Second-rated Ben Davis held on to defeat fourth-ranked Cathedral, 27-24, Friday night in a hard-fought Class 6A high school football regional tournament game played at the University of Indianapolis. The Giants never trailed, but they needed Ben Rudolph’s 40-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter for the three-point victory. Ben Davis scored first when Rudolph, who missed a 31-yard field goal attempt on the Giants’ first possession, successfully kicked a 25-yarder. Later in the first quarter, a pass from Irish quarterback Danny O’Neil bounced off a receiver and was grabbed out of the air by Ben Davis defensive lineman Jalen Harris, who returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. In the second quarter, Cathedral pulled to within 10-7, moving the ball 94 yards with Jalen Bonds scoring on a 20-yard run. The Giants answered on their final drive of the first half. Thomas Gotkowski tossed a touchdown pass to Nate Williams in the back of the end zone less than a minute before the intermission. Cathedral came out in the second half and tied the game in the first four minutes. On their opening drive, the Irish turned the ball over on a fumble at the Ben Davis one-yard line, but Cathedral’s defense forced the Giants to punt from deep in their own end zone. The resulting good field position led to a Van Krisiloff 35-yard field goal. The Irish then recovered Krisiloff’s onside kick, which set up O’Neil’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Zack Meeks tying the score 17-17. Ben Davis regained the lead on Alijah Price’s 48-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. The Irish evened the score, 24-24, early in the fourth quarter on Keith Long’s 1-yard scoring run following a spectacular catch by Devaughn Slaughter who pinned the ball to the back of a Giant defender for a 31-yard gain. Cathedral had one final chance after Rudolph’s field goal with 2:38 to play, but O’Neil’s pass to the goal line in the closing seconds was intercepted by Alvin Contreras, ending the Irish hopes of a second consecutive regional title. The Fighting Irish (8-4) exit the IHSAA state tournament in the regional round for the third time in their four seasons competing in Class 6A. The Giants (11-1) will host top-ranked and three-time defending state champion Center Grove (11-1) next Friday for a trip to the state finals. Ben Davis has now won its last 15 games against the Cathedral including their only other postseason meeting in the 2016 regional round. The recently announced 2024 Irish football schedule has the Giants replacing Lafayette Jeff as Cathedral’s season-opening opponent next year.