Ben Davis beats Cathedral in a thriller: Live updates recap

A 40-yard field goal late sends Ben Davis on to the Indiana high school football semifinals

Ben Rudolph lined up for the biggest kick of his life, and he nailed it.

The Ben Davis kicker's 40-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter gave the Giants a 27-24 win over Cathedral in a back-and-forth game loaded with drama.

Alvin Contreras' interception in the waning seconds sealed the Ben Davis victory.

Ben Davis advances to the Indiana state high school football semifinals with the win.

(Scroll below for a live updates recap of the game.)

FINAL: Ben Davis 27, Cathedral 24

FOURTH QUARTER UPDATES

INTERCEPTION! Contreras with the interception in the end zone to seal the Ben Davis victory barring something silly in the final seconds.

Cathedral on the Ben Davis 29-yard line with 21 seconds left, first down.

FIELD GOAL BEN DAVIS! 40-yard field goal by Ben Rudolph gives the Giants a 27-24 lead with 2:38 left.

Ben Davis ball on the Cathedral 46 with 4:36 left, tied 24-24.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Ben Davis tries a fake punt that doesn't work. Cathedral ball on the 49 looking to take its first lead. Nine minutes left in the game.

TOUCHDOWN CATHEDRAL! 1-yard TD run by Keith Long is set up by an unbelievable catch by Devaughn Slaughter. We're tied 24-24 with 10:21 left.

Set up by catch of year by Slaughter pic.twitter.com/tyGcGQssHv

— Kyle Neddenriep (@KyleNeddenriep) November 11, 2023

Ben Davis with a big play on third down to start the quarter, but then Danny O'Neil makes an incredible fourth-down throw to keep the drive moving at the 33.

THIRD QUARTER UPDATES

Whew, what a quarter. Cathedral is driving in Ben Davis territory heading into the fourth quarter with Ben Davis ahead 24-17.

TOUCHDOWN BEN DAVIS! Alijah Price with a 48-yard touchdown run zigzagging through defenders. It's 24-17 Giants with 2:51 left.

O'Neil gets sacked twice and he's down on the turf again with a right leg injury. Cathedral punting after the injury timeout.

TURNOVER ON DOWNS! Cathedral stuffs two runs in a row and gets the ball back at its own 23. O'Neil is back out there, tied 17-17.

INTERCEPTION! Yassine Falke picks off the O'Neil pass, and the Cathedral quarterback is hurt on the turf. Ben Davis ball at the Cathedral 30.

TOUCHDOWN CATHEDRAL! Zach Meeks lays a wicked stiff-arm on a defender and cruises into the end zone from 25 yards out after a short pass from Danny O'Neil. We have a 17-17 game with 8:01 left in the quarter.

ONSIDE KICK! Cathedral gets it right back, recovering an onside kick at the 50 with 9:20 left in the quarter.

FIELD GOAL CATHEDRAL! Irish narrow the deficit to 17-10 after a near-touchdown two plays earlier.

Three-and-out and Cathedral gets the ball right back at the Ben Davis 28, 11:12 left in the quarter, still 17-7 Giants.

FUMBLE! Elijah Hearns recovers a fumble at the Ben Davis 1. Jalen Bonds coughed it up shortly after a big run by Devaughn Slaughter.

Here we go! Cathedral has one half to make up at least 10 points. The Fighting Irish start the third at their own 37. 

SECOND QUARTER UPDATES

Cathedral takes a knee to end the quarter, and the Irish will get the ball first to start the third, trailing 17-7.

TOUCHDOWN BEN DAVIS! Gotkowski throws into a heavy crowd and Nate Williams makes the grab in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard TD. It's 17-7 Giants with less than a minute remaining in the half.

How? Nate Williams 13-yard TD catch.

Ben Davis 17, Cathedral 7, 36 seconds

Nine plays, 52 yards. Huge drive there from Giants. pic.twitter.com/fiSNYs9aNp

— Kyle Neddenriep (@KyleNeddenriep) November 11, 2023

Big fourth and 1 coming up for Ben Davis in Cathedral territory with 2:10 left in the half. Timeout Cathedral. And quarterback Thomas Gotkowski got it by an inch.

TOUCHDOWN CATHEDRAL! Jalen Bonds gets a 20-yard TD run after a huge fourth-down conversion by Zach Meeks. The 94-yard scoring drive ate up most of the quarter, and it's 10-7 Ben Davis.

A 67-yard Alvin Contreras punt forces Cathedral to start at its own 6.

FIRST QUARTER UPDATES

Ben Davis has a 73-yard touchdown reception called back by a holding penalty, and the Giants will punt to Cathedral to start the second. It's 10-0 Ben Davis after one quarter.

TOUCHDOWN BEN DAVIS! Defensive end Jalen Harris grabs a deflection on a screen pass and takes it to the house for a pick-six. It's 10-0 Giants.

FIELD GOAL BEN DAVIS! Ben Rudolph knocks it through from 25 yards out to put the Giants up 3-0. Ben Davis has had the ball most of the quarter but has just three points to show for it. Cathedral will get the ball with 3:15 left in the quarter.

Cathedral gets one first down but then has to punt. Ben Davis ball on its own 36 with 6:22 left.

FIELD GOAL NO GOOD! Ben Davis' methodical drive ends in disappointment with a missed 31-yard field goal. 8:03 left in the first.

We are underway! Cathedral wins the toss and defers; Ben Davis starts the game's opening drive on its own 20.

Indiana high school football scoreboard

PREGAME READING

Cathedral (8-3) is coming off an impressive 20-3 win over Lawrence North where the Fighting Irish controlled the clock with a punishing ground game. Jalen Bonds carried the ball 32 times for 261 yards and two touchdowns.

Ben Davis (10-1) blew out Pike 53-0 last week, and the Giants' only loss this season is to IMG Academy (Florida).

Ben Davis beats Brownsburg after rallying from 18-point deficit in fourth quarter

Top 25 Indiana high school football rankings (11/9/2023)

Vote: Who should be SBLive's Indiana High School Athlete of the Week (11/6/2023)?

(Feature photo by Tyler Hart)

—

-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports