With Warren Central choosing not to extend its annual series with newly independent Center Grove, Friday night’s battle could end up being the last one between the two state powers for quite some time — at least in the regular season.
The Trojans made sure to walk away with the upper hand.
Micah Coyle rushed for 221 yards and a pair of scores, and a heavily revamped defense held the talented Warriors in check as Center Grove extended its winning streak to 29 games with a 17-8 triumph at Ray Skillman Stadium.
“I put a lot of pressure on our defense,” Trojans coach Eric Moore said. “I really put them against the wall all camp long; I wanted them to show that we still have a great defense. Those young kids stood up tonight and played their butts off.”
The Trojans’ inaugural drive was progressing well until junior quarterback Tyler Cherry was blindsided by the Warriors’ Michael Durham, who knocked the ball loose to set the visitors up at the Center Grove 40-yard line. The turnover didn’t end up costing the Trojans, however; sophomore Ryder Woolwine, wearing the No. 91 jersey previously donned by All-American Caden Curry, made like his predecessor and came up with a key sack to stymie Warren Central’s opening possession.
Following a swap of punts, Center Grove started at its own 20 and put together its first scoring drive of the young season. Cherry completed a 15-yard pass to tight end T.J. Williams to advance the ball to the Warren 36, and Coyle took it from there. The senior carried on the next five plays, capped by a fourth-down conversion and then an uncontested 26-yard burst up the middle with 10:18 to go in the second quarter.
Led by sophomore quarterback Jewel Jagoe, Warren Central responded with an impressive 87-yard trek the other way. Jagoe completed four of five passes for 40 yards, but once inside the red zone the Warriors went to the ground, running the ball on their final five plays. Rodney Johnson found paydirt from 4 yards out at the 5:43 mark, and a bit of trickery on the conversion ended with Lee Alexander diving across the goal line to give Warren an 8-7 edge.
Center Grove threatened to regain the lead late in the half, advancing to the Warriors’ 21-yard line, but Cherry was hit as he was releasing a pass and the ball was picked off by Alexander with 1:13 to go.
Warren Central was threatening to start the third quarter, pushing as far as the Trojans’ 23, but a Jagoe pass went off the hands of top target Joe Walker (5 catches, 51 yards) and was intercepted by Parker Doyle. A 37-yard third-down pass from Cherry to Noah Coy got Center Grove into the red zone, setting up a go-ahead 29-yard field goal from Nolan Foley with 6:20 left in the period.
Following another defensive stop, the home side gave itself a needed buffer with a quick 63-yard touchdown march. All of that yardage came courtesy of Coyle, who capped off the three-play effort with a 46-yard rush.
“I had a lot of adrenaline,” said Coyle, who carried a heavier load than expected (27 rushes) after Drew Wheat exited the game late in the first quarter and didn’t return. “I was finding my openings. My O-line was blocking for me real well, and every single opening I had, I took and ran with it.”
The Warriors’ attempts at a rebuttal were snuffed out by the Trojans, as junior lineman Nate Johnson sacked backup quarterback Keith Jackson to end Warren Central’s first fourth-quarter possession and an interception by Joe Gaffney with 2:24 on the clock put the finishing touches on Center Grove’s fifth straight victory in the rivalry.
Excluding its lone scoring drive, Warren Central had just 91 yards of offense on the night.
“We’ve got to get better,” Moore said, “but that’s 29 in a row and we’re awful proud.”
