EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) – Two years in a row, the Mater Dei Wildcats are representing the Tri-State at Lucas Oil Stadium in the IHSAA state championship. Just like last year, they’re going up against Andrean out of Merrillville, Indiana who got the 21-9 victory.
Andrean has a not-so-secret weapon – senior Drayk Bowen. Last year, the Notre Dame commit had 171 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the title game. This year, however, the Wildcats say they now know what the Fighting 59ers have to offer.
Some may call this a “revenge game,” but the Wildcats say it’s just another game.
“Last year was last year and this year we get a new opportunity, so we’re going to take it that way,” said Mater Dei head coach Mike Goebel. “I think they have confidence is the main thing. They’re loose, but they’re also having fun and they’re ready to play. And they’re going to have to be ready against this team.”
“We’ve just got to play our defense and play how we know,” said senior Cody Wells. “We’ve been working on it all week. We’ve just got to stop [Bowen], stop the rest of the team on D and we’ll be alright.”
“Our O-line did a great job all year and they just keep getting better and better and better. The receivers have done a great job and also having Joey Pierre right next to me in the backfield is huge. Because defense can’t just stop our pass or just stop the run. We’ve got more than one thing to do and it’s really tough to stop that, so we just have to keep going for one more week and juts be ready to play.”
Mater Dei (11-3) and Andrean (10-3) will play at 10am central on Friday, November 25. We will have coverage on Facebook throughout the day plus highlights and more on Eyewitness News at 6:30pm, 9pm and 10pm.
