Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org
Blake Ress, Commissioner
_________________________________________________________________________
November 23, 2007
FORT WAYNE BISHOP LUERS
WINS SEVENTH FOOTBALL TITLE
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers won its
seventh IHSAA state football title in their record 11th trip by defeating
Heritage Christian, 21-6, in the Class 2A state championship game. The title is coach
Matt Lindsay’s sixth as the Knights head coach.
Defenses dominated through much of
the game but Bishop Luers (11-4) scored three times over a span of 4:18 in the
third and fourth quarters that was the difference. Luers broke a scoreless
deadlock with 2:16 remaining in the third quarter when junior quarterback Quinn
Schafer connected with senior wide receiver Adrien Spencer for a 71 yard touchdown
strike, making it 7-0. Following a
Heritage Christian fumble on its next possession, the Knights extended their
lead to 14-0 when senior running back Issac Baker dashed 21 yards for the score
with 11:12 left in the game.
Bishop Luers put the game out of
reach when junior defensive back Lawrence Barnett intercepted a Heritage
Christian pass on its very next possession and returned it 28 yards for the
touchdown, extending the score to 21-0 at the 9:58 mark.
Heritage Christian (13-2), coached
by Ron Qualls, got on the board late as senior quarterback Garrett Meador
hooked up with junior Tommy Eggleston for a 13 yard touchdown, narrowing the
deficit to 21-6. The extra point was blocked.
Both teams had opportunities to
score early but came away empty.
Heritage Christian (13-2) threatened
first, as the Eagles drove into the redzone, but Meador’s pass was picked
off by Bishop Luers’ junior Michael Goodwin at the 4 yard line. In the
second quarter, Bishop Luers’ Tony Kebede’s 24 yard field goal
attempt was blocked and on its next possession, a 25 field goal attempt sailed
wide right. Heritage Christian attempted a 52 yard field goal in the second
quarter but sophomore Alex Butterworth’s boot landed short of the
uprights.
The Knights were led by Spencer’s
114 yards of receiving and one touchdown.
HERITAGE
CHRISTIAN’S JOSH MILLS NAMED MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD WINNER
The IHSAA
Executive Committee named Heritage Christian’s Josh Mills as the winner
of the Phil N. Eskew Mental Attitude Award winner in Class 2A football
following the game.
He is the
second student athlete in school history to win an IHSAA mental attitude award
joining Nicole Roush who won in 2A girls basketball in
2005-06.
Mills
maintains a 3.9 GPA on a 4.0 scale and has been a part of the NCAA Stay in
Bounds program, the Student Athletic Board, Honor
Society and represented Heritage Christian at Senator Richard Lugar’s
Symposium for Tomorrow’s Leaders. He is undecided on a field of study in
college at this time.
Mills was a
three-way player for the Eagles playing offense, defense and special teams. He
has also played baseball the last three years.
He is the
son of Andrew and Robin Mills of Greenwood.
The award
is presented annually to a senior participant in the state finals who was
nominated by his principal and coach and has demonstrated excellence in mental
attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. It is named in honor of the
IHSAA’s third commissioner who served the association from 1962-76 and
who helped initiate the state tournament in 1973.
Indiana
Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, presented a $1,000
scholarship to Heritage Christian School in the name of Mills.
Class 2A Game Quotes
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers coach Matt
Lindsay
On the turnaround from last years
3-8 season
“We’re
a tremendous defensive football team that really did a fantastic job
tonight. It has been a long, uphill
struggle for all these kids with maturity and hard work. The destination was worth the hard journey. Jimtown scored 17,
Heritage Christian scored 6, nobody else scored on our first (team) defense in
six tournament games. About week six of this
year, we started to believe in ourselves when we almost beat a pretty good (
“Tonight
was a tough first half. To come out here
0-0 the way we played...I’m really proud we put forth a great, great
effort. Anytime you move up and down the
field and don’t score, you’re going to have bad things happen, but
the defense won the game for us tonight.
We had a great combination of size, speed, and strength on defense. We got after the quarterback tonight, and
didn’t give up any big plays on defense.”
On the pass to Spencer
“We
executed a play that we thought was there all night, and that just kind of gave
us a huge advantage. I really thought
with one score we’d be hard to beat, and that turned out to be
true.”
Heritage Christian coach Ron Qualls
“The
scoreboard didn’t go our way, but I’ll take our kids anytime. The
intensity level really picked up in the second half.”
“Our
kids prepared all summer for a situation like this. The way we prepared during
the year got us here. We thought we would win the game to the very end.”
“Our
guys came into this game thinking we can do this. We went toe-to-toe with them
in the first half.”
“In
the second half it was a matter of athleticism. We just didn’t have the
speed to match up with them. Their quickness on the outside and their perimeter
defense was the difference. They were able to shut down our two wide receivers.”
On the hard sack of quarterback
Garrett Meador
“He
got rocked! But you know what was cool? Garrett jumped right back up. Some guys
don’t get up, especially when you’re two touchdowns down. Some would
just pack it in. He didn’t.”
VSN MEANS ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Visit our
friends at Visual Sports Network, the
IHSAA’s official photographer for all state championship events and one
of the leading action photographers in the
CHAMPIONSHIP MERCHANDISE STILL AVAILABLE
For t-shirts and other merchandise commemorating this year’s tournament or for any of our events, visit our friends at Morris, Inc.
STATE FINALS PROGRAMS AVAILABLE
Couldn’t
be there for the state finals? You can still purchase a copy of the official
souvenir program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00 if you purchase in
person at the IHSAA Office (