First-year Center Grove quarterback has waited for opportunity

Luke Calvert’s view of varsity football to this point has been primarily upside-down.

Incorporated into Center Grove games last season as the team’s long-snapper for punts and field-goal and extra-point attempts, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior now finds himself strapped with a far more celebrated title: starting quarterback.

“I can’t wait. I’m anxious to get out there and see what the varsity game is like,” said Calvert, the point person for the Trojans’ wing-T offense this evening when Class 5A No. 5 Center Grove hosts Perry Meridian.

“The long-snapping days are long gone,” Calvert said, “but I loved it at the time because for me it was a chance to get on the field.”

Lauded during the preseason by coach Eric Moore for the touch he’s able to apply to passes, Calvert, who succeeds 2012 graduate and two-year starter Kody Kavanaugh, is Kody-esque in terms of physical dimensions.

They differ, however, in the strengths they bring to the field.

“I would say I’m more of a passer than he was, but Kody is the better runner,” Calvert said. “Something he did really well last year was to make sure to get me involved in plays during practices.”

Calvert, who quarterbacked the Trojans’ undefeated (10-0) junior varsity football team in 2011, has plenty of veteran talent surrounding him to help ease the transition, starting with the player snapping him the football.

Alex Woods, a 6-3, 240-pound junior, returns as Center Grove’s center, while running backs Logan Hutson and Lane Morris, also juniors, are varsity-tested. The same is true for sophomore Max Norris.

When passing, Calvert has two senior targets at his disposal — 6-9 senior tight end Nate Wozniak and senior wide receiver Kyle Buchanan.

One of the things Kavanaugh used to preach to Calvert was the importance of trying to remain on an even keel on game day. In other words, don’t get too up.

Easier said than done for someone finally scoping out the varsity game right side up.