FORT WAYNE – A week ago, conventional wisdom had the annual grudge match between Bishop Dwenger and Snider not having the usual luster. Both teams were having atypical seasons, so maybe the rivalry will be diminished was the thought.
But after both teams put together surprising and inspiring performances last weekend, the “big game” is back on.
“It’s like nothing else,” Dwenger senior quarterback-turned-running back Dalton Wheeler said. “It’s going to be a four-quarter battle every year, no matter what. It’s just great team against great team, and I know it is going to be a great one.
“It doesn’t matter what the records are. They are going to come and play their best game, and we are going to play our best game as well. They have played great teams this year, so their record shouldn’t mean anything.”
The Saints beat then-Class 3A No. 1 Indianapolis Chatard 24-14 on the road, and a day later, the Panthers put a scare into 4A No. 1 Indianapolis Cathedral 39-31 at Spuller Stadium.
It was easy to be down on the game. Dwenger (5-2), which has won four straight in the series against Snider, has two regular-season losses for the first time in seven years. Snider (3-4) is below .500 this deep into the season for the first time in 20 years.
“We know what these guys are capable of,” Snider senior running back John Nelson said of the Saints. “The vibe is always going to be there, even if we lost all of our games. Everything this week is just about trying to beat Dwenger.”
Maybe the inferior records are just a byproduct of the new non-conference slate for the two teams. Neither team played a non-conference game last year, with each having a bye week.
Dwenger has played Cathedral (a 42-3 loss) and Chatard, and Snider played Penn (a 31-13 loss) and Cathedral. It’s not the same as playing Elmhurst and Harding, recent SAC departures.
The performances against the two Indianapolis teams, though, seem to have regenerated both rivals.
“It means everything,” Wheeler said of the win. “Every player that stepped off that bus believed we could win.”
And even in defeat, the Panthers found something upbeat.
“It gives us a confidence boost, but we still just have to work on execution because we kind of let the Cathedral game slip away from us,” Nelson said.
There’s still something on the line.
The Saints (4-1 in the SAC) still have a chance at keeping the Victory Bell, which has been in their possession for the past five years or being involved in a multiteam tie for the title. There is even a scenario where the Panthers (3-2 in the SAC) could tie for the conference championship.
Outside chances, but they are there nonetheless.
So it looks as if we will see something more like last year’s 46-45 two-overtime thriller in which the Saints rallied from two touchdowns down to win. Snider leads the all-time series 26-20 with most of the recent games being of the exciting variety.
It’s Snider’s homecoming, and the Panthers are trying to avoid their first losing season since going 5-6 in 1989.
“It’s very intense, so we just have to come and execute very well,” Nelson said. “Our guys are focused. We are not going to let the homecoming get ahead of us because we know how big this game is.”
