By the time Cathedral and Bishop Chatard met at midfield Friday night, there was already plenty of history between them.

What happened over the next 48 minutes added another chapter, but the players didn’t necessarily walk away talking about the same things.

For Cathedral’s Telli McCullough and Xavier Dangerfield, it was the offensive line and the running game. For Jax Guidry, it was stepping into a bigger role and making the most of it. Harrison Odom was thinking about drives that needed to be finished. Jagger Guidry was thinking about the adjustments Chatard had to make defensively.

And for Cathedral’s Caden Nelson and Chatard’s Julio Graves, the game came down to something less tangible: leadership, pride and what the rivalry means to the people playing it.

The game started in the trenches

McCullough finished with 12 carries for 98 yards, but he didn’t give all the credit to the backfield.

“It was a good matchup but I feel like our offense line was just too much for them,” McCullough said.

Chatard linebacker Jagger Guidry had a different view of the same battle.

“They did well at washing out D-linemen,” Guidry said. “So we had to adjust to that and just play more physical up front.”

That’s where Dangerfield said Cathedral’s two-back combination helped.

“We bring different strengths to the offense, but we’re both physical and willing to do whatever the team needs,” Dangerfield said. “We push each other every day.”

The two backs gave Cathedral another reason to stay with the run even after Chatard changed the game in the second half.

Jax Guidry had to become more

Chatard needed Guidry to take on a larger role after its starting running back went down against Roncalli.

He did.

Guidry carried 26 times for 130 yards, added 96 return yards and took the opening kickoff of the second half 95 yards for a touchdown.

He knew almost immediately where he wanted to go.

“Our coach had a good game plan to run a right return to that side,” Guidry said. “I saw my blockers turn defenders inside and I tried to beat everyone with my speed.”

He wasn’t going to take all the credit, either. Cam Harden’s block down the field helped spring the return.

“Cam Harden was a main reason I scored that with a block all the way down the field,” Guidry said. “I give 100% props to him.”

The play he remembered most afterward, though, was the one he wanted back.

His fumble.

“I continue to think that game was in my hands,” Guidry said. “There is no excuse to that, but I have to hold on to the ball.”

For a player who had just put together one of the night’s biggest performances, there wasn’t much interest in making excuses.

Odom kept coming back to one thing

Chatard went into halftime down 13–0.

Odom’s answer was to settle down.

“Going into the locker room our mindset was simple. Calm down and play our game like we know how to,” he said.

The comeback followed.

Guidry’s return put Chatard on the board, and Odom later found Brooks Haines for a touchdown that put the Trojans ahead 14–13.

The connection wasn’t a random shot.

“We had ran a play earlier in the game to set that up,” Odom said. “We knew that Haines could win 1 on 1 if we got him the ball.”

Still, Odom wasn’t focused on the touchdown when he looked back at the game.

He kept coming back to the drives Chatard didn’t finish.

“We moved the ball but didn’t finish in the first half,” he said.

The rivalry meant more than the scoreboard

Graves didn’t need much time to explain what Cathedral–Chatard meant to him.

“Tonight’s matchup was very personal to all of us,” Graves said. “The school up the street and the disrespect they put on us didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, but we know who we are.”

He wasn’t interested in letting the loss turn into something bigger than it needed to be.

“Little mistakes can go a long way,” he said. “Keeping our brotherhood and supporting our mistakes is what’s gonna keep us rolling throughout the rest of the year.”

Graves also wanted to make clear that the person people see on the field isn’t the whole picture.

“People mistaken me for someone who isn’t me,” he said. “I’m a great guy who loves to play football and who has a strong passion for this game. I have an old soul for football.”

Then he put the loss behind him.

“Tonight’s loss was just fuel to the fire,” Graves said. “Strictly business.”

Nelson and Guidry saw leadership in different places

Nelson’s definition of leadership was less about being the loudest player and more about what happens when things aren’t going your way.

“A guy that keeps everyone’s head up after a score and things go south,” Nelson said.

Cathedral had to do exactly that after Chatard erased its 13-point lead.

Nelson said the defense was prepared for what Chatard brought and executed the game plan.

“I don’t believe they gave us any legit issues,” he said. “We had a great game plan and we came in and we executed it very, very well.”

His own impact came in the secondary and against the run, including a key goal-line stand.

On the other side, Jagger Guidry spent the night adjusting to Cathedral’s physical run game and trying to keep Chatard’s defense together.

“I’m proud of how fast and physical I was able to play,” he said.

That showed up again at the end.

Chatard had one last chance to win with a field goal. The first actual kick went through, but a Cathedral defensive penalty wiped it out. After another timeout, the re-kick missed.

Guidry wasn’t putting that on the kicker.

“I was hyped after Brodie hit the first kick and then felt disappointed after the second kick,” he said. “But that loss is not on him. Everyone made mistakes.”

That’s probably the clearest picture of the game from the players themselves.

Not one play. Not one player. Not even one mistake.

Just a rivalry game that kept asking both sides to respond.

Cathedral’s response was enough to leave with the win.

Chatard’s players left with a loss they clearly didn’t plan on carrying for long.

And Nelson was already looking ahead.

“This win means a lot,” he said. “But it’s just the start for the postseason.”