Center Grove senior manager Matt Phillips, right, consults with head coach Eric Moore before a game at Louisville Trinity earlier this season.
Submitted photo | Tony Pironello
Matthew Phillips hasn’t put on shoulder pads since he was playing freshman ball in 2021. He won’t gain a yard or make a tackle this season. But of all the people listed on Center Grove’s football roster, he might be the most indispensable.
The Trojans are a massive operation with more than 110 players on the varsity roster and a lot of moving parts. Keeping it all running smoothly requires a crew full of steady hands, and few are steadier than Phillips, who’s now in his second season as the team’s lead student manager.
Center Grove’s players might get the adulation from the general public, but within the program, Phillips has plenty of street cred, respected from the top down.
“(The players) know that I’d get rid of 50 of these guys to keep him,” head coach Eric Moore said.
Keeping the machine humming can be especially tricky when the Class 6A No. 5 Trojans go on the road, like they will Friday when they face seventh-ranked Cathedral at Marian University. But the student managers, with some help from adult mainstays such as Cindy Adams and Aaron Hohlt, have it all well-oiled every week.
Just a few short years ago, keeping track of equipment was often far more chaotic. Jerseys were kept in large blue Tupperware bins in the locker rooms, making it much harder to dig through and find a needed number on short notice.
Finally, the little-used room behind Door No. 2 in the football building was cleared out and set aside for equipment storage. Now everything from uniforms to practice gear to spare helmet parts is in one place and meticulously organized. On any given weekday, Phillips, fellow senior manager Paige Staab or another student staffer can be found inside of that room, making a list and checking it twice.
“It has really helped with us not losing things,” Adams said of the equipment room. “We’re able to stay on top of it so that if something gets ripped — (Moore) could say, ‘Okay, I want to move up some freshmen; what numbers do I have available?’ Boom, here it is.”
On Mondays after a game weekend, every player is expected to turn in their jerseys and pants to get washed. The managers take inventory, and anybody whose gear isn’t accounted for gets his name put on the board. With only one washing machine available, Adams — usually with assistance from Staab and junior Ella Timmons — starts right in on the laundry and the process of getting everything turned around for the upcoming game. Come Thursday night, it’s all ready for the players to take home.
After school on road game days, the managers join the players and coaches for a team meal in the Hall of Excellence, but only for a quick bite; Phillips and his crew waste little time in heading out to the football building to finish getting everything packed. A trailer gets loaded up with everything that will or could be needed that night — a supply trunk, table and tent for the athletic trainers, a power generator and whatever might be required for regulating sideline temperatures (fans early in the season, heaters come tournament time). By about 5 p.m., it’s all packed up and ready to hit the road.
“Right after school, everybody’s locked in,” Phillips said. “Everybody gets their stuff done. It’s a big process, and that’s why we’ve got so many people.”
Each player packs his own bag with his helmet, jersey over the shoulder pads and other equipment; the managers load them into the truck and have them out at curbside when the team gets back off the bus at the end destination.
During games, Phillips is on the sideline ready to assist with anything that might come up. He’s often at Moore’s side with water to keep the coach hydrated, but he’s also equipped to fix a busted helmet on the fly.
“He can handle any situation,” Moore said of Phillips. “Nothing blows his mind. He’s over there right now — ‘Hey, water spigot broke,’ he’d go fix it. He knows how to use tools. He’s used to working with his hands. He’s responsible.”
Staab, meanwhile, is upstairs in the press box assisting team statistician Josh Cherry.
“Best job,” Staab said. “No smelly guys.”
Timmons, the daughter of assistant coach Brad Timmons, stays busy during the week but prefers to spend Friday nights cheering on the team from the student section. Junior Aiyana Keown, freshman Lila Madden and eighth-grader Mia Lidy are among the others helping Phillips keep the ship on course.
Their work isn’t always noticed by people paying closer attention to what’s happening on the field, but it’s no less essential to the success of what has been Indiana’s premier high school football program over the past decade-plus.
“Our entire sideline decorum is awesome because of all the volunteers we have,” Moore said. “No one understands how many people it takes to make a big program like football work. Four or five field managers, and then athletic trainers are another whole device. And then the adults, Aaron Hohlt and Cindy Adams … it’s so organized, and they just do a really good job.”
TONIGHT’S GAMES
Center Grove vs. Cathedral (at Marian Univ.), 7 p.m.
Plainfield at Franklin, 7 p.m.
Mooresville at Whiteland, 7 p.m.
Greenwood at Decatur Central, 7 p.m.
Arsenal Tech at Indian Creek, 7 p.m.
Clarksville vs. Greenwood Christian (at Beech Grove MS), 7 p.m.
Cincinnati La Salle at Roncalli, 7 p.m.
North Central (Farmersburg) at Edinburgh, 7:30 p.m.
