Center Grove lost its season opener, but new starting quarterback Gabe McWilliams showed the ability to move the ball through the air.
Daily Journal file photo
If the first week of the high school football season is any indication, you’re probably going to see a lot of chaos this fall.
The top-ranked teams in both Class 6A and 5A — Ben Davis and Decatur Central — lost by double digits, the most eye-catching results on a Friday night full of them across the state. Locally, one of the two teams boasting a state ranking (former 6A No. 3 Center Grove) bit the dust at home against No. 4 Westfield in what was one of several exciting contests featuring county teams.
Now that the dust has settled, here’s a look at a few of the biggest takeaways from the first week of the 2024 campaign:
The Trojans have a new pitch-and-catch combo
After graduating Tyler Cherry and Noah Coy — last year’s county co-Players of the Year on offense — Center Grove was facing legitimate questions about whether it could move the ball as effectively through the air this season. In Friday’s opener against Westfield, quarterback Gabe McWilliams and receiver Brevin Holubar answered those questions pretty emphatically. McWilliams threw for more than 300 yards, with Holubar (9 catches for 116 yards) emerging as his go-to target. It remains to be seen whether the duo can be as consistently explosive as their predecessors, but the early returns were pretty promising. Tristan Baxter gives the Trojans a pretty solid deep threat, too, so defenses can’t take the easy way out and shade a second defender toward anyone.
Alex Leugers and Slate Valentine are really good
I mean, duh. We knew coming into the year that the senior tailbacks from Franklin and Whiteland were going to be among the best and most prolific in the state, but the two made that even more clear on Friday. Leugers rushed for 244 yards on just 13 carries, with touchdowns of 72, 50 and 39 yards — adding a kickoff return TD for good measure — in the Grizzly Cubs’ 47-6 rout of New Albany, while Valentine ran for 160 first-half yards and 256 yards overall as the Warriors topped Jeffersonville. Franklin and Whiteland weren’t exactly facing the 1985 Bears, but Leugers and Valentine both set themselves up for big seasons and let future opponents know that they’re going to be a problem.
GCA can land some haymakers
Greenwood Christian’s lack of depth may prove to be a problem in the second half of some games this season, but the Cougars proved in Week 1 that they’ve got enough big-play potential to be dangerous — especially when the ball is in Trey Dobson’s hands. The junior quarterback kept GCA in the game against heavily favored Park Tudor, responding to the Panthers’ first two touchdowns with kickoff return scores from 80 and 91 yards out (He also had a punt-return TD wiped out by a penalty). Dobson also threw a pair of touchdown passes in what turned into a 44-27 loss late. If he can maintain that type of magic, the Cougars are going to have a puncher’s chance against almost anyone on their schedule.
Braves, Woodmen both need a win
But who’s going to get one? Indian Creek and Greenwood both made late comeback bids in their openers but fell short by three points apiece — the Braves in heartbreaking fashion with a goal-line fumble against Cascade and the Woodmen unable to recover an onside kick after closing the gap on Seymour. Neither team wants to start 0-2, especially with some difficult conference games approaching on the horizon. The problem is that one of them is going to, since the two county rivals go head to head this Friday. The winner will get some badly-needed momentum; the loser will have a steep hill to climb.
The Daily Journal will recap the main storylines from the previous week’s high school football games each Tuesday. For complete and timely coverage of all the local action on Friday nights, visit dailyjournal.net.
