Central Indians remain undefeated, welcome Fort Osage to town

Sep. 26—The talk of the town this high school football season is the success stemming from Central High School, where the Indians football team remains undefeated at 5-0 halfway through the regular season.

Central is outscoring their opponents 205-85 during this span, and they'll look to overcome a team they haven't beat in the past two seasons this Friday in Fort Osage. With each win, the target on their back expands, but the Indians are not feeling the pressure that can come with winning.

"I believe we're just playing football every week, coming out here doing what we know how to do best," running back Gabe Fields said. "The coaching staff we have here, making sure we know what we're doing every single day of practice and just repetition, every single day."

Not only has the city of St. Joseph took notice of the revamped Indians team, but so has the Kansas City area. Last week, head coach Regi Trotter was named Kansas City Chiefs' Coach of the Week.

The honor meant a lot to Trotter, but he's also glad his team is getting the recognition they deserve.

"People are noticing our hard work and dedication. Our players have really been sticking together and working really hard and we're able to continue to win," Trotter said. "To be recognized for that by a great organization like the Chiefs and NFL is big time."

The attention now turns to Fort Osage. On the season, Osage is 2-3 overall, and is coming off a victory against Raytown. Although the record is a losing one, Osage has taken the past two contests against Central.

Last season, the Indians lost 56-14 on the road, something Trotter hopes doesn't happen again this time around at home.

"Last year was probably one of our most disappointing games I've coached since I've been here," Trotter said. "I felt like our kids did not have a very good week of practice and it showed on the game day, and that's part of all of our responsibility to make sure that's not the case this week."

Now in the midst of a new season, this is a different Osage team. On the season, Fort Osage averages 37 points a game while giving up 29 points.

"They're an aggressive team, they have a good running back, we all know that," linebacker Brock Williamson said. "We just got to stop them on defense, but their running back is pretty good and their o-line can block. They're really physical, so if we can just stop that run game, then we can be successful in this game."

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Indians will keep chasing the opportunity to do things never done at Central.

"A really good, hard physical team," Fields said when asked to describe this 2023 Central Indians team.

"We are the exact same as every Central team has been. We're confident, we're accountable, we're tough," Trotter said. "That's all I want these guys to be at the end of the day when they walk out of this program."

Calvin Silvers can be reached at calvin.silvers@newspressnow.com.