Indianapolis Cathedral faced Loyola Academy from Wilmette, Illinois in football for the first time in school history Friday night at Butler University. The two tradition-rich Catholic schools were evenly matched for two-and-a-half quarters, but the Ramblers proved to be too much for the Fighting Irish in the final 18 minutes on the way to a 33-19 Loyola victory. Cathedral capitalized on James Groepper’s recovery of a Ramblers’ fumbled punt return at the Loyola 2-yard line. Tell’i Mccullough’s rushing touchdown on the next play put the Irish on top 7-0 with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter. The Ramblers Jordan McKinley then returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Irish 35-yard line. Six plays later, McKinley caught Matthew Lee’s 10-yard scoring pass to even the game at 7-7. Early in the second quarter, Emmett Knowles tossed a 55-yard TD pass to Evan Johnson putting Cathedral ahead 13-7. On their next drive, the Ramblers marched 69 yards to set up a first and goal at the Cathedral 2-yard line. The Fighting Irish defense stopped four consecutive rushing attempts and Cathedral took possession of the ball inside its own 1-yard line. J-J Kinnett intercepted Lee’s final pass of the half at the Irish 4-yard line to preserve the 13-7 lead. Loyola received the second half kickoff and two minutes later grabbed its first advantage when Lee tossed a 19-yard scoring pass to Charlie Fowler. The two connected again on the next Rambler possession, this time for a 9-yard score, to increase the margin to 20-7. The Irish blocked the extra point kick. Xavier Dangerfield’s 34-yard rushing touchdown on the following Cathedral series closed the gap to 20-19, but a failed point-after kick left Loyola ahead. On their next drive, the Ramblers marched 54 yards in eight plays with Carmelo Maldonado scoring on a 1-yard run to increase the Irish deficit to 26-19. Following a Fighting Irish lost fumble to end the third period, Loyola took control of the game when Lee sneaked into the end zone for a touchdown with 8:34 to play. The Ramblers dominated the second half time of possession, having the ball for 17:39 compared with the Irish on offense for only 6:21. Cathedral’s record falls to 0-2, while Loyola Academy improves to 2-0. The Irish travel to Cincinnati St. Xavier next Friday. The Bombers were the Ohio Division I (largest class) playoff runner-up in 2025. They are 1-1 so far this season after a 35-7 victory at Huber Heights Wayne last Friday. Cathedral is 3-19 all-time against St. X and has a 1-10 mark at Ballaban Field with the only win there coming in the year 2000. Loyola Academy 33, Cathedral 19 Loyola Academy 7 0 19 7 — 33 Cathedral 7 6 6 0 — 19 Scoring Summary First Quarter CHS — McCullough 2-yard run (McGovern kick), 4:32. LA — McKinley 10-yard pass from Lee (Edwards kick), 1:51. Second Quarter CHS — Johnson 55-yard pass from Knowles (kick failed), 10:38. Third Quarter LA — Fowler 19-yard pass from Lee (Edwards kick), 9:54. LA — Fowler 8-yard pass from Lee (kick failed), 7:41. CHS — Dangerfield 34-yard run (kick failed), 6:01. LA — Maldonado 1-yard run (2-pt conversion pass failed), 2:14. Fourth Quarter LA — Lee 1-yard run (Edwards Kick), 8:36. Loyola Academy Cathedral First downs 24 20 Rushes-yards 34-115 21-75 Passing 21-26-1 13-20-1 Passing yards 290 213 Punts-average 0-0 4-30.3 Fumble-lost 2-2 1-1 RUSHING Loyola Academy: Maldonado 18-68, Garrett 9-26, Haughey 2-17, Lee 5-4. Cathedral: Dangerfield 14-61, Knowles 1-8, McCullough, 6-6. PASSING Loyola Academy: Lee 21 of 26 for 190 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT. Cathedral: Knowles 8 of 12 for 170 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, Finn 5 of 8 for 43 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. RECEIVING Loyola Academy: McKinley 10-181, Haughey 7-61, Fowler 2-27, Collins 1-13, Maldonado 1-8. Cathedral: Johnson 9-163, Onghetich 1-22, Bauer 1-17, Ayers 1-7, Lewis 1-4.