Indianapolis Cathedral opened the 54th annual Indiana High School Athletic Association football tournament on Friday night with a 49-7 sectional semi-final victory at Mt. Vernon. The Fighting Irish gained 530 yards on offense and scored seven rushing touchdowns. Senior running back Xavier Dangerfield led the way with 135 rushing yards and four touchdown runs. Cathedral received the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in less than three minutes to grab a 7-0 lead when Dangerfield scored on 7-yard run. The Marauders failed to gain a first down on their first possession. The Irish followed the punt with a 67-yard drive that ended with Tell’i McCullough’s 2-yard scoring run to make the lead 13-0. Early in the second quarter, Dangerfield scored on a 15-yard run and Emmett Knowles tossed a 2-point conversion pass to Nick Robinson increasing the margin to 21-0. Dangerfield’s 13-yard rushing TD made the score 28-0 before Mt. Vernon’s Mason Meyer tossed a 5-yard scoring pass to Zach Spalding in the closing seconds of the first half. Knowles’ 1-yard touchdown run and Dangerfield’s fourth TD, a 4-yard run, triggered a running clock with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter under the IHSAA’s Mercy Rule. Parker Johnson’s 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth period concluded the scoring. McCullough gained 96 yards on 15 carries, while Evan Johnson caught four passes for 104 receiving yards. The Fighting Irish defense held Mt. Vernon to just 56 rushing yards and allowed the Marauders only one successful first down conversion in ten third-down attempts. Class 5A top-rated Cathedral (7-3) will host second-ranked New Palestine (7-3) for the Sectional 13 championship next Friday at Arsenal Tech’s Howard Longshore Stadium. The Dragons advanced with a 53-35 victory at seventh-rated Pendleton Heights Friday. New Palestine, the reigning 5A state champion, eliminated the Fighting Irish from the 2025 tourney, 20-15, in the sectional final round. Cathedral 49, Mt. Vernon 7 Cathedral 13 15 14 7 — 49 Mt. Vernon 0 7 0 0 — 7 Scoring Summary First Quarter CHS – Dangerfield 7-yard run (Fahey kick), 9:04. CHS – McCullough 2-yard run (kick failed), 4:28. Second Quarter CHS – Dangerfield 15-yard run (Robinson pass from Knowles), 9:58. CHS – Dangerfield 13-yard run (Fahey kick), 3:28. MVHS – Spalding 5-yard pass from Meyer (Rauch kick), 0:16. Third Quarter CHS – Knowles 1-yard run (Fahey kick), 3:59. CHS – Dangerfield 3-yard run (Huebner kick), 1:50. Fourth Quarter CHS – Parker Johnson 3-yard run (Huebner kick), 6:30. Cathedral Mt. Vernon First downs 31 8 Rushes-yards 40-339 23-58 Passing 10-15-1 11-24-2 Passing yards 191 110 Penalties 10-77 5-35 RUSHING CHS: Dangerfield 13-135, McCullough 15-96, Knowles 3-27, Parker Johnson 3-23, Finn 2-19, Berry 1-14, Lewis 1-10, Harris 1-10, Kidwell 1-5. MVHS: Meyer 12-28, BJ Johnson 8-27, Crenshaw 1-3, Dierks 1-1, Spalding 1- -1. P ASSING CHS: Finn 6-19, 128 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, Knowles 4-5, 63 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. MVHS: Meyer 10-21, 35 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT, Dierks 1-3, 6 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. RECEIVING CHS: Evan Johnson 4-108, Lewis 3-43, Peterson 2-38, Coleman 1-2. MVHS: Hampton 3-51, Spalding 3-25, BJ Johnson 1-20, James 3-8. Photos - Payten Elliott '27