When Kyle Ralph accepted the football coaching job at New Palestine before the 2013 season, he watched every game from the previous seasons he could get his hands on.
He was astounded by what he saw from the 2011 game film.
“They were kind of in a spread, almost air raid attack,” Ralph said. “I’m watching this quarterback just rip the ball all over the field with these two 6-4, 6-5 receivers and I’m like, ‘Holy cow, where are these dudes at?’”
The quarterback on that game tape was Connor Simmons. The same Connor Simmons who will coach second-ranked Cascade (14-0) in the Class 3A state championship on Friday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium before Ralph and his New Palestine take the field in the 5A game against Merrillville.
“You could just tell he had this leadership about him as a quarterback,” Ralph said of watching Simmons as a high school quarterback. “He ran everything with such command when you watched the kid play.”
Simmons, while playing in college at Clarion University (Penn.), later connected with Ralph about workouts and getting on the field at New Palestine when he was home. In 2020, after coaching stops at the college level in 2017 and 2019 in West Virginia and Texas, with a stop in between as a high school coach in Arizona in 2018, moved back to Indiana to coach at Cascade in 2020.
“We go over there for the New Pal lifting competition every May,” Simmons said. “(Ralph) has been really helpful. I’ve been able to pitch ideas to him and ask for insight on what he thinks. He’s been a good mentor to me and obviously a good one to pick from with the success he’s had.”
Cascade’s fast-paced wing-T offense is unique. The roots of that style go back even further than Simmons’ time in high school at New Palestine. When Simmons was in elementary school, his family lived in Camden County, Georgia. The coach at Camden County, Jeff Herron, had a long history of success running the wing-T offense.
“From first to fifth grade, I’d go to their games,” Simmons said. “I had to go learn it. All through my high school and college days, it was the spread. But four years ago, I took an oath to put our school in better position to be successful. I thought, ‘Let’s try it. What’s the worst that could happen?’ We took it and ran with it.”
Simmons reached out to successful wing-T coaches and attended coaching seminars wherever he could. Herron shared insight with him on the no huddle style, which the Cadets have taken up another notch in speed.
“They ran it but I don’t think they run it as fast as we do,” Simmons said. “Every year we’ve been able to add a new wrinkle. It’s all about the kids buying into it and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Cascade, which won a sectional for the first time since 1992, averages 54.6 points and 433 yards of total offense per game. Dayton Mink and Toby Savini are over 1,000 yards rushing and Lucas Farmer (863 yards) has an outside chance to get there. The difference this year has been the ability to throw. Senior quarterback Brady Trebley has 1,971 passing yards and 32 TDs.
“When you score a lot points, it’s fun,” Simmons said.
Here is a closer look at the Class 3A title game:
Matchup
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (9-5) vs. Cascade (14-0)
Rankings
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers is unranked in USA TODAY Network Indiana poll; Cascade No. 2
Kickoff
3 p.m. Friday, at Lucas Oil Stadium
How to watch
IHSAAtv.org
Championships
Fort Wayne Bishop Luers has 12 football state championships, most recently the Class 2A title in 2023. All 12 of the Luers’ titles are in 2A. The Knights are making a state record 19th state finals, including last year’s runner-up to Heritage Hills. Luers also played in 3A from 2013 to 2018 via the tournament success factor. Cascade is making its first state finals appearance. The school’s only other state championship came in Class 2A softball in 2024.
Coaches
Luers’ Lindsey, 42, is 104-70 in 13 seasons at the school with one state championship and four semistate titles. The 2002 Luers’ graduate played on two state championship teams in 1999 and 2001 with a state runner-up in 2000. His father, Matt Lindsay, led the program to nine state titles over a 26-year span. Of note: Lindsay’s cousin, Tony Kebede, is the athletic trainer at South Putnam and will be on the sideline for the Class A game before Luers plays.
Cascade’s Simmons, 32, is a 2012 New Palestine graduate. He played football at Clarion University in Pennsylvania before getting into coaching at Shepherd University (West Virginia) in 2017, Ganado (Arizona) High School in 2018 as a head coach and Sul Ross State (Texas) as an assistant in 2019. Simmons came to Cascade in 2020 and has a 42-26 record in six seasons.
