Bishop Dwenger Principal Fred Tone handed the Class 4A regional championship award to the Saints at Zollner Stadium with the usual congratulations.
It was more than that, though, and Tone reminded everybody that with Dwenger’s 49-12 win over Delta on Friday that the program now has the most regional championships in state history.
The Saints’ 16th regional title broke a tie with Hobart, which lost last week in the 4A sectional finals.
“It was something that we talked about at the beginning of the season,” Dwenger coach Chris Svarczkopf said.
“This is something that they can be a part of that nobody else can be a part of, and that is to say you are part of the tradition that your high school has won more (football) regionals than anybody else in Indiana history.
“It was something that meant a lot to them. It is not just this team that did that. It is all the teams that have been part of Dwenger history, and this game was for them.”
The Saints travel to Lowell (12-1) next Saturday in the semistate.
Dwenger (13-0) won regional championship No. 15 also over Delta (12-1), beating the Eagles 49-20 last year.
A big reason why was junior Remound Wright, who ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns and also returned a punt 72 yards for another score.
“We knew what was coming, and we just had to execute when it came time for the game,” Wright said. “We wanted to pound it down their throat. We knew we had to be the most physical team coming out of the gate.”
Wright has 14 touchdowns in four playoff games.
“He has developed a real toughness this year,” Svarczkopf said.
“It is one thing to have the moves and make people miss and have the speed, but he has a toughness where he is going to grind it out and run people over and play through the hurts.”
Defensively, the Saints’ shutout streak ended at six games, but a flexible attitude and a little adjustment helped Dwenger contain the Logan Young-led Eagles offense.
Young, an Indiana recruit, had 10 catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns. But once the Saints double-teamed him in the second half, Young was held to three catches.
“We got momentum back on our side, and we answered when we needed to,” Svarczkopf said. “That shows a lot of character on our part. It just comes down to heart in those situations.
“The best adjustment in the second half was to have a true double coverage. It wasn’t in our game plan coming in. He just has that reach and length.”
Also playing cornerback, Wright was a big part of the defense on Young.
“He is a beast,” Wright said of the 6-foot-5, 200-pound Young.
“We bent, but we didn’t break when they got it down to the goal line.”
