IHSAA football What we learned: Even in defeat, Center Grove shows championship pedigree

What we learned from high school football semistate weekend:

A fitting game for a champion

Center Grove’s team gathered around coach Eric Moore after Friday night’s back-and-forth overtime thriller against Ben Davis for a few minutes. When the Trojans broke the circle, there were hugs and tears, emotions still fresh from a 37-34 loss that ended the program’s quest for a fourth consecutive Class 6A state championship.

You become so accustomed to Center Grove winning these big November games, it almost felt like an alternate universe to see the Trojans on the other side. The senior class had known nothing but winning championships and tournament games, taking an 18-game postseason winning streak into Friday night.

Owen Bright, standout linebacker and one of these seniors, was part of so many of those big moments. I asked him if it was still fun to be part of such an epic game.

“I’d say it was fun if we won it, you know?” he said. “But sometimes you can’t win them all.”

Not even Center Grove can win them all. But the Trojans showed their championship pedigree, rallying from a 28-10 deficit late in the third quarter to take a 31-28 lead on Tyler Cherry’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Noah Coy and 2-point conversion pass to Drake McClurg with 2:58 remaining.

It seemed, when Coy caught that pass, this was the comeback story that marked Center Grove’s run to a fourth title.

“We fought back and still got ourselves in position to win,” Moore said. “We did everything it took to get ahead and even got the 2-point conversion. Then it got away from us. But their kids made big plays and congratulations to them. They made some great plays.”

The biggest play was Thomas Gotkowski’s 44-yard bomb to Mark Zackery on 3rd-and-3 that moved the ball to the Center Grove 7. Three plays later, Ben Rudolph’s 20-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining sent the game to overtime.

There are not many teams that could rally after falling behind Center Grove. Maybe just one.

“Their kids just made some great plays, honestly,” Moore said. “Look at what they did. Their quarterback took off on a great run and we missed him. He’s a great player. They just stood up and in games like this that takes a championship, big players make big plays. Cherry made some big plays. Coy made some big plays. We were making plays right back and forth with each other. They just made one more than we did there at the end.”

Center Grove finished 11-2, the only other loss coming to St. Edward, Ohio, in the season opener. It was maybe not a classic Trojans team that could run over opponents and grind out wins but it showed that same heart and resilience we have come to expect from Moore’s teams over 25 seasons.

Bright gave a heartfelt response about what he was feeling minutes after the game ended.

“We might not have the best athletes, we might not be the biggest team,” he said. “But we’re fighters. That’s who we are as human beings. We’ve got heart and I know every single player on this team is going to go out and be a fighter and they are going to be a great person. This football game right here doesn’t define us. We’ve done more than most people could ever imagine. It doesn’t define us. We’re just fighters and I love every single one of my teammates.”

Skibinski's biggest catch wasn't a touchdown

How about this game for Ben Davis senior receiver Zane Skibinski:

∎ A 60-yard touchdown reception from Thomas Gotkowski in the second quarter to put Ben Davis ahead 7-3;

∎ An 11-yard touchdown reception from running back Alijah Price to put the Giants up 14-10 early in the third quarter;

∎ A 46-yard touchdown reception from Gotkowski to give the Giants a 28-10 lead with 2:44 left in the third quarter;

Which of Skibinski’s catches did Ben Davis coach Russ Mann like the best? They were all great, and necessary, but the catch Mann referenced without prompting was not one of those three touchdowns.

“Zane had a heck of a hold,” Mann said.

Skibinski, the holder for field goals and extra points, raised off his knee to catch a high snap and get the ball down in time for Ben Rudolph to connect on a 20-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining and tie the score, 31-31. If not for his quick reaction, the Giants are not in the state finals.

“It spooked me for a second,” Skibinski said. “It was a little high. But we take 20 or 30 field goals at practice, any situation, any time. It spooked me a little bit coming out but I had faith in Ben to hit it. I just had to get it down.”

Mann said Skibinski had a similar hold on Rudolph’s first field goal last week against Cathedral in a 27-24 regional win.

“Every kicker will tell you that they love their holder,” Mann said. “That was a heck of a hold.”

Skibinski had 20 catches for 245 yards and three touchdowns coming into Friday’s game. Good numbers, but not necessarily foretelling of his numbers against Center Grove (four catches for 133 yards and three TDs). But the Ben Davis coaches told him he was going to have a big game.

“We have so many explosive players on the offensive side of the ball that it really opens up a lot of everybody,” he said. “Any game, anybody can have ‘that game.’ They can be ‘that guy.’ It feels good to be that one tonight but next week I’m going to play my role and do whatever I can to make sure we secure that win.”

Holding included.

