Cathedral scored four first-quarter touchdowns at Southport Friday night and three more in the second period on the way to a 51-0 victory over the host Cardinals. It’s the first shutout this season for the Fighting Irish defense which intercepted four passes and allowed Southport to gain just 48 total yards on offense. On the second play of the game, Luke Finn tossed a backward pass to Patrick Ayers who then threw a 46-yard scoring pass to Parker Johnson. Three plays later, Caden Nelson returned an intercepted pass 47 yards for a touchdown. Also in the first quarter, Emmett Knowles completed an 8-yard TD pass to Chase Bauer and Luke Finn connected with Evan Coleman on a 28-yard scoring, making the Irish lead 28-0. In the second quarter, Ollie Lewis carried a Knowles’ push pass around the end for a 7-yard score. Parker Scott blocked a Cardinal punt to set up Xavier Dangerfield’s 1-yard touchdown run on the next play. After Jeremiah Jefferson tackled Braiden Brummett in the end zone for a safety, Cam Berry scored his first touchdown of the season on a 9-yard run with three minutes remaining in the first half. The 51-point halftime margin triggered a running clock for the entire second half under the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s Mercy Rule. Neither team scored in the third or fourth quarters. The victory was the 150th in Bill Peebles’ coaching career. The Fighting Irish have won three straight games to improve their record to 3-2, while the Cardinals fall to 2-3. Cathedral travels to Trotwood-Madison, outside of Dayton, Ohio, next week. The Rams have won four-in-a-row after a season-opening loss to Toledo Central Catholic. Last season, Cathedral defeated Trotwood-Madison 32-28, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds remaining. Cathedral 51, Southport 0 Cathedral 28 23 0 0 — 51 Bishop Chatard 0 0 0 0 — 0 Scoring Summary First Quarter CHS — Parker Johnson 46-yard pass from Ayers (Fahey kick), 11:35. CHS – Nelson 47-yard interception return (Fahey kick), 9:33. CHS – Bauer 8-yard pass from Knowles (Fahey kick), 5;17. CHS – Coleman 28-yard pass from Finn (Fahey kick), 1:52. Second Quarter CHS — Lewis 7-yard pass from Knowles (Fahey kick), 10:23. CHS – Dangerfield 1-yard run (Fahey kick), 9:53 CHS – Team safety, 7:57. CHS – Berry 9-yard run (Fahey kick), 3:00. Cathedral Southport First downs 12 4 Rushes-yards 27-125 22-26 Passing 9-10-0 6-16-4 Passing yards 179 22 Punts-average 2-16 5-22 Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0 RUSHING CHS: Berry 4-30, Dangerfield 3-24, Kidwell 2-20, McCullough 4-17, Parker Johnson 6-16, Knowles 1-8, Finn 1-6, Harris 6-4. SHS: Mick 2-47, Johnson 1-3, Shelton 2-0, Brummett 15- -12, Owens 2- -12. PASSING CHS: Finn 3-4, 75 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, Knowles 5-5, 58 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, Ayers 1-1, 46 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. SHS: Owens 6-16, 22 yards, 0 TD, 4 INT. RECEIVING CHS: Coleman 2-68, Parker Johnson 1-46, Bauer 2-32, Lewis 2-16, Evan Johnson 1-10, Dockery 1-7. SHS: Gibson 2-14, Mick 2-13, Brummett 1- -1, Wilson 1- -4. Photos: PGproductions on Instagram