December 2, 2025 // Diocese

Bishop Dwenger Wins Class 4A State Championship

Todays Catholic

By Greg Jones

Kickers often earn praise for winning football games – with their foot. But rarely, if ever, are the specialists celebrated for their arm, and even rarer are the times when their passing heroics lead to a state championship.

Yet, Bishop Dwenger senior kicker Lucas Nguyen did just that in sending the Saints to a 36-29 victory over Indianapolis Roncalli in the IHSAA Class 4A state football championship on Saturday, November 29, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Nguyen’s 37-yard scoring toss to fellow senior A.J. Shefferly on a fake field goal with a little more than 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter broke a 29-all tie and provided Bishop Dwenger (13-2) with the winning points, and the Saints’ defense held off the Royals (11-4) for the school’s sixth state championship and third title in the past 11 years, as the school also won championships in 2015 and 2018.

One of the top kickers in the state, Nguyen lined up for a 54-yard field goal, just 4 yards from his season-best of 58 yards. But Nguyen had already missed a 52-yarder and an extra point earlier in the game.

So Roncalli called a time out.

“When we were rushing out there, we called the fake,” Nguyen said after the game on the IHSAA’s television coverage. “All is ready, and then they call the time out, which only helped us prepare for that. And then, we just got it done.”

“So, Coach (Ryan) Diepenbrock saw that … on some college game. It was probably in the middle of the playoffs (when we started working on the fake), so, we’ve been working on that almost every day, so it was awesome to actually be executed in a game,” Nguyen added.

Instead of a tiebreaking field goal, Nguyen took a direct snap from long snapper Vance Diepenbrock and rolled to his left, at first looking to run for the first down, and then he flipped it to Shefferly, who caught the ball in traffic, broke a couple of would-be tackles, and ran into the end zone for the final Dwenger lead in a back-and-forth game.

“We called it in the huddle, and we said, ‘You can check out of it if they have more guys deep,’ but he made that call on the line,” Shefferly said of holder Tommy Coffman. “So that was a great play, and then it was just me and Lucas from there. We kind of had the option where Lucas could run it. I thought he was going to run it at first. … It was perfect.”

Nguyen, a 5-foot-7, 160-pound left-footed kicker – and lefty thrower – has been a standout for the Saints for the past three. Also the team’s punter, Nguyen made a 24-yard field goal earlier in the game, punted four times, and had six touchbacks on kickoffs.

The championship was the Saints’ second state title in eight years under coach Jason Garrett.

“We thought, what the heck … state championship?” Garrett said of attempting the fake field goal. “Let’s try it, and Lucas and (Shefferly) took it in from there. That was a big moment.”

Garrett added: “That’s all God’s providence. That’s just God’s work today. ‘Men of gratitude’ has been the theme all week. Men of gratitude, and we’re very thankful to the Lord for today. It’s for everybody back home. We’re family at this point, and it’s for all of (the fans), and everybody at home that couldn’t make it (because of the snowy conditions). We’re bringing it home, bringing home the blue.”

Dwenger, the top defense in Class 4A by surrendering just 8.1 points per game, found itself in a shootout against the fellow Catholic school. The Saints’ defense came through at the end of the game. With the Royals 5 yards away from a chance to tie the game, Roncalli senior quarterback Collin Ash fired into the end zone on the game’s final play. Dwenger junior George Hackman stepped in front of the receiver and deflected the pass, which was intercepted by fellow junior Carter Zent, clinching the game.

The Saints outscored the Royals 14-0 in the fourth quarter, which was a far cry from how the game began. After giving up a big play and a touchdown just 4 minutes into the game to fall behind as fans were shaking off the snow and getting warm in their seats, Dwenger didn’t stay down for long.

“We took the first blow, and our guys kept fighting back,” Garrett said. “They kept fighting back, so, you know, it’s the resolve of these guys. It’s our seniors, and they’re battle tested; they showed everything that they’re about today, and I’m just so proud of them.”

Roncalli began the season with a 3-0 home win over Bishop Dwenger. If fans were expecting another defensive battle, they might have been disappointed when the Royals opened a 21-16 halftime lead and extended the margin to 29-22 at the end of three quarters.

“You couldn’t ask for more in a football game with two proud Catholic traditions going at it,” Roncalli coach Sam Otley said. “We knew it was going to be a hard-fought football game. The team that executed offense, defense, and special teams for 48 minutes was going to win the game.”

Otley said he was not surprised Dwenger went for the fake field goal with the stakes so high in a state championship game.

“Yeah, great call,” Otley said of Dwenger’s fake field goal. “Again, it’s a good football team. They’ve got great coaches, and it means a lot to them in their program. It’s three phases to the game – offense, defense, and special teams – and you knew it could take one play on either of those.”

Bishop Dwenger senior quarterback Henry Jordan, who has been slowed by injuries throughout much of his high school career, threw for 183 yards and a touchdown and ran for a team-best 74 yards and another score.

“Everything’s kind of spinning,” Jordan said on the IHSAA’s television broadcast. “It’ll probably hit me (Sunday). I’ll probably rewatch it and just see everything that went through.”

Jordan continued: “It’s awesome. There’s no place for tradition like Dwenger football. This means a lot. I’ve just got to thank God that He put us in this position to succeed. I was on the verge of not coming back this year, and, I couldn’t have asked for a better ending, and that’s all glory to God.”

Senior running back Gus Tippmann, who also battled injuries this year, playing in only seven games, had two rushing touchdowns for the Saints.

“We’ve been planning this all four years, our class,” Nguyen said of his fellow senior class. “We knew that this was our opportunity, and we made the most of it.”

The teams will meet again in the season-opener next August at Bishop Dwenger.