Andrew Evans’ big play brings back memories

Nine years ago, on a similar but colder night in another classic Ben Davis-Center Grove semistate game, Chris Evans raced 74 yards for a touchdown up the right sideline to the south end zone with 1:46 remaining to cap a wild Ben Davis comeback and a 49-45 win.

Evans, wearing No. 12, ran up the middle, weaved through the secondary to the outside and outran the entire Center Grove defensive giving chase. Evans, after a college career at Michigan and his third season with the Cincinnati Bengals, was in attendance Friday night to watch another No. 12, his younger brother Andrew, make a big play up the same sideline.

Evans, a senior linebacker, was in the right place at the right time when Tyler Cherry’s high pass went off the outstretched hands of Noah Coy and into his on the first drive of the second half. Evans caught the ball at the Center Grove 41 and raced up the right sideline to the Trojans’ 11. On the next play, Alijah Price took a halfback pitch and threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Zane Skibinski to give the Giants a 14-10 lead and start a 21-point third-quarter surge.

“I saw the ball in the air and thought, ‘I need to go make a play,’” Evans said. “I thought I had the angle (for the touchdown). But it felt like it turned the game around. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Evans was 9 years old when his brother Chris made that game-winning touchdown run. Two or three Center Grove defenders appeared to have an angle on him. But it didn’t matter.

“He’s amazing,” Ben Davis quarterback Kyle Castner said at the time. “I saw him bounce and our line was watching him. I was watching him. We were tilting our heads, trying to see if they had an angle. But with his speed, he just got there. Great play.”

Andrew said he had been thinking about that play on Friday leading up to the matchup with Center Grove.

“He scored a touchdown up this sideline,” Andrew said. “It was crazy. I was thinking about that touchdown he scored all day. I had an opportunity to do it. I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t score, to be honest. But it turned the game around and put us in position to win. I just couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given.”

A better win? That’s up for argument between family members. Chris Evans’ team went to win the state championship the following week against Carmel, the Giants’ first title in 12 years. In 2014, Center Grove was a year away from winning its second state championship under Eric Moore. This Center Grove team was the three-time defending state champion.

“He may not have felt the same thing I do beating Center Grove here,” Andrew Evans said of his brother. “Center Grove is just … nowadays you don’t beat Center Grove. We just did. So it’s different. I know it’s a different feeling than he had.”

Different feeling, maybe. But it looked so familiar.

Thoughts from other semistate games

We will have plenty more coming this week on the state finals games and matchups, but a few thoughts here on the other semistate games from the weekend:

∎ More on this below but I will admit I was surprised by Westfield’s first-half struggles and eventual 38-31 loss to Crown Point in the north 6A semistate. This is a relatively young Westfield team that probably played over its expectations to go 11-2 and win a regional championship (I would have picked Hamilton Southeastern, which Westfield beat 24-21 in the regional). The Shamrocks are not going anywhere, though. I think Jake Gilbert’s team could be better next year.

∎ Good for fourth-ranked Crown Point (13-0), a program that had just one regional championship (1988) to its credit before this season. Veteran coach Craig Buzea has the Bulldogs believing in his third season.

∎ In a wide open 5A, I thought Decatur Central might have the pieces to make a run to the state finals going into the season. After a 2-2 start, I wasn’t so sure. But here are the Hawks (11-2) after rushing for 413 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-12 semistate win over Bloomington South. Halbert Aguirre, after missing all of his junior season, had 18 tackles in the win. A matchup with Fort Wayne Snider (12-1) figures to be a great game. The Panthers smashed Merrillville 28-0 in the 5A north semistate.

∎ What can you say about East Central? My goodness. The 4A top-ranked Trojans (14-0) rolled to a 49-0 win over New Palestine, the first time the Dragons have been shut out in Kyle Ralph’s 11 seasons as coach. Absolute dominance from East Central this season. You wonder if Josh Ringer and Co. could compete with the top teams in 6A. I think so. This was kind of an overachieving New Pal team to get to this point. The Dragons bring back a lot of young talent.

∎ Similar to East Central: Bishop Chatard. The 3A top-ranked Trojans had no trouble with previously-unbeaten Knox in a 42-14 win as Riley Kinnett and Daniel Shaw both went over 100 yards rushing. Up next for the Trojans is Heritage Hills (13-1), which defeated Gibson Southern 23-20 for its third three-point win in the postseason. Chatard beat Heritage Hills most recently in the 2019 state finals, 34-3.

∎ As was probably expected all season, Class A will be a third consecutive game between No. 1 Lutheran (12-0) and No. 2 Adams Central (14-0). The Saints won both of the previous meetings, but the Flying Jets did play tough both times, falling 34-28 two years ago and 30-13 last season. Lutheran rolled 56-14 in the semistate over Sheridan and Adams Central knocked off North Judson 42-18.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school football playoffs: What we learned from semistate