October 15, 2025 // Diocese

Saints Surge Past Knights to Claim ‘Battle of the Bishops’

Eric Peat

Throughout the 2025 high school football season, Bishop Dwenger’s offense has made plays when it has absolutely needed to.

That was never more apparent than on Friday, October 3, in the annual Battle of the Bishops game against rival Bishop Luers.

All three of the Saints’ touchdowns came in pressure-packed moments – two on fourth-and-goal situations and one in the final 10 seconds of the first half – while their defense continued its season-long flex in a 27-7 triumph at Luersfield. It was Bishop Dwenger’s eighth victory in the last 10 games in the series and a far cry from last year’s 8-0 win in which neither team could muster a single touchdown.

“You talk about moments that you look back on – in three weeks, we’re going to be going for that [on fourth and goal], and our season will be on the line,” Saints head coach Jason Garrett said after the game on the importance of experiencing those scenarios before tournament play. “That’s where I think you try to build some confidence. We give ownership of the play call and things like that to the team; normally the offensive line wants it. So [we’re] building confidence, and those are situations that we’re going to need to get where we want to go.”

It didn’t take the Saints (5-2, 4-1 SAC) long to find the end zone, as their opening drive culminated with a 1-yard scoring plunge by sophomore Kolyn Campbell on fourth down. Bishop Luers (3-4, 3-2 SAC) answered in the second quarter with a Brayden Mygrant touchdown from a yard out, and it looked as if the two teams may reach halftime tied at 7. However, Saints senior quarterback Henry Jordan orchestrated a successful 2-minute drill, eventually rolling to his right and finding a sliding Max Jordan just in bounds for a touchdown with seconds remaining in the half.

“Coming into this, we were just watching film all week, trying to attack the box, dominate that box,” Henry Jordan said of his team’s efforts to control the line of scrimmage with the run game. “But we are also trying to get our pass game going a little bit. We struggled the last few weeks, and we’re just trying to get that going and get ready for the postseason.”

In the second half, Bishop Dwenger began to exert its will in the trenches. The Saints marched down the field methodically, churning out chunks of yardage on the ground and eating up almost the entire third quarter in the process. Senior AJ Shefferly put the finishing touches on the drive with another fourth-down touchdown run.

“A lot of that is coaching,” Garrett said of his team’s ability to wear down opposing defenses with its run game. “Coach [Jason] Russell, Coach [Jason] Fabini had a great game plan, and obviously, our guys executed it well tonight. Running backs running hard – [Shefferly] ran so hard tonight, and Kolyn Campbell as a sophomore getting a lot of reps in there did a nice job. We mixed run and pass well tonight; we did a nice job there and kept them off balance a little bit.”

Not to be outdone, the Bishop Dwenger defense and special teams were pivotal as well. The Saints limited Bishop Luers to just seven first downs and 123 total yards of offense. On the season, Dwenger’s defense is allowing fewer than eight points per game – second best in the state in Class 4A – and has now held five of its seven opponents to a touchdown or less. Meanwhile, placekicker Lucas Nguyen added to his stellar senior campaign by adding a pair of field goals in the final quarter.

Most importantly, the Saints were able to bounce back from a 21-18 loss to Northrop a week ago and keep pace with the Bruins and Carroll Chargers atop the Summit Athletic Conference standings.

“That’s the biggest thing we’re proud of tonight,” Garrett said of his team’s resilience. “That was a tough loss last week for a lot of reasons. We challenged our guys, and I think they took it to heart. They responded to the humility that they were allowed to experience there. This is a great way to rebuild that trust that might have been lost a little bit last week – that trust, unity, and toughness. … Coming out and playing as hard as they did and as focused as they did, especially after halftime, winning the second half, I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Any victory is a good victory in the Battle of the Bishops, a rivalry that is distinctly unique and characterized by the shared Catholic mission of both schools. Although this installment was not decided by a single score – unlike seven of their previous nine meetings – Shefferly said it certainly didn’t come easily.

“It’s a great rivalry,” Shefferly said. “We always know it’s going to be a tough game, regardless of records. We know that they’re coming out to play. … Obviously, the only two Catholic schools in the area, so that’s very special. Between the whistles, it’s definitely rough, but at the end of the game, we’re all respectful of each other.”

It was all the sweeter for Henry Jordan, who was injured in last year’s Battle of the Bishops and forced to leave the game early.

“It’s been awesome staying healthy and being able to play in this,” Jordan said, grinning from ear to ear. “God willing, I keep staying healthy, and it’s just awesome. There’s not a better environment than Battle of the Bishops.”