Growing up in Indianapolis, Chris Svarczkopf wanted to be a part of the Cathedral culture in the worst way.
“I had a chance to go to another Catholic school and told my dad that it really meant a lot to me to go downtown to Cathedral,” Svarczkopf said. “So we put our heads together and made that happen. I have always been proud to say that I am a graduate of Cathedral High School, and to be a part of that athletic program.”
A few decades removed from his 1973 graduation, the football coach at Bishop Dwenger prepares his team for the first regular-season matchup between the two powerhouses in 29 years Saturday.
Svarczkopf, in fact, was a high school freshman when the schools met for the first time in 1969, a game won by Cathedral 22-6 at the former CYO Field on 16th Street.
“It’s always been competitive, and we want to step up so it remains that way,” said Svarczkopf, who is 106-20 in a decade at Dwenger.
The Irish and Saints have played five times, with Cathedral holding a 4-1 advantage. The last three games have been state championship games, the last two being in Class 4A (in 2008 and 2010) and won by the Irish while Svarczkopf was leading the Saints. The widest margin of victory (16 points) came in the first game of the series.
Cathedral won 31-20 and 10-7 in the 4A title games and 14-7 in the regular season in 1982. Dwenger won 34-27 in the 1991 3A state game.
Svarczkopf left Indianapolis with his wife in 1978 and moved to Fort Wayne. He has some friends who have sons on the current Cathedral team.
Svarczkopf scouted Cathedral when the Class 4A No. 2 Irish (2-2) beat defending 3A state champ Chatard 21-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday. The Saints will travel to play at Chatard on Sept. 30.
“What a great challenge it is for our team to play them because they are the best team in Indiana,” Svarczkopf said of Cathedral. “They go head-to-head with Warren Central (27-24 loss) and Ben Davis (24-21 overtime loss) and teams out of state, and they are reigning (4A) state champions with a lot of people back. You don’t get any better by not playing anybody. Once we found out those were open dates, we went out as fast as we could and tried to get these teams signed up.”
Svarczkopf has turned 4A No. 6 Dwenger (3-1) into a dominant program in the SAC, winning the past five conference championships. The Saints’ record 38-game SAC winning streak was snapped two weeks ago in a 26-16 loss to North Side.
In a 35-7 win last week against Northrop, Dwenger had seven starters out with a variety of ailments but Svarczkopf expects most of them to be back against the Irish.
“We did a lot of soul-searching and cleansing that week (following the loss to the Redskins),” Svarczkopf said. “Our staff wasn’t happy with our effort and the players weren’t happy with their effort. We bounced back somewhat last week, and the effort was better. That particular loss, although it wasn’t much fun and cost us a conference championship, hopefully in the long run made us a better team.”
