Center Grove’s Drake McClurg runs the ball during Friday’s game against visiting Trotwood-Madison.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Trotwood-Madison made the two-hour drive from just outside of Dayton, Ohio, to Center Grove on Friday with a deceptive 0-4 record, 57 players and about as many fans. The Rams fell into a two-touchdown hole and weathered an hour-long storm delay before giving the Class 6A No. 5 Trojans all they could handle in the second half.
Center Grove survived a spirited upset bid from its first-time visitor and escaped with a 28-25 victory.
With his team fresh off a dominating road win over Ben Davis in Week 4, Trojans coach Eric Moore knew that Trotwood-Madison loomed as a dangerous trap game despite their record.
“We had people all over the place telling me, ‘Are we going to go to the game? Is that team really not very good?’” Moore said. “And I’m like, ‘No.’ Look at the film — they’re a great football team. I don’t know who was telling people they weren’t, but they won a state championship three years ago; they’re a good football team.”
Down 15-0 at halftime, the Rams (0-5) broke the drought on their first drive of the third quarter courtesy of a 50-yard catch and run by Xavier Millerton off a Dallas Shehee pass. Just after the extra point was blocked, lightning in the area brought about a delay with 10:02 on the clock.
After the restart, Trotwood-Madison forced a Trojan punt and then drew closer with another big pass play, a Shehee-to-Millerton hookup that covered 79 yards. Just like that, the visitors were within two at the 7:07 mark of the third.
Center Grove (4-1) answered swiftly. Gabe McWilliams hit Brevin Holubar for 34 yards and Nolan Rees followed with a 38-yard run to set up first and goal, leading to a 25-yard field goal by Dallas Cornpropst with 6:24 on the clock. A James Soderdahl interception put the Trojans right back in Trotwood territory to set up a 29-yard Cornpropst kick with 2:58 still left in the quarter.
A defensive stop gave Center Grove a chance to put the game away early in the fourth, but a promising drive ended with the third Ram interception of the night at the Trotwood-Madison 35. A pair of personal-foul flags against the Trojans and a Shehee pass to Millerton gave the visitors first and goal on the 4, and Terry Harrell dove in on the next play with 8:43 remaining in the contest. The Rams had a chance to tie the game, but Shehee’s two-point pass attempt fell incomplete.
McWilliams and the Trojans responded, with a 31-yard pass to Holubar setting up a 4-yard TD throw to Dominick Barry. Cornpropst’s PAT kick made it a two-possession game with just 3:09 to go.
The Rams didn’t pack it in, quickly marching downfield and into the red zone, but a pair of holding penalties backed them up to the 27 and a heave to the end zone was picked off by Luke Barrett. That felt like the end of the game, but a botched Center Grove punt gave Trotwood-Madison the ball at the 8-yard line and Shehee hit Millerton in the end zone with 3.2 seconds on the clock. The Trojans recovered the onside kick to end the game.
Moore was impressed with what he saw from the Rams during their comeback bid, opining that there were four potential future pros on the roster. He pointed across the field at massive 6-foot-8, 320-pound offensive lineman Jermiel Atkins, a University of Kentucky recruit, as one obvious example.
“They got off the bus a little shellshocked, and they woke up on that delay,” Moore said of Trotwood-Madison. “That was an excellent football team that you saw. I don’t know if we’ve seen as many great skill players, and probably the thing I’m most impressed about them was the fact that, man, they could tackle one on one better than anybody I’ve ever seen. Boom — you’re down. We got zero extra yards (after) contact.”
The Trojans sputtered offensively in the early going. Their opening possession ended with a turnover on downs at the Trotwood-Madison 27-yard line and the second was abruptly halted when a McWilliams pass was intercepted by the Rams’ Jahmale Clark near midfield.
But the visitors gave the ball back with a fumble that Lincoln Bright recovered just two plays later, and McWilliams cashed in his chance at redemption right away with a 42-yard heave to Drake McClurg. That pass set up a 3-yard scoring run by Rees with 2:57 left in the opening quarter.
Taking over at their own 20 after a booming Trotwood punt carried into the end zone, Center Grove didn’t need much time to score again. On the fourth play of the drive, McWilliams found Tristan Baxter wide open over the top for a 62-yard touchdown at 9:09 of the second period. A two-point run by McClurg made it a 15-point game.
The momentum seemed to be swelling when Dane Crump then blocked a punt to set the Trojans up on the Rams’ 25, but the home team lost a fumble two plays later. Trotwood-Madison was again unable to cash in on the takeaway, though, and the rest of the half brought no additional scoring.
McWilliams finished the night with 310 yards passing to Shehee’s 311. Holubar led the Trojan receivers with eight catches for 119 yards, while Rees rushed for 85. Millerton had seven catches for 237 yards in a losing effort for the Rams.
Moore said his team made numerous mental errors and that the game film should serve as a “Football 101” refresher heading into Center Grove’s Week 6 home game against Lawrence Central.
“That’s what’s good about it,” he said. “It’s going to almost feel like you lost.”
