Nate Pence’s name isn’t going to be found in any scouting report on the Center Grove football team this season.
And yet for the past three years, the senior has played a behind-the-scenes role in the Trojans winning 86 percent of their games — including the Class 6A state championship in 2015.
Philip Hopson, who, like Pence, takes great pride in what he is able to bring to the program in terms of effort and know-how, has been part of the varsity program all four years of high school.
Pence and Hopson, two of the five team managers, serve specific roles when it comes to helping with technological aspects of what head coach Eric Moore wants done.
“I guess it’s the idea of being involved in such a huge program,” said Pence, whose list of responsibilities includes filming Trojan practices from the tower just beyond the north end zone of Ray Skillman Stadium.
“I’ve always been around football. I used to play it until the eighth grade, and I’ve been involved with the varsity team since my sophomore year. The best part is I have a lot of friends on the team. But putting on my college application saying I’ve been a three-year technology manager for the football team is pretty cool.”
If the Trojans are playing at home, both Pence and Hopson arrive about 4 p.m. to start their pregame duties.
Pence helps set up the camera equipment in the tower, as well as help Troy Dice prepare the video streaming that goes into the iPads used during games by Center Grove assistant coaches.
Dice, a math teacher at Center Grove High School, oversees all aspects of the technology used within the football program.
Hopson’s primary role during practices and games is to make sure player equipment such as helmets and shoulder pads is functioning correctly. He is also in charge of making sure the coach’s headsets are working.
“He’s kind of our MacGyver,” Dice said with a laugh. “Philip can fix anything, within reason. He gets the job done.”
Another one of Hopson’s duties is making certain those assistant coaches in the press box are able to communicate with Moore and those assistants on the sideline.
“I just make sure everything is plugged in right and make sure everything is tightened up, because we’ve had a couple issues this year where the plugs weren’t plugged in all the way,” Hopson said.
“Last year at regional (at Warren Central) the headsets completely stopped working in the second quarter. I was running up and down the bleachers trying to get them to work.”
Four headsets are in the press box for assistants to use, with eight more on the field.
“I like doing it because it does make me feel like part of the team,” Hopson said.
At 3:30 p.m. today, Dice, assistant coach Nick Lyon, Pence and Hopson will begin loading up the necessary equipment and drive to Columbus North High School for tonight’s Class 6A sectional title game between the Trojans and Bull Dogs.
The time, sweat and patience of Pence and Hopson don’t go unnoticed.
“They’re the epitome of true servant-type leadership,” Dice said. “They don’t want the attention, but they’re all about winning, too.”
