Center Grove High School football coach Eric Moore had some questions about how his defense would perform early in the season.
Senior middle linebacker Nick Arbuckle wasn’t worried.
“There was some concern with all the people leaving our defense — but it’s all about the coaches, and the coaches didn’t go away,” Arbuckle said. “As long as we still had the coaches, our defense was still going to be strong.”
Arbuckle, one of four returning starters, was convinced the unit would play well. Entering the Class 6A state championship football game against No. 7 Carmel (9-4) on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium, No. 3 Center Grove’s defense is allowing 12.8 points per game — 10.4 points if you don’t count the 41 points surrendered in a 44-41 overtime victory against Cathedral.
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“If everybody does their job, it’s solid,” Arbuckle said. “I think we kind of surprised everybody when the defense came out pretty strong in the first couple of games. That’s what got us going.”
After losing to Warren Central 21-16 in the opener, the Trojans (12-1) allowed just 13 points in the next three games.
Moore said he knew the defense had talent but had some questions about how they would perform early. The Trojans returned four full-time senior starters — Arbuckle, linebacker Bailey Bennett, free safety Logan Bontrager and defensive lineman Dan Root — from last season’s unbeaten state championship squad. Senior linebacker Sam Bolin had also started the last several games in 2015 after an injury.
“We had seniors that were going to play, but they didn’t have any experience,” Moore said. “We didn’t know how they were going to be in physical contact. We didn’t know how they were going to be game to game, practice rep to rep and series to series. Their hard practice effort, along with the good character they have, they’ve come along. They’ve gotten better. They’ve learned about playing football this year and playing on a big stage like we usually do every week. They’ve done what kids before them have done and taken care of business.”
Senior strong safety Corbin Laque said he saw the defense make strides during strong summer practices.
“I had faith that this defense could be incredible,” said Laque, whose playing time increased in the 2015 postseason. “As long as we did what the coaches asked and did our job, everything would go according to plan, and it has said so far.”
Laque said the defensive players take pride in their performances.
“It’s incredible the numbers we put up and how well we’ve played,” Laque said.
A strong bond has helped the Trojans.
“A lot of us have been playing together since we’ve been in the third grade — for a long time,” Laque explained.
Bontrager said the defense is comparable to last year’s team, which featured defensive tackles Jovan Swann (Stanford) and Cameron Tidd (Vanderbilt).
“We have the (close) ties like last year,” Bontrager said. “We’re all brothers. We play for each other.”
Bontrager and Laque set a physical tone, Moore said.
“We get guys on the ground,” he said. “There haven’t been many blown coverages. There haven’t been too many balls thrown over our heads.
“Our linebackers have been the nucleus of the defense, and we hoped that because they are the ones with the experience. It’s the inexperienced defensive linemen (including first-year starters Parker Ferguson, Seth Ferrando and Cole Williams) that have done a good job, I think.”
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Center Grove’s defensive stats this year compared with last season’s unit:
;2015;2016
Points allowed;201;166
Per game;14.3;12.8
Sacks;20;11
Interceptions;9;12
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