A closer look at Fort Wayne Luers
Luers navigated a difficult path to get here, defeating No. 6 Mississinewa 23-10 in the sectional championship, Twin Lakes 14-7 in the regional and No. 4 Knox 35-0 in the semistate. A win on Friday would make Luers the seventh state championship team to win a title with five or more regular season losses, a list that includes the 2009 Knights. The most recent to do it was Cathedral’s 10-5 Class 5A team in 2014.
Luers started the season 0-3 with losses to Leo, Andrean and Fort Wayne Snider. The Knights are allowing just 197 yards of total offense, led by senior lineman Jarron Taylor (88 tackles, 20 TFLs, 11 sacks) and senior linebacker Ayle Taylor (63 tackles, 27 TFLs, 10 sacks, four forced fumbles). Senior linebackers Christian Brell (80 tackles, five TFLs) and Brayden Mygrant (79 tackles, 14 TFLs, two sacks) are also key players. Sophomore running backs T.J. Epperson (1,368 rushing yards, 13 TDs) and Brandon Gaither Jr. (1,129 rushing yards, nine TDs) lead the offense.
A closer look at Cascade
Cascade is one of two newcomers in the state finals, along with Brownstown Central in 2A. The Cadets avenged last year’s loss to Tri-West in the sectional semifinal with a 45-14 win, then defeated Guerin Catholic (49-21) for the sectional title and No. 5 Lawrenceburg 37-33 in the regional and No. 2 Gibson Southern 49-34 in the semistate.
Cascade is second in the state in scoring, averaging 54.6 points. The Cadets average 289 rushing yards per game and 144 passing yards per game. The wing-T spreads the wealth on the ground with senior fullback Dayton Mink (1,011 rushing yards, 19 TDs), senior running back Toby Savini (1,000 rushing yards, 15 TDs) and junior running back Lucas Farmer (863 rushing yards, 12 TDs) and senior quarterback Brady Trebley (273 rushing yards, nine TDs). The passing game is the best it has been in Simmons’ tenure with Trebley throwing for 1,971 yards and 32 TDs with no interceptions. Marcus Hobson (32 catches, 664 yards, 15 TDs) did not play in the semistate game. The defense is led by sophomore T.J. Turner (124 tackles, 30 ½ TFLs, 9 ½ sacks), Savini (76 tackles, 10 TFLs, seven sacks) and Braxton Lewis (76 tackles, 11 TFLs).
Quotable
Fort Wayne Luers’ Lindsay on Cascade
“They have four guys that can carry the football and carry it well. You don’t know when they are getting it. You have a big, strong quarterback leading the way. He’s approaching 2,000 yards throwing the ball with a high-powered offense that is dialed in on running the ball. The pace and tempo they run with on the offensive side of the ball is something you can not emulate during practice. We’ll have our hands full getting ready for this offense.”
Cascade’s Simmons on his team’s defense
“I think a lot of our program gets put to the side because of our offense. Everyone is like, ‘How are they scoring 54 points a game?’ It’s because our defense is creating 37 takeaways on the year and holding teams to 72 yards rushing. The offense is great, but the defense is too.”
How Fort Wayne Luers can win
Like last week against Myles McLaughlin and Knox, Luers has to stop the run. It is an entirely different system, but the Luers certainly has the personnel up front to make it difficult for Cascade. The offense has to avoid mistakes and establish the run. A lower scoring game would seem to favor the Knights.
How Cascade can win
Keeping pounding away and mix in the passing game. When I have seen Cascade in person, the running game has been at its best late in the game. Luers is going to get some stops. But Cascade’s hurry up style can wear teams down. The key to stopping Luers on offense will be containing the ground game.
Prediction
This looks like a fun matchup on paper. Cascade 31, Fort Wayne Luers 28.
Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.Get IndyStar’s high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter. And be sure to subscribe to our new IndyStarTV: Preps YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA football 3A state final preview: Cascade vs. Fort Wayne Luers
