Center Grove played against 42 different schools in 32 seasons of football before fate first placed a Ben Davis team in the Trojans’ immediate path.
No one knew it at the time, but the 1987 semistate game was a starting point for a rivalry that would go on to include many do-or-die matchups with a state finals berth hanging in the balance.
A game such as tonight’s.
For a third consecutive year and fifth in the past eight, the Trojans and Giants battle for the right to play Thanksgiving weekend inside a climate-controlled environment.
Ben Davis coach Jason Simmons understands what’s at stake and what’s required from his 7-5 squad to earn the right to take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Center Grove, winners of 26 consecutive games, has been ranked No. 1 in Class 6A all season. The Trojans are seeking a fifth Class 6A finals invite in the last seven seasons, with coach Eric Moore’s 2015 and 2020 squads having taken home championship hardware.
“When you look at them, they’re efficient. It’s easy to talk about Center Grove’s individual players, but the efficiency in which they operate resonates,” Simmons said. “It’s a testament to coach Moore and all the big-game experience his players have.”
Like any long-standing rivalry, Ben Davis-Center Grove has featured ebbs, flows and heartbreak. The Giants won all but two of the first 12 meetings between the two (1987-2006), capped by a please-explain-this 4-3 triumph on the westside of Indianapolis.
Conversely, Center Grove has outscored the Giants, 322-186, over the last 10 games, winning nine.
The Trojans’ recent dominance began after one of its more gut-wrenching losses to Ben Davis. In the 2014 semistate, two of Moore’s top running backs were sidelined due to injury in the second half. The host Giants rallied for a 49-45 victory and captured the 6A state title a week later.
Center Grove leads the overall series, 17-15; Moore is 17-13 against Ben Davis since taking over as coach in 1999.
“When I think of Ben Davis, I think of great, athletic teams that can beat or tie you with one play,” Moore said. “One of the foundations to our program is the (2000) semistate win against them. That gave our program credibility.”
Ben Davis, hardened by a grueling four-game stretch in the regular season as well as a much-publicized off-the-field incident, is playing what is unquestionably its best football of the season.
Starting with a 45-21 loss at Center Grove in Week 4, the Giants lost by a point to Warren Central and by two points to Lawrence North. On Oct. 1, Ben Davis was hosting Carmel when the game was stopped during the fourth quarter after gunshots were heard behind the visiting side bleachers.
The Greyhounds led, 35-21, at the time and were awarded the victory. Ben Davis’ next home game two weeks later against North Central was played on a Friday afternoon.
Rather than be left deflated by circumstance, Giants players and coaches rallied, winning five in a row. Ben Davis avenged a season-opening loss to Brownsburg last Friday night with a convincing 32-14 regional decision.
“We had a rough (September), starting with the trip we made to Center Grove. We lose to Warren Central in a shootout, then to Lawrence North in the last 15 seconds, but here we are,” Simmons said. “Then, when you go through the (shooting) situation we went through that night, it rallied our school and community around our players.”
All of which leads to this evening, as schools that have teamed for 17 state finals berths — 11 for Ben Davis, six for Center Grove — battle for the right to the 18th.
Don’t for a moment be fooled by the Giants’ 7-5 record, Moore cautions.
“This Ben Davis team reminds me of our 2019 team that went to the state finals, because both were 4-5 at the end of the regular season,” Moore said. “We play good teams, you know.”
Including each other.
