The No. 1 CG football team will take on their first in-state opponent in the No. 42 Lawrence Central Bears, which will also be the Trojans’ first away game since their week one loss against St. Edward.

The Trojans will look to continue the momentum they gained in their 36-18 win against Harvest Prep last week.

“Our offense came out and struggled on our first drive, but our defense came back and we rallied and helped them come forward, and the offense ended up having a good game, which helped our defense rally too,” sophomore Lincoln Bright said. “We played really fast that game, and it felt like we were getting to the ball quick. Against [LC], we’re going to need to play fast and fly around the field and make plays.”

One factor that has helped the Trojans in their preparation for this game has been their previous matchups against high-level teams from Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee.

“I think all of the teams we’ve played are really good programs and really good teams, so I think going into the playoffs [after] playing some really tough teams at the start will continue to better us as we go through the year,” senior quarterback Tyler Cherry said.

Lawrence Central will be the first Indiana opponent the Trojans have faced since their state championship game against Carroll High School last year, which will give them the opportunity to send a message to possible playoff opposition.

“It’s exciting finally getting back to play here, take some weight off our shoulders, get back to where we were last year and go out and make a statement in Indiana,” Bright said.

The Trojans will not be looking ahead to the playoffs just yet, however, as the Bears have posed a challenge for teams like Westfield, against whom they lost in a 59-58 overtime decision.

“Obviously we looked at [their game against Westfield] and saw weaknesses in both teams while watching that film and breaking it down,” Bright said. “Their strengths as a team are that they have a lot of fast players. They can fly around the field and do everything. Going into this game, we want to hold them to low points because they have a really powerful offense, so we just want to hold them to their lowest margin.”

The Trojans will look to play with the intensity they have shown in their last four home games to avoid the same result as their week 1 loss against St. Edward.

“I think [the loss] kind of drives us. It kind of shows us that the only team that can beat us is us, and if we clean up all our mistakes, which we had in that game, and continue to do our thing, we can compete with any team in the country,” Cherry said.