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2010 CENTER GROVE PREVIEW
POSTED: 6/16/10
By: Donnie Smith |
Preview of the 2010 season
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The explosion that one might have heard in Greenwood this past decade is the emergence of the Center Grove football program. All Coach Eric Moore has done since taking over 11 years ago is guide his club to five sectional and regional championships, three semistate crowns and one very memorable State Championship two years ago. All this began with the first sectional title in 2000. Before then, the Trojans only playoff success came in 1987, when they won their only sectional and regional title.
After blowing through the sectional and regional, the then reigning 5A champs were finally dethroned by eventual champ Warren Central.
The loss of several key players to graduation always makes the following season a challenge. The Trojans will miss players like quarterback Kyle Barth, defensive tackle Joel Cox, running back Jimmy Boshears, offensive linemen Sean Egenolf and Mark Riffle, defensive back Scotty O’Brien, defensive end Blake Miller and linebacker/tight end Garrett Mack. But Moore does have 13 starters, a strong senior class and a solid group of freshmen who have never lost a game as something to build on for this season.
“Our seniors are very coachable,’’ explained Moore. “They are big, strong and fast and have good chemistry. Our junior class is big in numbers with about 30-40 kids. They are a pretty skilled bunch. Overall our guys are committed as a group. They really love the game. We don’t have a lot of kids with varsity experience and we will have some depth issues. We need to stay healthy, have our experienced players play to their ability and have our newcomers step up.’’
Seven starters return to the “Wing-T” offense and it’s a good bet the running game will be the strength, as four seniors lead the parade. They are Jimmy Daggett, Nolan Weidman, Austin Smith and Chris Flowers. In ten games last season, Daggett carried 132 times for 773 yards and 12 touchdowns. Weidman wasn’t far behind with 749 yards on 181 carries and also scored 12 times. Flowers averaged 6.6 yards per carry in 60 attempts while Smith chipped in nearly four yards per carry in 28 carries.
Senior tight end Andrew Gudeman also returns after averaging nearly 17 yards per catch in nine games a year ago. The front line welcomes back senior Clayton Hunter and junior Jake Berryhill at guard and junior Jordan Bedan at tackle. Look for junior Kody Kavanaugh, who Moore believes to be his best underclassmen in the program, to take over at quarterback. Kavanaugh has hopes of finding seniors Isaac Duke, Kyle Schwartz and junior Brock Sokolowski at wide out a time or two.
The “Multiple” defense returns six starters, three coming from the secondary. Seniors Nick Stoner, Zach Mattox and Tyler Sykes combined to record nine of the Trojans 17 interceptions a year ago. Seniors Joel Hale and Bryce Krebs return to the front line while senior Brian Jansen will lead the way at linebacker.
Special teams appear solid with the return of punter/kicker Damiano Mancini. The junior converted 43-of-49 extra points last season and was 6-of-10 on field goals. He also finished with a 33.1 yard average on 37 punts including eight inside the opponents’ 20 yard line.
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