INDIANAPOLIS
Pike did what it could for as long as it could to punch holes in Center Grove’s air of invincibility.
But then the Trojans countered by doing what No. 1-ranked teams do, piling up 50 consecutive points to pull away from the Red Devils in a 57-14 victory.
The win improved coach Eric Moore’s squad to 6-0 in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference standings, giving it no worse than a tie for the league title. Overall, Center Grove is 7-0 going into next week’s game at 10th-ranked Lawrence North.
Pike drops to 3-4 overall, 1-4 in the MIC.
“Pike has a great football team. They have great skilled athletes, and they stood hard tonight. But I’m really proud of our kids putting a total effort together,” Moore said. “We tackled well, and we gave up a couple plays, but we needed that.
“We haven’t been in a game like this in six or seven weeks. We had a good dogfight tonight. I can appreciate our kids’ effort. Our line guys up front played so hard. I’m so excited for them. It was a very physical game.”
Pike got Center Grove’s attention immediately courtesy of Lamar Echols’ 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game. The Trojans countered on their first drive, with Tayven Jackson finding Carson Steele in the left flat for what resulted in a 28-yard touchdown.
The Red Devils went back in front on the ensuing series, a fourth-and-3 resulting in quarterback Anthony Cialdella lobbing a pass to a wide-open Adjaye Dandridge for a 57-yard score at 8:43 of the first period.
From that point, Center Grove thoroughly dominated on both sides of the ball.
“(The kickoff return) definitely got my attention for a second, but we bounced right back, kept our heads up and kept doing our thing,” Trojans defensive end Austin Booker said. “After that first play, we sort of changed our mindset a little bit. After the second (Pike) touchdown, we changed our mindset completely.
“It was definitely a physical game. I’m a lot more banged up than any other game.”
Steele cashed in two more times in an opening stanza that required an almost unheard-of 44 minutes to complete. His 2-yarder at 7:14 tied the score, 14-14; a 47-yard sprint to paydirt with 5:04 remaining before halftime put Center Grove ahead for good.
At 8:43 of the second stanza, the Trojans converted their own fourth down as Jackson threw a dart covering 18 yards to senior receiver Trent Veith. Connor Delp’s 13-yard TD run with 19.2 seconds left completed the first-half scoring.
Center Grove widened the lead on Daniel Weems’ 15-yard touchdown option run, which capped a 71-yard drive to open the second half. Steele’s 17-yard run through a huge hole carved out by the middle of the line with 4:26 left in the third made the score 50-14.
The remainder of the game was played with a running clock. Senior Lucas Hoffman scored on a 1-yard run for Center Grove.
Steele finished with 21 carries and 161 yards rushing, while Jackson completed 11 of 18 pass attempts for 166 yards.
