman group,” Peebles said. “We’ll have a small senior class, but there’s a lot of talent in it. Our goal is to win state every year but I think we're very relevant and in the conversation with who we play. “The ceiling is high for next year's group. We'll be young. I think some of our freshmen this season will play quite a bit of sophomores which is unusual at Cathedral, but they're good football players.”