Columbus North's Dyllan Redmon, left, runs past Center Grove's Parker Doyle during Friday's sectional final at Center Grove.
GREENWOOD — The 52nd November game in Eric Moore’s tenure as Center Grove’s football coach didn’t move the suspense meter.
Much as it tried on Friday, visiting Columbus North, idle the previous two weekends, couldn’t mount a challenge to the top-ranked squad in Class 6A, which advanced to regional with a 41-7 victory.
The undefeated Trojans rolled up 192 yards of total offense the opening half to Columbus North’s one yard to race to a 35-0 lead at halftime, assuring a running clock the final two periods.
Now 11-0, the defending state champions, ranked No. 7 in the nation by USA Today and No. 8 by MaxPreps, prepare for a regional date at Lawrence North.
“I think the way the tournament is set up and team’s having a three-week break, that’s tough on a team, and it hurt them a little bit,” Moore said of the Bull Dogs. “But I thought our guys came out and played real effective and physical to start off in the first quarter. They took care of business and did what they had to do to win.”
Senior back Daniel Weems scored the first three Center Grove touchdowns, starting with a 37-yard run along the left side on the offense’s first play from scrimmage. He hauled in a short pass from quarterback Tayven Jackson for a 34-yard touchdown with 7:04 left in the first and barreled in from a yard out at the 2:52 mark to make it a 21-0 game.
Junior Drew Wheat cashed in from 2 yards early in the second quarter. The Trojan special teams then got into the act when junior Jalen Thomeson received a punt at his own 41, darted left and broke to daylight for a touchdown 8:04 before intermission. Junior Micah Coyle scored on a 4-yard run in the third period to end the Center Grove scoring.
Defensively, Center Grove stopped 11 of Columbus North’s 14 first-half run plays behind the line of scrimmage.
“You can’t win sectional championships without a great defense, and we have a great defense, and they showed up tonight like they have all year,” Moore said. “Now we march on.”
Seven different ball carriers combined to rush for 177 yards for the Trojans, led by Weems’ 70 and Coyle’s 57.
Columbus North averted the shutout after Dyllan Redmon scored on a 2-yard run late in the fourth. That came one play after the senior rumbled 80 yards from his own 18 on the previous play.
Bull Dogs quarterback Luke Hammons was injured in the second quarter and did not return. He was replaced by Hudson Elwood.
Hardly the season finale Columbus North coach Tim Bless envisioned, though no one can accuse his team of sidestepping a challenge. The Bull Dogs’ four losses this season were, in order, to 3A No. 2 Gibson Southern and a trio of top-ranked ball clubs in Roncalli (4A), Cathedral (5A) and the Trojans.
Afterward, an emotional Bless went through the line of Columbus North players, embracing and telling each how much he loves them.
Asked if that’s the hardest part of coaching, he paused briefly.
“No question,” Bless said. “All the respect in the world to Center Grove. I mean, their talent is immense, they’re very well coached schematically in all three levels, so they’re just very, very good. I don’t think they got our best game tonight. Not making any excuses, but we just couldn’t get any traction, and obviously, Center Grove had a lot to do with that.”
The Bull Dogs’ previous game had been a 36-0 blanking of Terre Haute South on Oct. 15. All of Class 6A was off the following week, and with Columbus North drawing a sectional bye, Bless’s squad didn’t play last week, either.
“It was the hand we were dealt, so we make the most of it,” said Bless, whose club finished 6-4. “Kids are wired to play football, and when you’re not playing football you get rusty. As much as we worked and tried during that hiatus to keep game-ready, the only way to stay game-ready is to play in a game atmosphere.
“What we talked about in the postgame huddle was that we needed to take our hats off to Center Grove, but let’s dwell on all the positives we achieved this year with a Conference Indiana championship and winning our city championship.”
