Lafayette Central Catholic football meets familiar face in Twin Lakes coach Kevin O'Shea
LAFAYETTE — Brian Nay did his homework.
When he applied for the open head football coaching position at Lafayette Central Catholic in 2018, Nay reached out to the person who was most responsible for the standard of excellence the program is known for.
Kevin O'Shea took the phone call, and later agreed to meet in person, to field any questions or concerns Nay, then an offensive coordinator at Decatur Central, had regarding the hopeful takeover of the small school powerhouse program in Lafayette.
More: Twin Lakes football undergoing successful culture shift under Kevin O'Shea
"I came in not knowing a whole lot about this program," Nay said, "but understand the history and tradition was a huge part of that, so why wouldn’t you go straight to the source."
On Friday night, Nay will stand across the field trying to devise a plan to beat O'Shea, who won five Class A state championships coaching Central Catholic and is now in his first season at Twin Lakes.
Once Nay was hired, he wanted to tie CC's recent past into the present.
Currently, three state championship players under O'Shea make up part of Central Catholic's coaching staff.
Alex Schrader was a lineman on the 2009 state championship team. Cody Christopher was the team's leader in touchdowns that season and won two state titles and Jake Page played for O'Shea in his final four seasons before he left to coach at North Central, winning state in 2015 along the way.
All three would go on to successful careers playing at Wabash College following their high school years.
"Upholding the legacy of LCC football is part of it, but we’re not coaching to try to recreate our own glory," Christopher said. "We’re coaching so these kids can hopefully have some of the same experiences that we did. It’s all about this team and what their goals are and getting them to reach their potential."
Christopher and Schrader were on the coaching staff in 2019 when Central Catholic won the program's eighth state title, making Nay the fourth head coach to lead the Knights to the Class A mountaintop, joining O'Shea (2009-12, 2015), Scott Muncy (1999) and Paul LaRocca (1976).
Seeing their old head coach on the opposing sideline Friday night will be both exciting and awkward.
But the focus remains on Central Catholic more than the opponent, regardless of who is coaching it.
"Kevin O’Shea has been there and done it. He’s been in the game for a long time and he’s in the Hall of Fame for a reason," Schrader said. "But at the same time, you have to block all that out and focus on what your job is, what your responsibility is and make sure these boys are ready to play come Friday night.
"He’s done it at a high level for a long time. He helped really put CC on the map in a way. We’ve always had a high standard here and he helped grow that."
In unsurprising fashion, O'Shea, who turned North Central from a laughingstock into a sectional champion almost overnight, has Twin Lakes playing its best football in years.
The Indians are 4-2 after having won just three total games the past two seasons.
"Getting to be a part of one of his state championships and growing up watching all the rest of them just the standard of excellence and the winning culture is something he’s proven to be synonymous with," Page said.
Nay knew when he applied, and later was hired, to coach football at Central Catholic that there's a huge expectation of keeping the program on par with the teams O'Shea coached.
He never shied away from that.
Now in his sixth season, and after going 5-7 in his first year, Nay's teams have won a state title, reached semistate in 2020, and been sectional champions each of the past two years since moving up to Class 2A.
"We wouldn’t be in this spot, tradition wise, without (O'Shea) and his coaching staff for those years," Nay said. "When you’ve got coaches that played during those years for coach O’Shea when our program was really elevated to a state-wide level and was on the biggest stage year in and year out, that experience is invaluable to have on your staff.
"All are really, really good coaches, too. I don’t think that’s by accident. I think that is due to their playing experience at LCC."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
Central Catholic (3-3) at Twin Lakes (4-2)
Time: 7 p.m.
Series history: Central Catholic has won the last three meetings, including 49-7 last season.
About Central Catholic: The Knights average 22.7 points and allow 18.8 per game. ... Central Catholic has won two straight after starting 1-3. ... The Knights have outscored Twin Lakes 112-14 over the past two seasons. ... Statistical leaders-Passing: Bobby Metzger (126-215, 1,210 yards, 11 TD, 5 INT). ... Receiving: Ray Clayton (39 rec., 402 yards, 1 TD), Jackson Cain (33 rec., 276 yards, 2 TD), Hudson Gutwein (11 rec., 171 yards, 2 TD). ... Defense: Nick Page (53 tackles, 4 TFL), Cain (42 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT), Isaac Suppinger (37 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 INT), Brinn Robbins (37 tackles, 3 TFL), Ryan Delgatto (35 tackles, 4 TFL, 4 sacks). ... Kicking: Thomas Henry (17-18 PAT, 1-4 FG, long of 21).
About Twin Lakes: The Indians average 22.3 points and allow 21.5 per game. ... Twin Lakes was a combined 3-17 the last two seasons. ... The Indians have not started a season 5-2 since 2015. ... Statistical leaders-Passing: Ethan Need (86-150, 1,086 yards, 6 TD, 5 INT). ... Rushing: Colton Robertson (94 car., 383 yards, 7 TD). ... Receiving: Keaton Miller (24 rec., 297 yards, 3 TD), Landon Arthur (12 rec., 237 yards 2 TD). ... Defense: Carson Wagner (59 tackles, 1 TFL), Leo Dellinger (57 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 INT), CJ Brummett (50 tackles, 5 TFL). ... Kicking: Need (18-19 PAT).
Coach Nay's take: "Turn on the film and compare from the last few years and they are much improved. (Head coach Kevin O'Shea) has got them playing well. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. We’ve got to go up there Friday with the mindset we are there to compete and we fully expect to have our hands full when we get there."
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette Central Catholic meets familiar face in Kevin O'Shea
