Cathedral defeated Indianapolis North Central Friday night, 53-13, in a weather-delayed homecoming game at Butler University’s Sellick Bowl. Sophomore running back Xavier Dangerfield rushed for 188 yards and five touchdowns in the victory. The Fighting Irish received the opening kickoff and moved the ball 75 yards in five plays with Dangerfield scoring on a 5-yard run. Jack Lockhart then intercepted a North Central pass and returned it 32 yards to the Panthers’ 2-yard line, setting up a Van Krisiloff 20-yard field goal. On North Central’s second possession, Kyle Harden forced a fumble and returned it 41 yards to the Panthers’ 9-yard line. Dangerfield scored on the next play. North Central answered when quarterback Caleb Foor threw a 65-yard scoring pass to Demetrius Averitte, narrowing the Irish lead to 17-7. Cathedral returned the ensuing kickoff to the 50-yard line. Six plays later, Dangerfield scored on a 3-yard run. Still in the first quarter, the Panthers’ Isaac Canady recovered a fumbled punt and advanced it 19 yards to the Irish 1-yard line. Jalon Amos dove into the end zone on the final play of the period to cut the Panthers’ deficit to 23-13. Dangerfield’s fourth touchdown, a 4-yard run, came with 9:06 remaining in the first half. Immediately following Krisiloff’s successful extra point kick made the score 30-13, lightning was spotted, and play was suspended for an hour and five minutes. The game resumed shortly before 9 p.m. In the closing seconds of the first half, Irish quarterback Cam Koers completed a 23-yard scoring pass to Adam Ayers, making Cathedral’s lead 37-13 at the intermission. In the third quarter, Dangerfield scored on a 22-yard run and Lockhart blocked a punt that bounced out of the end zone for a safety. Freshman running back TuaJohn Averitte’s fourth-quarter 16-yard TD run triggered a running clock for the final 7:49 under the IHSAA’s Mercy Rule. Koers completed 13 of 18 passes for 177 yards. Cathedral’s Devaughn Slaughter caught four passes for 82 yards. Dangerfield has gained 530 yards and scored nine rushing touchdowns in the last three weeks. The Fighting Irish improved their record to 3-2, while the Panthers fell to 0-5. Cathedral is idle this week before returning to action on October 4th against fourth-rated Center Grove at Marian University. The Trojans are 4-1 this season, losing only to second-ranked Westfield in their first game of the year 34-28.