Cathedral and Roncalli came together last Friday night for another edition of “The Rivalry” game, something that has been as heated as any matchup in the schools’ history. While Cathedral won the battle, these two schools have been competing for decades.
Roncalli alum and now Cathedral Religion teacher and Holy Cross formation team member said, “As someone who went to Roncalli and grew up on the southside of Indianapolis, we were always told that Cathedral was like your mortal enemy.”
The history of the Cathedral-Roncalli rivalry goes back decades even before Roncalli was created. The rivalry started in 1925 when the school was called Sacred Heart, and continued all the way until Roncalli formed. And it has continued on to this very day.
This rivalry and game is about as classic and intense as you can find in Indiana high school football as Mr. Cannaday says, “This rivalry literally had to be stopped in the mid 90s, not because players were too violent but parents were too violent.”
As the game moved into the 2000’s the rivalry became even more intense as both teams put out elite players and teams and produced classic matchups. Since both schools were in the same class it was often the two schools would play twice in the year. Once in the regular season followed by a usual matchup in the sectional bracket in the postseason. From 2004 to 2008 the teams played each other twice a year and most times the series was split.
In 2005 an iconic matchup occurred between the schools. In a sectional matchup between the Royals and the Irish at Roncalli, an estimated 9,000 people showed up for the game. Mr. Cannaday said, “You had people stacked in the end zones and around the fence. It was jam packed”
After 2012 and a Cathedral rout of Roncalli 34-7, the game was stopped for 5 years. Then in 2017 and 2018, the rivalry was rekindled in the playoffs for 5A. Both of those games were close but ended up in Cathedral victories. In 2023, for the first time since 2012, the game was brought back for the regular season. It was a warm welcome back to the game as Cathedral won in dominating fashion 42-0
In the latest installment of the Catholic school rivalry, it was a commanding win by the Irish as they controlled the game the whole time. Cathedral closed that game out winning 35-6 and improving to 5-2 on the season.
Unfortunately there is some uncertainty with the future of Cathedral Vs. Roncalli for football. With Friday being the last game under the current contract for the two schools to play and neither team in the same class, playing again remains uncertain.
Cathedral vs Roncalli will be remembered as a great Catholic school rivalry with great intensity and classic games. As Mr. Cannaday laid out from the Roncalli perspective, “This game means everything, if Roncalli could win one game a year it would be against the Irish.”
