LINDEN — Class 3A No. 1 ranked Indianapolis Chatard ran past North Montgomery on Friday night, ending the Chargers’ season with a 49-12 win in the second round of the IHSAA Sectional.
After a three and out offensively, the Trojans (10-1) defense strung together a handful of stops, and marched down the field on four straight drives to take a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Kyle Cheek hooked up with Daylen Taylor for a 33-yard score with 6:49 left in the first quarter, before Taylor added another touchdown on the ground, and Cheek connected with Jack Annee for a 20-yard score following a North Montgomery turnover.
“We were aware of what we could be good at, and we tried to stick to that early on,” North Montgomery coach Josh Thompson said. “The margin for error was very slim and we had to make sure we were perfect on those things, and we couldn’t let those things slip away unfortunately.”
Chatard beat the Chargers (6-5) on the ground and through the air.
Taylor ran the ball eight times for 93 yards and two scores, while the Trojans out-rushed North Montgomery 179-83.
“We talked to the kids all week that we need to gang tackle, and we knew it was going to be hard,” Thompson said. “Their running back is good. He runs hard, and it was going to be hard for us to tackle him one on one.”
Through the air — Cheek connected with Andrew Sowinksi for a 49-yard score — their 20th touchdown hookup of the season. On the other side of the ball the Trojans intercepted Charger quarterback Jaron Bradford three times, including a 45-yard pick-six by Patrick Mastrian.
TheChargers got on the board late in the first half when Bradford ran it in from five yards out. Bradford later hooked up with Kolton Scrimager for a 12-yard score. Zach Waldon led the Chargers offensively with 37 rushing yards, while Kade Kobel caught six passes for 73 yards.
Chatard advances to play the defending Class 3A state champion West Lafayette Red Devils next week at home for the sectional title. It is also a rematch of the 2015 Class 3A state championship game won by Chatard. Wester Lafayette held on to beat Guerin Catholic 34-31 on Friday night.
The loss for North Montgomery means the end of careers for 12 seniors — who meant a lot to the program — helping the Chargers to their first winning season since 2015.
“I’m proud of the seniors for the way they competed. They played the entire game and never let up,” Thompson said. “They mean a lot to this program. They have come a long way. All of them as a group and individually they’ve come a long way. We are definitely going to miss them. We had 12 solid seniors this year, and it’s definitely going to be a huge loss for us, and we are going to have to work with our underclassmen, because they have some huge shoes to fill.”
Indianapolis Chatard 49, North Montgomery 12
North Montgomery 0 6 0 6 — 12
Chatard 21 21 0 7 — 49
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
C: Daylen Taylor 33 yard pass from Kyle Cheek (Forsee kick), 6:49
C: Taylor 17 yard run (Forsee kick), 3:11
C: Jack Annee 20 yard pass from Cheek (Forsee kick), :13.9
Second Quarter
C: Andrew Sowinksi 49 yard pass from Cheek (Forsee kick), 9:50
C: Patrick Mastrian 45 yard Interception return (Forsee kick), 9:24
C: Taylor 5 yard run (Forsee kick), 4:45
NM: Jaron Bradford 5 yard un (Conversion failed), :57.1
Fourth Quarter
C: Tommy Hannon 18 yard run (Forsee kick), 10:01
NM: Kolton Scrimager 12 yard pass from Bradford, 1:50
Team Stats NM C
First Downs 12 15
Rushes-Yards 24-83 21-179
Passing Yards 119 203
Comp-Att-Int 14-31-3 13-23-0
Total Yards 202 382
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 2-25 10-110
Individual Stats
RUSHING: Chatard – Taylor 8-93 — 2 TDS, Hannon 5-40 — TD, Derion Gilbert 3-28, Cheek 1-20, Carter St. John 3-10, Andre Moore 1-(-2); North Montgomery — Zach Waldon 9-37, Badford 13-34 — TD, Kobel 3-11
PASSING: Chatard – Cheek 12-21-201 — 3 TDs, St. John 1-1-0; North Montgomery — Bradford 14-31-119 — TD
RECEIVING: Chatard — Taylor 3-88 — TD, Sowinski 4-53 — TD, Thomas Coleman 2-22, Sam Richey 2-21, Annee 1-20 — TD, Frank Felts 1-0; North Montgomery — Kobel 6-73, Keifer Carmean 3-13, Kai Warren 2-9, Scrimager 1-12, Waldon 1-6
