Indianapolis Cathedral opened the high school football season Friday night at Ben Davis, falling to the host Giants, 33-27, despite an impressive comeback attempt in the final 18 minutes. It’s the first Fighting Irish season-opening loss since 2017. Ben Davis jumped out to a 14-0 lead when quarterback Gabe Kennett scored on a 1-yard run late in the first quarter and then tossed a 50-yard scoring pass to Jahlil Durrett on the first play of the second quarter. Cathedral answered with a 13-play, 69-yard drive that ended when Tell’i McCullough scored one a 1-yard run. Kennett’s 19-yard touchdown pass to A’Vante Milligan made the Giants lead 21-7 at halftime. Cathedral’s Xavier Dangerfield returned the second-half kickoff 38 yards to the 50-yard line. Eleven plays later, Rowan Fahey kicked a 30-yard field goal, trimming the Irish deficit to 21-10. Kennett’s 39-yard TD pass to Isaiah Raine on the Giants’ first third-quarter possession gave Ben Davis its largest lead of the night at 27-10. The Irish responded with 17 unanswered points. Dangerfield’s 4-yard scoring run, Fahey’s 21-yard field goal, and Luke Finn’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Ollie Lewis evened the score at 27-27 with 7:55 to play. Ben Davis then took nearly six minutes to move 67 yards on 10 plays, regaining the lead 33-27 when Kennett completed a 9-yard TD pass to Cam Crawford. The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds allowing the Irish to start their final drive at the 35-yard line. Two plays later, Cathedral had advanced inside the Ben Davis 20-yard line but lost the ball on a fumble with just over a minute remaining. Cathedral rushed for 212 yards. Dangerfield led the way with 100 yards on 22 attempts, while McCullough added 67 yards on 9 carries. Kennett completed 24 of 32 passes for Ben Davis, but the Irish defense intercepted him three times. Cathedral hosts Loyola Academy from Wilmette, Illinois at Butler University’s Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl this Friday at 7:30 p.m. It’s the first meeting ever between the two tradition-rich football programs. Ben Davis 33, Cathedral 27 Cathedral 0 7 17 3 — 27 Ben Davis 7 14 6 6 — 33 Scoring Summary First Quarter BD — Kennett 1-yard run (Jacques-Casillas kick), 2:08. Second Quarter BD — Durrett 50-yard pass from Kennett (Jacques-Casillas kick), 11:53. CHS — McCullough 1-yard run (Fahey kick), 7:45. BD — Milligan 19-yard pass from Kennett (Jacques-Casillas kick), 4:07. Third Quarter CHS — Fahey 30-yard field goal, 8:42. BD — Raine 39-yard pass from Kennett (kick failed), 5:29. CHS — Dangerfield 4-yard run (Fahey kick), 2:34. CHS — Lewis 10-yard pass from Finn (Fahey kick), 1:39. Fourth Quarter CHS — Fahey 21-yard field goal, 7:55. BD — Crawford 9-yard pass from Kennett (kick failed), 1:50. Cathedral Ben Davis First downs 17 18 Rushes-yards 40-212 26-98 Passing 5-19-0 24-32-3 Passing yards 56 327 Punts-average. 3-38.3 0-0 Fumble-lost 1-1 1-0 RUSHING Cathedral: Dangerfield 22-100, McCullough, 9-67, Knowles 5-16, Berry 3-126, Lewis 1-13. Ben Davis: R. Williams 10-53, Kennett 12-44, Milligan 3-5, Shafeek 1- -4. PASSING Cathedral: Finn 4 of 11 for 46 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; Knowles 1 of 8 for 10 yards, 0TD, 0 INT. Ben Davis: Kennett 24 of 32 for 327 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT. RECEIVING Cathedral: Lewis 3-30, Johnson 1-16, Ayers 1-10. Ben Davis: M. Williams 9-119, Durrett 4-80, Raine 3-61, Crawford 2-23, Milligan 1-19, Toomer 2-22, Adams 1-9, Miller 1-7, R. Williams 1- -2.