By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The first round of the IHSAA football post-season began on Friday, and Guerin Catholic couldn’t have asked for a better start.
The Golden Eagles played solid football from start to finish in their Class 3A Sectional 29 first round game, overpowering West Vigo 49-0 at the Eagles Nest. Guerin Catholic scored touchdowns on its first five drives of the game and kept the momentum rolling in the second half with two more scores.
It was the Golden Eagles’ first shutout victory since Oct. 6, 2013, when they won a Week 8 game over Terre Haute North 42-0.
“The guys executed,” said GC coach Tom Dilley. “Certainly you want to go watch the film and there’ll be plenty of mistakes to correct. But I thought in general, they had a great game plan, the offensive coaches, and carried it out. And defensively, for the most part, did what we were supposed to do and tackled pretty well. The kids played hard.”
The Golden Eagles’ Deklyn Frazer (19) makes an interception, one of two picks for Guerin Catholic on Friday. (Margaret Fallin)
The tone was set right away. The Golden Eagles held the Vikings to a three-and-out to begin the game, then only needed five plays to score. Malcolm Houze picked up the first touchdown with a 21-yard run at the 8:45 mark.
Minutes later, Grant Beard recovered a fumble for Guerin Catholic on the West Vigo 32. Again, the Golden Eagles wasted no time scoring: Houze connected with Kolbe Klee to get GC to the 12, then Jack Linden made two runs to score, finishing with a three-yard trip to the end zone.
The pattern repeated itself in the next drive. Deklyn Frazer intercepted a Vikings pass, which resulted in another Guerin march to the end zone. Linden finished the drive with a five-yard TD run with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
James Moody got his turn to make a big defensive play, grabbing an interception at the beginning of the second quarter. That resulted in a two-play drive: Houze connected with Julian Melendez for a 25-yard pass to the six, and Linden ran it in from there for his third score of the game.
West Vigo then made its deepest drive into GC territory, getting to the 40-yard line, but the Golden Eagles defense stopped it there, forcing a turnover on downs. Guerin Catholic turned that into points, with Houze throwing to Trevor Macey for a six-yard touchdown.
The Golden Eagles led 35-0 at halftime, so the entire second half was played with a running clock. But Guerin Catholic kept its foot on the gas. Houze found Melendez for a 20-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, then Linden ran in his fourth TD of the game with 2:58 left in the third.
“A guy like Julian Melendez, number 12, he had a bunch of key catches and big plays,” said Dilley. “He’s a senior, but he’s kind of a football rookie, so he needs those reps and those confidence-building moments, too.”
Golden Eagles kicker Nick Wilson was a busy man during the game, making all seven of his extra point attempts. Houze was highly efficient, completing 10 of 13 passes for 151 yards. Melendez had five of those catches. Linden led the rushing with 94 yards.
Guerin Catholic is 5-5 and plays at Hamilton Heights next Friday in the semifinals of Sectional 29.
