INDIANAPOLIS
Eric Moore and Bruce Scifres were seated a few feet from one another inside a Lucas Oil Stadium conference room Monday morning.
Their coaching relationship began a few hundred yards to the north.
Moore’s first season as football coach at Center Grove started with a 21-7 loss to Roncalli inside the RCA Dome.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“I hadn’t been in the RCA Dome since 1984 when I played as an IU player,” Moore said. “Roncalli was a phenomenal football team. Very physical, very well-coached and highly motivated.
“I didn’t even know all the names of the kids on my team. We were trying to decide who could do this and who could do what. Taking nothing away from Roncalli. They beat us in every facet of the game that night.”
The building was demolished eight years ago.
The coaching combatants from that August evening in 1999 continue to elevate their respective programs.
Scifres’ undefeated and top-ranked Rebels play in the Class 4A championship game against NorthWood at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Moore’s Trojans then take the field for the 6A title contest against Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference rival Carmel.
The state finals coaches’ meeting Monday allowed both men to get reacquainted and congratulate each other on reaching this point in the state tournament.
“Eric’s obviously a phenomenal coach,” Scifres said. “He’s built a great program there. The times we’ve played them and any time I’ve seen them play, their kids always play with a ton of passion and play the way the game is supposed to be played.”
Center Grove and Roncalli didn’t meet for two seasons following the initial contest.
They played six times from 2002-07, with each team winning three times. Center Grove scored a total of 88 points in games against the Rebels, who had 87.
The programs haven’t played since.
Nonetheless, Moore credits those tussles against Scifres’ Rebels for providing him a quality yardstick in building a championship-contending high school football program.
“It truly made us better,” he said. “It made us say, ‘Hey, this is the level we’ve got to play at’ and go from there. Bruce has always been a guy that I look up to. We keep track of each other, and he’s just a really good, humble football coach who represents what the game is made for.
“The game has stayed as successful as long as it has because of guys like coach Scifres.”
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STATE FINALS
Friday
At Lucas Oil Stadium
Class 2A: Eastbrook (13-1) vs. Indianapolis Ritter (10-4), noon
Class 4A: Roncalli (14-0) vs. NorthWood (14-0), 3:30 p.m.
Class 6A: Center Grove (12-1) vs. Carmel (9-4), 7 p.m.
Saturday
Class A: Pioneer (14-0) vs. Linton-Stockton (14-0), noon
Class 3A: Fort Wayne Concordia (12-2) vs. Lawrenceburg (13-1), 3:30 p.m.
Class 5A: Columbus East (13-1) vs. Westfield (11-2), 7 p.m.
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