Coming into the anticipated rematch between Center Grove and Ben Davis, the two teams had been going in opposite directions.
For Center Grove, the Trojans fell to a stout Westfield squad 34-28 in a controversial season opener before powering through FW Carroll and Trinity (KY).
Ben Davis, however, had taken a 24-6 thumping against Cathedral to start their season before splitting games against Avon and Pike, respectively.
The Trojans started the game as strong as they could have with a Brevin Holubar 79-yard kickoff return touchdown to shoot out to a 7-0 lead within seconds of the game starting. With back-up sophomore quarterback Joe Goss getting the starting nod for Ben Davis, the veteran Trojan defense made quick work by intercepting the young passer on the first drive of the game.
This led to Gabe McWilliams’ first touchdown pass of the night as he found Tristan Baxter open for a goal line touchdown pass to move the lead 14-0.
After another quick defensive stop by the Trojans, McWilliams was able to connect with sophomore wide receiver Drake McClurg for a 69-yard bomb down the seam to extend the opening quarter lead to 21-0.
“He’s like the kitchen sink,” Head Coach Eric Moore said of McClurg. “You can give it to [McClurg] in anyway, he can do everything.”
McClurg would add two more touchdowns to his impressive performance in the second half, but prior to that Goss and the Giants offense would make things interesting.
The sophomore quarterback would find Anthony Stapleton open near the goal line to make it a 21-7 game before the opening quarter ended. Right as the Giants thought they had some momentum, the Trojans marched right down the field once more where running back Austin Hennessy would punch it in from four yards out to make it a 28-7 ball game.
Right before halftime, Goss would throw his second interception of the game, but get saved by a Cooper Pio fumble on the interception return. The funky play would lead to Goss finding a wide-open Alijah Price down the seam to make it a 28-13 deficit before halftime.
On the first drive back from the lockers, Goss would throw yet another interception which set up another lengthy Trojan drive. However, the quarterback would be saved once again after a goal line fumble gave the ball back to the Ben Davis offense at the one-yard line.
A hard-running Price would gash the Trojan defense for his biggest run of the night to get out to around midfield before Goss would find him near the endzone for his second receiving touchdown of the game.
After being down 21-0 and 28-7, the Giants had finally given themselves a shot to be in position to complete the comeback, or so they thought. With the score at 28-19, a costly missed extra point with just a few minutes remaining in the third quarter would put a hiccup in the Ben Davis comeback attempt and give the Trojans room to breathe.
As the third stanza winded down from the drama of the botched extra point attempt from the Giants, McClurg would find the endzone once again, this time on a goal line sweep to extend the lead 35-19.
One last Goss interception with seven minutes left to play would put the seal in the Giants’ coffin. While a third McClurg touchdown would leave Ben Davis pushing daisies, as the electric sophomore made it a 42-19 ball game in the final minute of play.
The 42-19 victory gave Coach Moore a fashionable statement win in his 250th win with the Trojan program.
“It’s special to win any game,” Moore said. “[Beating] Ben Davis at Ben Davis is always hard. I am really proud to have been at Center Grove long enough to win 250 games for that community. I’m just blessed. I’m happy this team came out and played tonight, we continued to make some big plays [on both sides].”
On the night, Moore saw the Trojans highest offensive output of the season with scores from McClurg, Holubar, Hennessy and Baxter — as well as a near-perfect night for McWilliams in the pocket as he went 13-of-20 for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
“Gabe is outstanding,” Moore said. “You know, the coaches in this country starting to look and see this big, six-foot-six quarterback that could throw the most beautiful football. He had a little rush at his feet tonight, which he hadn’t seen before and it affected him a little bit. But, [McWilliams] is just a prolific passer, very accurate and just doesn’t make any bad throws.”
McWilliams looks to be yet another tall, athletic division one level quarterback for the Trojans. Their third in a row following suit of Tayven Jackson (Tennessee, Indiana) and Tyler Cherry (Indiana). The reason for the influx of talent boils down to an excellent youth program ran by Moore and the Center Grove community.
“Since [McWilliams] was a little kid in my neighborhood he wanted to be the quarterback at Center Grove and he waits, ” Moore said. “Now he’s the quarterback [here], and he’s done an unbelievable job. That’s why I love our community, the kids want to grow up and play. They’re not worried about [transferring to] IMG [Academy] and all those other places, they want to be at Center Grove.”