There are a number of pink shirts in Cathedral High School football coach Rick Streiff ’s closet but they all belonged to his wife . . . until this week.

Tonight, Streiff will be wearing a pink T-shirt (weather permitting) as part of a Pink Out the school is holding in honor of Debra O’Malia , who is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and is the mother of student trainer Alyssa O’Malia . The Irish coaching staff will be wearing pink shirts, the players pink shoelaces and fans encouraged to wear pink as Class 4A No. 1 Cathedral (8-1) hosts Lebanon (6-3) at Arlington.

When the Sectional 14 draw gave the Irish a home game for the first round, Streiff checked with the Indiana High School Athletic Association to make sure a Pink Out didn’t violate any rules and scheduled the event.

“Alyssa wanted to do something in support of her mom and we talked about taking a home game and doing a Pink Out,” Streiff said. “We can’t do pink jerseys, so Alyssa said, ‘What about shoelaces?’ I thought it was a great idea.”

Monrovia prepares

Monrovia has posted six shutouts this year. Four of its wins have come by 50 points or more, and six by at least 34. The Associated Press 2A poll puts the Bulldogs in the No. 2 spot. Their 9-0 record marks the school’s first undefeated regular season in more than three decades.

“Obviously, going undefeated in a season’s a pretty rare thing,” coach Kevin Hutchins said. “It’s a big accomplishment, but it’s not something that you can sit back and (enjoy) yet. It’s sectional time, so we’re getting ready to start the new season. The cliche of ‘Everyone starts out 0-0’ definitely holds true.”

One thing that matters from the regular season: injuries, and Hutchins said his team has no major ones going into Sectional 30 play. Monrovia plays at Cloverdale (1-8), one of the Bulldogs’ 50-point-plus victims from earlier this year (50-0 on Sept. 4).

Sectional 4 update

Class 5A No. 10 Fishers (8-1) opens the postseason with a 3-6 McCutcheon team it beat 44-7 a month ago. Top-ranked Carmel will likely be waiting next week in the Sectional 4 semifinals. Coach Rick Wimmer knows his players will be taking a peek ahead but his goal is to make sure it doesn’t go farther than that.

“You know the kids know what the records are; you’re not going to fool them,” he said. "We try to emphasize just how final the playoffs can be. We pointed out McCutcheon played without a couple kids the last time. We pointed out (McCutcheon’s) quality win over Avon. It’s not the same team we played in Week 6. We’ll just try to point those things out and that they can’t take things for granted.

“Every year in Week 1 of the tournament there’s one or two major upsets. We try to point out it’s going to happen and make sure it doesn’t happen to us.”

Sectional 5 update

Class 5A No. 3 Warren Central (7-2) played just one game on natural grass this season, a 38-19 victory at Terre Haute South. But coach John Hart doesn’t expect any problems when the Warriors play their Sectional 5 opener tonight at Franklin Central, which has a natural grass surface.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a huge factor unless we’re looking for excuses,” Hart said.

Instead of practicing on the Field Turf surface at Warrior Stadium this week, Warren Central practiced on the natural grass fields normally used by its freshman team. Hart said he’s more concerned about Franklin Central’s defense, especially after watching film of the Flashes’ 17-7 loss to Conference Indiana champ Pike last week.

“They are a physical football team,” Hart said.