The REPORTER
The Guerin Catholic football team kept its feet on the ground last Friday and ran away with a long-awaited victory.
The Golden Eagles beat Brebeuf Jesuit 34-29 at the Braves’ field in their first Circle City Conference game of the season. The win was historic, as it was Guerin Catholic’s first conference win since 2016 – the Golden Eagles had dropped 18 straight conference games before finally breaking that streak last week.
The Braves scored the only points of the first quarter, getting two points on a safety. But Guerin came back early in the second quarter, with Alex Gibbs taking the ball in from two yards for the first GC touchdown of the game. There would be many more to come.
Brebeuf answered with a 77-yard touchdown reception, but the Golden Eagles got the lead back before halftime. Gibbs found the end zone again, taking the ball in from six yards. Peyton Butts made the extra-point kick, and Guerin led 13-9 at halftime.
The Golden Eagles scored first in the third quarter, with Jack Cherry making a 23-yard touchdown reception from Ryan Zimmerman. Another Butts kick gave GC a 20-9 lead.
Both teams let loose on offense in the third period, but Guerin Catholic was able to stay a score ahead of the Braves. A 41-yard Brebeuf touchdown pass was answered by a short touchdown run by Gibbs, who took the ball in from the 3 for his third score of the game. Butts kicked the extra point.
The Braves followed that with a short touchdown pass, but Jack Linden made a 33-yard scoring run. Butts also made that extra point, his fourth of the night, and the Golden Eagles led 34-22. Brebeuf scored again on its fourth touchdown pass of the game later in the quarter, but neither team scored in the fourth period, so Guerin Catholic maintained its lead until the end of the game.
The Golden Eagles were dominant on the ground, racking up 363 yards of rushing offense on 63 total carries. Two GC runners topped the century mark: Peter Rooney totaled 155 yards on 31 carries, while Gibbs had 116 yards on 16 rushes. Linden added 53 yards and Cherry totaled 20 rushing yards.
By contrast, Brebeuf only ran 13 times and totaled 10 yards. The Braves more than made up for it on passing, with 395 yards through the air. Zimmerman had a nice passing game as well, going 9-for-15 with 134 yards and a touchdown. Cherry, who caught the touchdown, led the receptions with four, while Gibbs had three catches.
The victory kept Guerin Catholic unbeaten for the year at 4-0. The Golden Eagles play another conference game on Friday, taking on Roncalli.
GUERIN CATHOLIC 34, BREBEUF JESUIT 29
Score by Quarters
Guerin Catholic 0 13 21 0 – 34
Brebeuf Jesuit 2 7 20 0 – 29
Team stats GC BJ
First Downs 25 19
By Rush 18 1
By Pass 6 15
By Penalty 1 3
Rushes-Yards 63-363 13-10
Passing Yards 134 395
Comp-Att-Int-TD 9-15-0-1 26-45-0-4
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 5-59 4-30
Punts-Average 3-30.3 4-39.0
Scoring
Second Quarter
Alex Gibbs 2-yard run (two-point attempt failed)
Gibbs 14-yard run (Peyton Butts kick)
Third Quarter
Jack Cherry 23-yard reception from Ryan Zimmerman (Butts kick)
Gibbs 3-yard run (Butts kick)
Jack Linden 33-yard run (Butts kick)
Guerin Catholic individual stats
Rushing: Rooney 31-155, Gibbs 16-116, Linden 5-53, Cherry 3-20, Aaron Keller 1-16, Zimmerman 4-8, team 3-minus 5.
Passing: Zimmerman 9-15-134.
Receiving: Cherry 4-34, Gibbs 3-77, Harrison Miller 1-18, Hayden Cler 1-5.