Both teams once again started the season hot. The two 3A classmates would work their way into another marquee regular season matchup at the Boneyard – both with 6-1 records.

It was mentioned that whenever Andrean and Griffith played each other during this three-year window, a close and hard fought game was expected. However, on October 8 of the 2004 season, this game broke the mold.

Calling it a rout was a bit of an understatement.

This Griffith team, who came into this game scoring at least 21 points in all seven of its matchups, were now quarterbacked by Rich Lehmann. Does that name sound familiar? It is the same Rich Lehmann that was stuck under a pile of 59ers in 2002.

Accompanying him skill-wise were talents like Matt Nelleman and Drew Rogowski, rounding out a trio that ran the wishbone to perfection. All of this was led by an Indiana Football Hall of Fame head coach, Russ Radtke.

The built up heartbreak and disappointment from meetings previous came out from the talented Griffith sideline that evening – as the game got away from the Niners quickly.

“They got annihilated,” said Ramirez. “Griffith was playing nearly perfect football by week eight. Even before the fourth quarter, Andrean was getting buried.

What the fourth quarter did was lay the foundation for the greatest game ever played.”

At the end of three quarters, the scoreboard read 42-14 in favor of Russ Radtke’s Panthers. With the game arguably decided, a few choice plays added some insult to injury en route to a statement Griffith victory.

“There was a fake punt in the fourth quarter,” Ramirez recalled. “There were one or two other things. The game was decided. Was that payback for the trample? Maybe. It galvanized Griffith. Now the whole Region seemed to focus on what would happen a few weeks down the road. Everyone knew Andrean and Griffith would get to meet one more time.”

Although the late game decisions caused a stir in the media and outsiders – Andrean thought the beatdown was warranted.

“They can do whatever they want,” Finn said. “They wanted that for their kids and they had to do that to get over the hump. Nothing really boiled over after the game. We had to lick our wounds and go back to the drawing board.”

“Griffith’s whole focus at that point was beating Andrean – which it should’ve been,” said St. Germain” They destroyed us. This was a team that was on a mission. Two years of devastating losses. We got throttled.

Yes, they ran a fake punt to end the game. I remember being asked about it. My gut told me, ‘If I am going to worry about what they did, I am focused on the wrong things.’ We just got beat by five touchdowns. And we are going to play this team again.”

Coincidentally, the draw for sectionals came out that weekend.

Anyone want to take a guess on what the potential Class 3A Sectional Championship was?

“It was built-in material,” said Ramirez. “There was conflict – and you couldn’t escape it. I couldn’t tell you another game from that tournament.”

The Niners – fresh off of that loss to a hungry group of Panthers, were slotted to head back to the Boneyard if both teams did their part in the sectional. That would soon be the case, but this was a Andrean squad with some newfound confidence – as they outscored its first two sectional opponents 126-15.

St. Germain felt that these dominant performances in the early stages of the tournament were essential. After all, his team had to try and muster up any ounce of confidence to return back to a place where they lost by five scores.

“My only mindset at that time was that our kids need to feel so confident and who we are and what we are doing that when we get to that game, they are at their highest emotional peak,” St. Germain said. “We needed to feel like a machine going in there.”

Tempers certainly flared as soon as the Niners got off the bus, as Andrean brought a bone of its own which was torn off of a Halloween decoration, just to stir the pot even more.

Stereotypes were thrown around when discussing the two teams at that period. Griffith was often labeled as a team and community that as always playing a chip on its shoulder. The Panthers of that time, both the players and community, were not afraid to beat you to the ground and let you know about it – which made outsiders feel uneasy about the culture that built up over time. On the other hand, Andrean heard all of the stereotypes that may come with being a private catholic high school.

The Niners, who took more of a “let the play do the talking” approach in the first ‘04 meeting, wanted to do a different path for the second affair, one similar to its opposition.

“As seniors, we were more mature,” Finn recollected. “We were just like, to heck with it, let’s embrace it. Let’s go there and start yelling right back at them. We did it, even though one of our assistant coaches got word of and was strongly against it. We did it anyway. I think it was one of those things where we were going to embrace the underdog role. We had nothing to lose.”

“That’s sport,” said St. Germain. “You have to find whatever motivates you. I didn’t orchestrate anything, that was all the kids. I kind of felt like we’re not going to go over there and be quiet. If they are going to talk, talk back. Not trash talk, not inappropriate stuff, but we don’t have to be quiet. We took that approach and that didn’t work a month ago.”

Heading into the game, with all of the buildup coming together in what was the atmosphere of the Boneyard, you couldn’t ask for a better matchup.

Heck, we still had a game to play!