The game of Cam Petty’s life is sending Center Grove into the postseason with a full head of steam.
Petty, the Trojans’ senior tight end, caught two first-half touchdown passes to get his team off to a fast start in what amounted to a surprisingly lopsided win over Class 5A No. 3 Cathedral, 34-7.
Winners of four consecutive games, Center Grove is 6-3 as it awaits its Oct. 26 sectional opener in Class 6A against Columbus North.
“(Petty) had a little inspiration tonight being senior night. He did a great job and is a great athlete,” Trojans coach Eric Moore said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get him the ball, but we found some spots tonight. I’m sure he had fun, and he ran like a gazelle down the sideline.”
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Both sidelines, actually.
Center Grove scored on the game’s second play when quarterback Jackson Moore rolled right on second-and-10 and found Petty wide open on the right side. The play resulted in a 65-yard touchdown and immediate momentum for the home squad.
“We’ve practiced that play all week,” said Petty, who finished with three receptions for 140 yards. “When I came out, the safety fell. And so when I broke off and caught it and turned back around, I saw no one and my main thought was to put my head down and run.”
The Trojans reached into their bag of tricks on the next offensive possession.
Facing fourth down, senior punter P.J. Buck tossed a short pass to Petty in front of the Cathedral bench. The senior again sprinted away from Irish defenders, this time from 54 yards out.
“The second (touchdown) we practiced for nine weeks,” Petty said. “It was good to see it finally work. Brian Gaffney, our long snapper, he had a huge block. I saw him come out of the corner of my eye and wipe someone out. That’s what really gave us the touchdown.”
Leading 20-0 at the half, the Trojans tacked on two more touchdowns on sophomore back Carson Steele’s second and third touchdown runs of the night. Steele’s trips to paydirt covered 42, 4 and 29 yards en route to 131 yards rushing.
Defensively, freshman end Caden Curry led the Trojans with seven tackles. Seniors Cade Lansdell and Gaffney had five apiece, with senior defensive back Matt Pence doing his part with four.
Cathedral (4-5), which opens sectional play on Friday against Plainfield in a game to be played at Southport, finished with 367 total yards compared to Center Grove’s 319. The Irish also ran 26 more offensive plays than the Trojans.
The Trojans’ 27-point victory was more points than what separated the teams over four previous games since the Week 9 series began in 2014. Those contests, the first three won by Center Grove, were decided by a total of 23 points.
Cathedral averted a shutout by scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run with 6:37 remaining in the fourth quarter. The last time an Irish squad was shut out was 2015, when the Trojans handed them a 7-0 loss.
