Cathedral stuns top-ranked Ben Davis in season-opening battle of ranked Indiana high school football squads

Cathedral earned first football win against Ben Davis since 1987

Cathedral senior wide receiver Devaughn Slaughter / Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – Jalen Bonds, Cameron Koers and the feisty Cathedral Fighting Irish football team made a statement in their season opener at top-ranked Ben Davis on Friday night.  

The 13th-ranked Irish, led by Bonds, Koers and a stingy opportunistic defense, came away with a convincing 24-6 victory over the reigning Indiana high school football Class 6A champions.

“Great win. All three phases of the game,” Cathedral coach Bill Peebles said. “Obviously ran the ball well. We had some incompletions early but I thought Cam (Koers) was efficient as he got into the game. He had a tipped ball for an interception late that made this game a little harder than it should have been. But our defense pitched a shutout, our offense was efficient, ran the ball well. And on special teams we got a turnover; all our extra points and the field goal were good. It’s overall a very good complete game for us.”

The No. 13 team in the SBLive Indiana Power 25 rankings, Cathedral (1-0), which went 8-4 a year ago, avenged a 27-24 playoff loss to top-ranked Ben Davis (0-1), which finished 13-1 after winning its 10th state championship.

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The win was Cathedral’s first against the Giants since 1987 – when Peebles was a senior playing for the Fighting Irish. 

“Our guys came to play today,” Peebles said. “We made less mistakes than they did and that was the difference in the game. Unlike last year where we had five turnovers and we lost the game.”

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Bonds, a 6-foot, 210-pound senior running back, rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown after racking up 1,259 rushing yards as a junior a year ago. 

Cathedral’s success on the ground helped the Irish control the clock and take some of the pressure off Koers, a junior quarterback who is now the starter following the graduation of three-year starter Danny O’Neil.

Koers connected with Devaughn Slaughter for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 4:23 remaining in the first half to put Cathedral up 10-0.

“Cam did a good job,” Peebles said. “I was nervous for him before the game. He had a couple incompletions early, and I think he’s going to learn a lot from this and gain some confidence. I thought later in the game, despite the interception that was a tipped ball, I thought he played very well, very efficient, and that part of our offense will grow as the season goes on.”  

The Fighting Irish led 17-0 going into halftime after junior linebacker Kyle Harden recovered a fumble and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown. 

Bonds scored his touchdown run in the third quarter to push the advantage to 24-0.

Ben Davis scored late when Notre Dame commit Mark Zackery IV intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. 

Watch: Mark Zackery IV, Notre Dame commit, scores 100-yard interception return

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @sblivein