Center Grove’s offense features the kicking game of (from left) PAT specialist Luke Eckert, punter PJ Buck, receivers Jacob Keith, Cam Oganowski and Jake Gagnon and quarterback Jackson Moore.
SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTOS BY AL STILLEY Center Grove sophomore running back Carson Steele returns after running for 20 touchdowns and more than 1,700 yards as a freshman. CENTER GROVE (6-6) – Rare .500 season (6-6) last year … Trojans ranked seventh by MaxPreps at end of season … 20th year at helm for Eric Moore (179-62), only one losing season (2005) … patented wing-T offense keeps defense on heels … graduated 14 players from defensive unit, namely Alex Damron, 102 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and Aaron Gin, 93 tackles … offense features sophomore sensation running back Carson Steele (1,703 yards, 6.3 average, 20 touchdown) with seniors Sam Hohlt (701 yards total offense, three TDs) and Gavin Matheson (414 yards, four TDs) … senior quarterback Jackson Moore (1,004 yards, 56.4 percentage, seven TDs) … featured receivers: seniors Jake Keith (12 yards per catch) and Jake Gagnon (10.4 yards per catch). Senior Cam Petty moves from backfield to tight end … offensive line solidified by Ethan Crowe (6-6, 300 pounds) and two-year starter Jason Weise … center up for grabs between Gabe Long and junior Andrew Warner … Lucas Doyle (6-5, 285 pounds) at right tackle with Sam Stimel and Ben Siefert … depth comes from senior Ben Smith at guard or tackle … defensive line has senior Brian Gaffney, nose Lucas Hunter (8.5 sacks), tackle Lucas Piper, end Cade Lansdell, a former linebacker, freshman tackle Cayden Curry (6-2, 220 pounds) … D-backs are plentiful with Lucas Roehling, Matt Pence, Chris Martin and Drew Green, solid tacklers … linebackers are young, late-season starter Gabe Boyd, Hohlt, Cody Robinson, soph Jackson Schott ... exceptional kicking game with seniors, punter PJ Buck (39.1 average) and kicker Luke Eckert (32 of 35 PATs)… rugged Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference schedule … open at home against powerhouse Warren Central Friday.
Coach’s comments: “Offensively, we have a lot of experience and size back; we do have eight guys up front we can depend on. Defensively, we lost a lot of our size and strength, but we have a lot of skilled position kids back. We have athleticism on the D-line, and they won’t let you tee off on them. Our conference, as a trend, has become spread-and-throw, so we may be more suited defensively than we ever have been. We may be just a little light up front (line). I was excited about our kicking game last year – gave it a B – but this year, I am not going to settle for anything but an A game. "With the kicking game you can protect your defense a little bit. Our game will be played around our kicking game. You really win with your defensive line, and we have some aggressive kids there. We have depth with our defensive backs, but our linebackers will have to develop. The wing-T is different and allows us to be good at our passing game, but the teams we play can’t concentrate on that because they need to figure out our running game. Our No. 1 key will be staying healthy and catching a little bit of luck along the way – Carson Steele had six TDs called back, and that’s no fun. We start out with the nation’s No. 20 team Warren Central, so we have to be ready out of the gate.
Coach’s comments: “Offensively, we have a lot of experience and size back; we do have eight guys up front we can depend on. Defensively, we lost a lot of our size and strength, but we have a lot of skilled position kids back. We have athleticism on the D-line, and they won’t let you tee off on them. Our conference, as a trend, has become spread-and-throw, so we may be more suited defensively than we ever have been. We may be just a little light up front (line). I was excited about our kicking game last year – gave it a B – but this year, I am not going to settle for anything but an A game. "With the kicking game you can protect your defense a little bit. Our game will be played around our kicking game. You really win with your defensive line, and we have some aggressive kids there. We have depth with our defensive backs, but our linebackers will have to develop. The wing-T is different and allows us to be good at our passing game, but the teams we play can’t concentrate on that because they need to figure out our running game. Our No. 1 key will be staying healthy and catching a little bit of luck along the way – Carson Steele had six TDs called back, and that’s no fun. We start out with the nation’s No. 20 team Warren Central, so we have to be ready out of the gate.
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