Carmel, Cathedral and Chatard win big in state championship finals

5A - Penn vs. Carmel

Brandon Denning passed for 143 yards and ran for 60 more to help No. 2 Carmel defeat No. 3 Penn 54-0 in the Class 5A state final Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Adam Kehoe set a 5A finals record with 11 catches. He finished with 123 yards receiving and a touchdown.  Jalen Duncan added 110 yards rushing for the Greyhounds (14-1), who gained 438 yards in the most lopsided 5A title game ever.

Carmel coach Kevin Wright became the fifth coach in state history to win state titles at two different schools. Wright won titles at Warren Central in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Carmel held Penn to 186 yards while completing one of the toughest roads to a title in state history. Carmel beat Perry Merdian, No. 10 Lawrence Central, No. 1 Warren Central, No. 5 Indianapolis Ben Davis and rival Center Grove to reach the final.

Cathedral Indianapolis Cathedral's Gino Gillum is just big enough to do some damage.

The 5-foot-7, 165-pound running back rushed for 180 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Irish past the South Bend Washington Panthers 42-7 in the Class 4A state football championship game on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Gillum tied the Class 4A record for touchdowns scored in a state championship game.

"It's just humbling, wonderful," Gillum said. "We were running the ball a lot and we had great blocking, ground and pound like we usually do."

The Irish have won three state championships in four seasons and have won back-to-back titles for the first time.

Cathedral beat Fort Wayne Dwenger 31-20 in last year's title game.

"Last year the seniors were talking about it all year," Gillum said. "This year, it was more slow at the beginning, but the playoffs, we just kicked it off."

South Bend Washington's Gehrig Dieter had 168 yards receiving, breaking the Class 4A championship game record of 147 receiving yards, set in 1988.

Daigien Morgan started for the Panthers and was 8 of 25 with two interceptions, but threw for 210 yards.

It wasn't a pretty start for the Irish, who fumbled on the first possession and then punted on their second.

Cathedral quarterback Corey Babb, who was 7 of 10 with 81 yards passing, scored the first touchdown on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter.

Then Gillum scored three straight touchdowns -- late in the second quarter, early in the third and again at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Irish had a 14-0 lead by the end of the first half and they were eager to come back out to start the third quarter and extend the lead further.

3A - South Bend St. Joseph's vs. Chatard

South Bend St. Joseph's expected Indianapolis Chatard to use quarterback Max VanVliet's passing skills to balance its offense in the Class 3A title game.

Turns out, Chatard's old power game plan from last year's title matchup worked just fine. Ryan Kleinschmidt rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns to help Chatard defeat St. Joseph's 21-7 in the Class 3A football final at Lucas Oil Stadium. This performance came a year after the same two teams met and Kleinschmidt tied a 3A finals record with 247 yards rushing in Chatard's 28-14 win.

Last year, Kleinschmidt had 41 carries; this year, he had 28. St. Joseph's coach Ben Downey didn't expect to see quite so much of No. 21 this time around.

"It appeared that it would be drastically different, but when it came down to it, they did most of their damage on the ground," Downey said. "I don't believe it ended up as different as I anticipated it being."

VanVliet still passed for 124 yards Saturday for Chatard (13-2), increasing his total to 2,290 yards this season, but Kleinschmidt was the star. As he did last year, Kleinschmidt deflected the credit.

"It was all the offensive line, they were opening up holes," he said. "We were able to execute our passing game as well and it all came together and helped us win."

Kleinschmidt's coach, Vince Lorenzano, gave him credit.

"There's a work ethic about him," Lorenzano said. "He never misses practice. He's always willing to work hard. He's just a great kid."

Chatard won its second straight title and third in five years.