IHSAA football scores: Castle vs. North high school Week 1 results

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — There's a new face under center for the Castle Knights.

It's time to introduce Caden Gordon, a junior who made a statement in his first varsity start as a quarterback Friday night with a 266-yard, three-touchdown performance during a 28-21 road win against North. He fueled the Class 5A No. 10-ranked Knights in a potential postseason preview that ultimately was the closest Week 1 opener within the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference.

"Hats off to him," Castle coach Doug Hurt said. "He played with a lot of maturity and a lot of savvy. He stuck within the offense, and when you do that, good things happen. He made some fantastic throws and kept us from being super one-dimensional."

"It's amazing," Gordon added. "Just the hype and the whole team feels great. We're all just really tight and it's beautiful."

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He had big shoes to fill. Former Castle quarterback Cameron Tilly established himself as one of the SIAC's premier quarterbacks, throwing for 20 touchdowns last year along with six more scores on the ground. But Tilly, now a senior who's committed to play baseball collegiately at Auburn University, decided not to play football this fall so he could focus fully on the diamond.

In stepped Gordon to direct a program that hasn't experienced a losing season in 12 years. He made the most of his first opportunity against the Huskies.

Gordon played corner last year and logged an interception. But with him now under center, the Knights collectively were firing on all cylinders.

Brayden Bishop caught the first two touchdowns in the first quarter while Peyton Guerzini caught another in the middle of the first half. The senior trio of Guerzini, Bishop and Weston Aigner had 245 of the 296 total yards offensively.

Gordon showed his strengths throughout the opener despite being picked off deep in Castle's territory during the second half.

Then, the Knights nearly blew what was a 28-7 lead. North running back Angelo St. Louis finished with 199 yards, which didn't help Castle even when the offense was clicking. St. Louis had 99 yards in the first half alone and could've made the game closer had North not been penalized for a block in the back on his first carry, a long scamper that was eventually called back.

But Guerzini didn't let Gordon have any second guesses after his miscue. The Knights preserved the victory.

"I just wanted to remind him about the next play," Guerzini said. "That's what football is about. It's all about the next play."

Castle's highly touted defense prevailed, too. When North began to rally and continue to gain first downs, it was the Knights' defense that never gave up on the next play. Second Team All-SIAC linebacker John Purdy made open field tackles and they rallied together rather than pointing fingers when facing adversity.

"(The interception) was kind of a letdown, but we bounced back from it pretty well," Gordon said.

Castle (1-0) has now opened back-to-back seasons with victories over their Class 5A SIAC counterpart. Up next is another road matchup with Mater Dei, which rolled to a 35-0 shutout over Central on Friday. The Wildcats always seem to give the Knights a close contest, from their 21-14 overtime victory last season to Castle's 6-3 win in a 2020 nail-biter.

For Hurt, he doesn't enjoy playing the Wildcats in the second game. Fittingly, the all-time series is tied at 24. But Gordon showed flashes of his potential on Friday and it could be an indication of future success as he continues to find comfort leading the offense.

"I told (Gordon) to enjoy the win tonight," Hurt said. "Don't do anything dumb. Get to bed and get to sleep because we're going to come back tomorrow and we're going to start grinding and prepping for Mater Dei. Because that's what we do. And I guarantee that Mater Dei will be working."

Gordon added: "Specifically for me, I need to make the correct reads and take easy stuff. Coach Hurt says nothing can go wrong putting money in the bank. So I definitely need to work on that."

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on Twitter @Twashington490.