“If there is a planet somewhere whose civilization is based on the worst movies of all time, ‘Highlander 2: The Quickening’ deserves a sacred place among their most treasured artifacts.” -Roger Ebert, from his ½ star review of 'Highlander 2: The Quickening,' Nov.1 1999, Chicago Sun-Times The thing about sequels is that they’re never a sure thing. “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back?” Pretty good flick. “Godfather II?” Academy Award winner for Best Picture. “Meatballs 2?” Pretty awful. (Though not as bad, apparently, as Highlander 2). Brebeuf athletics fans have enjoyed several sequels of “Brebeuf-Guerin Boys Basketball Sectionals” and they were all nail-biters. Two thumbs up! Brebeuf-Danville Football Sectional II was a sequel that drew lots of interest, but ultimately fell flat. Danville rolled up over 300 rushing yards and cashed in two second half pick-six interceptions to coast to a 38-7 victory over Brebeuf in the 4A Sectional 21 semifinal, sending the #7-ranked Warriors to a Sectional Final next week at Chatard, and ending Brebeuf’s season at 6-5. Whereas Brebeuf-Danville Football Sectional I, the Braves’ thrilling 50-49 overtime victory over the Warriors in the 2024 Sectional semifinal, was a game that fans will talk about for years, little will be said or remembered about this game outside of Danville’s most famous restaurant, the Mayberry Diner (“Inspired by the warmth and simplicity of the beloved Andy Griffith Show,” claims the restaurant’s website.) Brebeuf-Danville II stunk as a sequel largely because Danville’s 2026 football team is really talented, and they played a great game. This Warrior team came into the night 10-0 with a 31-point average margin of victory, yet were still ranked only #7 in the 4A polls, presumably because they hadn’t played anybody outside of Cascade and Lebanon. Brebeuf was going to be their toughest game to date, and when the Braves took a 7-3 lead midway through the second quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Keegan Bouwkamp to Carter Cosgrove, it looked like it might play out that way. But Danville has a running back named Dalton Hood that’s even better than Aunt Bee’s Strawberry Pie at the Mayberry Diner. Hood ran hard on Brebeuf, who held him in check early, but not late, and the Warrior RB finished with 198 rushing yards on 31 carries, including burst plays of 53 yds and 15 yds on Danville’s third quarter scoring drive, which gave the home team a 17-point lead that felt like the tipping point. Danville’s defense held the Braves to 157 total yards and -19 rushing yards, at times sending so many blitzing defenders into the Brebeuf backfield you would have thought Bouwkamp had placed a personal ad in FarmersOnly.com. To make matters worse, the players on coach Jayme Comer’s Warrior team weren’t even proper villians. Sure, a handful of their fans had fun with the “Danville Won” t-shirts, a callback to the 2024 game, but the players on the field from both teams were great sportsmen on this night, with no chirping, cheap shots or personal fouls, and lots of helping one another up after hard hits, followed by helmet slaps. The kids, setting examples for the adults. Brebeuf ultimately sputtered too many times on offense, with four turnovers and 1 for 10 third down conversions, to make this movie very interesting. The Braves defense, which gave a fine first half performance reminiscent of Michael Caine in “Jaws IV The Revenge,” simply spent too much time on the field, and couldn’t save the film. Just as Caine was boat-anchored by having to share screentime with Mario Von Peebles, so the Warrior run game began to wear down Brebeuf’s front seven, most notably on a ten-run 49-yard scoring drive at the 4:48 mark in the fourth quarter, which made the score 31-7, and had many maroon-clad movie goers beginning to look at their phones and squirm in their seats. Danville added a second pick-six for the final margin, and that was that. Brebeuf’s team began the process of saying goodbye to the football season, and saying goodbye to a group of seniors that has ridden quite the roller coaster as part of Matt Geske’s program: • National recognition as the Crazy Team that Broke All The Scoreboards in 2024, averaging 46 points per game and amassing 7,000 yards of offense • Battling through attrition caused by injuries and IHSAA transfers in 2025 to win three out of four after a six-game losing streak • Soaring and dipping like birds of prey in 2026, with great victories like Mt. Vernon and Columbus North sandwiched between disappointments like Roncalli and Bloomington South…and Danville. This season was a lot like life, which is never like The Movies anyway, and is why you never measure success of a football season by wins and losses alone. We will measure the success of this season when we gather in a few weeks to celebrate our seniors: Xavion Bond, Keegan Bouwkamp, Reims Brooks, Carter Cosgrove, Gabe Cox, Eli Drake, Sam Grant, Matthew Johnson, Nate Johnson, Brennan Kaufmann, Luke Lautenbach, Brayden Neese, Krystian Oakley, Cam Walters, and Miles Wilmore. The young men that this program will be sending into the world to make an impact, both on and off the field. When measured by those metrics, I believe we’ll all judge the season for what it was: a treasure. Even if Brebeuf-Danville II was a flop. Go Braves!