<p>Football success in Greenwood is cyclical, coach Mike Campbell explains. As the smallest school in the Mid-State Conference, a Class 4A team playing largely 5A competition in one of the state’s toughest football leagues, the Woodmen are subject to ups and downs based on the numbers and talent in each class.</p><p>When almost all of the key players on the 2017 semistate team graduated at once, Campbell knew that Greenwood was going to suffer some short-term consequences — and it did, winning just four games in each of the last two seasons.</p><p>The sophomores and juniors that were thrown into the fire the last two years, though, have grown up, and the feeling just west of U.S. 31 and Smith Valley Road is that the Woodmen are due to cycle back up into the league’s upper half.</p><p>"The more you play, the more stripes you earn," said senior defensive back Tanner Allen, one of several players who has taken his lumps on the field the last two years. "All the bumps and bruises you take as a young’n make you better, help the team get better."</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>Campbell likes where his team is at heading into the season, noting that the natural maturation process of those now-veteran players has left the Woodmen "as big and physical as we’ve been for quite a while."</p><p>"We’re taking steps in the right direction," the coach said. "We’re nowhere close to where I think we can be or where we need to be, but we’re getting better every day."</p><p>Having an experienced team means even more in 2020 than it normally would; the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated almost all of the time that football teams would have had to work out together during the offseason, so those who were able to hit the ground running once those workouts resumed should have a leg up.</p><p>"It helps mesh the team as a whole and helps us be more prepared with this short season," junior linebacker Gavin Ruppert said. "We’re already on the ground rolling, so we’re ready to go."</p><p>"I feel fortunate we have as many seniors as we do with the shortened work periods that we’ve gotten," Campbell added.</p><p>Greenwood returns all five of its offensive line starters, including two (Collin Campbell and Cameron Ford) who will be entering their third year as full-timers. That unit will lead the way for a veteran offensive group, while the defense is keyed by a few more returning standouts in end Dylan Mayhew, Ruppert and Allen.</p><p>Ruppert is hopeful that the struggles of the past two seasons will pay dividends this fall, and he’s already seen how the wisdom he’s accumulated are paying off in practice.</p><p>"Coming in younger, you’re trying to learn stuff and know how things are going and figure things out," he said. "Coming in as an older guy, some of us who have played a few years, our job is to now teach the younger guys what to do and take that leading role."</p><p>The payoff might not come right away. Campbell cautions that he’s had some very good teams during his 14 years at Greenwood that only won five or six games because of how grueling the team’s conference schedule is year in and year out.</p><p>But by the time the postseason comes, that league gauntlet usually has the Woodmen fully prepared; the coach notes that only twice in his tenure have they failed to win at least one sectional game.</p><p>The road will again be difficult this fall, but Greenwood appears to be far more ready for the grind than the current upperclassmen were being tossed to the wolves as young pups in 2018 and 2019.</p><p>"I think it certainly helps to have guys who have started as sophomores and juniors," Campbell said. "They understand the game speed and how much faster it’s played on Friday nights than even you can simulate in practice, so those older guys are really helping out the younger guys and really talking to them and being very positive — like, ‘You need to understand how fast this will happen on Friday nights,’ so that’s why you have to do the drill work, the group work and the team work at a high pace."</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="2020 schedule" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>Date;Opponent;Time</strong></p><p>Aug. 21;Bloomington North;7 p.m.</p><p>Aug. 28;Indian Creek;7 p.m.</p><p>Sept. 4;Martinsville;7 p.m.</p><p>Sept. 11;at Mooresville;7 p.m.</p><p>Sept. 18;Plainfield;7 p.m.</p><p>Sept. 25;at Perry Meridian;7 p.m.</p><p>Oct. 2;at Decatur Central;7 p.m.</p><p>Oct. 9;Franklin;7 p.m.</p><p>Oct. 16;at Whiteland;7 p.m.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Scouting the Woodmen" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Coach: Mike Campbell</p><p>Last year: 4-7, lost to East Central in Class 4A sectional semifinal</p><p>Key returnees: DB Tanner Allen, OT Daylon Bene, WR LaNard Bolden, C Collin Campbell, OT Cameron Ford, RB Ethan Haessig, QB Luke Hommell, LB Gabriel Long, LB Sam Rapp, WR Jaydin Sheppard and TE Isaac Simpson, seniors; TE/RB Noah Apgar, OG Landen Crosley, OG Brayden Gardner, DE Dylan Mayhew and LB Gavin Ruppert, juniors; TE Carter Campbell, sophomore</p><p>What to expect: After a couple of down years that can be chalked up to inexperience and injury, the senior-laden Woodmen are seasoned and confident, ready to challenge the Mid-State Conference’s upper crust again. Mike Campbell loves him some power running game, and he’s equipped to hammer away with Haessig behind five returning offensive linemen, including two three-year starters in Collin Campbell and Ford. Hommell has some big-play passing targets in Bolden and Sheppard.</p><p>On the defensive side of the ball, Ruppert is a ball magnet who averaged more than 10 tackles a game last fall. He’ll anchor a unit that also features a disruptive line presence in Mayhew and a big-play defensive back in Allen (six interceptions in 2019), who doubles as a dangerous return man.</p><p>Greenwood is always fighting an uphill battle as the smallest school in the Mid-State, but as coach Campbell points out, the regular-season grind always has his team ready for the 4A playoffs — the Woodmen have won 11 postseason games over the past five seasons. Even if this team only wins four or five regular-season games, it’s going to be a tough out when it matters.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Three and out: Tanner Allen" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>1. How do you feel like the team has progressed this offseason despite all of the hurdles in your way?</strong></p><p>This is probably one of the best things that ever happened to us as far as learning how to come together as a team. … I think it’s been very good for us mentally.</p><p><strong>2. How concerned are you about the threat of outbreaks leading to cancellations or cutting the season short?</strong></p><p>Everybody’s pretty worried about how this season’s going to play out. We’re just praying that the days aren’t as limited as they say they will be, and we’ll just play as much as we can.</p><p><strong>3. What one word best describes your team’s mentality going into the season?</strong></p><p>I’d say redemption, honestly, just because of all the bad years that we’ve had and how many licks we’ve taken as a team. We’re just ready to get back and be the best we can.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
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