Center Grove coach Eric Moore, left, shakes hands with then-Westfield coach Jake Gilbert following the 2021 Class 6A state championship game.
Daily Journal file photo
Center Grove’s opener against Westfield this evening is poised to make a small sliver of history no matter the final outcome.
For the first time in recent memory, the teams take the field without a ceiling.
Meeting in the regular season for the first time since Week 4 of the 1959 season, the schools renew the mini-rivalry established when they faced off in the 2020 and 2021 Class 6A state championship games at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Tonight’s matchup, a one-and-done due to contractual obligations for both schools next season, is among the state’s most anticipated Week 1 games.
Center Grove’s record over the past four seasons is 51-4, while the Shamrocks are 43-10. The highest of standards south versus the highest of standards north.
“I have the utmost respect for coach (Eric) Moore and his coaching staff,” said first-year Westfield coach Josh Miracle, elevated to the top spot after 13 seasons as an assistant under Jake Gilbert, who resigned last spring to become the head coach in waiting at Wabash College. “He’s always done a phenomenal job. They’ve certainly been the standard for the rest of the state with their competitiveness and leadership.”
Another Westfield-Center Grove battle indoors nearly took shape last November. Both lost heartbreakers in the semistate round, with the Shamrocks coming up short at Crown Point, 38-31, and Moore’s team dropping a 37-34 overtime slugfest at Ben Davis.
“It would be extremely strange if we had never played them, but I’m excited because Westfield is a great team with tremendous tradition and an excellent coaching staff,” Moore said. “Their athletes are big and fast. They lost a (scheduled) game, and I think Indiana teams should help out other Indiana teams.”
Moore’s appreciation is at least partially rooted in the fact that last season, Center Grove’s first five games were against teams from three different states — Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. This season includes a drive to Louisville Trinity in Week 3, as well as home dates with Trotwood-Madison (Ohio) and St. Frances (Maryland).
Barring another 6A finale between the Shamrocks and Trojans this November, it could be some time before the schools meet again on the gridiron. Westfield replaces the Trojans with Homestead in 2025; Center Grove is going to play Week 1 games against former Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference rival Warren Central through the 2027 season.
During the Eisenhower administration, a time when both Westfield and Center Grove were small rural schools, a three-game run from 1957-59 saw the Shamrocks outscore those Trojan squads by a sum of 54-0. Six-plus decades later, Center Grove exacted revenge on the ultimate platform, claiming 6A titles by scores of 38-14 and 27-21.
Like his predecessor, Miracle admits to attempting to copying certain aspects of the Center Grove blueprint to build a formidable program from the bantam league on up to varsity. But that was from afar. Tonight, he and the Shamrocks get the opportunity to see the real thing.
“You try to model some things after them and see where you stack up. You realize it’s a good game, and that’s what it should be,” Miracle said. “We’re blessed for this opportunity, and we hope to take advantage of it.”
TONIGHT’S GAMES
Franklin at New Albany, 7 p.m.
Jeffersonville at Whiteland, 7 p.m.
Seymour at Greenwood, 7 p.m.
Cascade at Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
Tindley at Edinburgh, 7 p.m.
Park Tudor vs. Greenwood Christian at Beech Grove MS, 7 p.m.
Roncalli at Southport, 7 p.m.
Westfield at Center Grove, 7:30 p.m.
