Tonight, the football team travels to Lawrence North where they will meet the No. 2 undefeated Wildcats for their last road game of the regular season. The Trojans look to win their 20th consecutive game against the Wildcats, while Lawrence North will be seeking to continue their undefeated season as well as to beat Center Grove for the first time since 2005.
Center Grove is aiming to bounce back and prove themselves against a top opponent after taking a tough loss to Cathedral last week on the turf at Marian University. This was the second loss that the Trojans have taken this season through seven games. However, after traveling to Warren Central and dominating the then second ranked Warriors 33-7, Lawrence North extended their perfect record to 7-0 in their hottest start since 1989.
Bouncing back as an underdog away from home against one of the state’s top teams will not be an easy task, especially as the regular season comes to a close and the Trojans need momentum to carry into the postseason.
“It’s the first time Center Grove has been a quote unquote underdog in a very long time. So it’s definitely a different mentality shift, but I think it’s good, our guys are up to the task,” offensive line coach Lucas Doyle said. “I think it’s fun getting to go into an undefeated team’s place and getting to play in their place with nothing to lose, so I think we’re as hungry as we’ve ever been, and I think it’ll be great.”
Lawrence North features a high powered offense led by senior quarterback Tanner Aspeslet who has thrown for 1,590 yards paired with 22 touchdowns and the flashy sophomore running back Izayveon Moore who has totaled 721 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season. This duo has helped the Wildcat offense outscore their first seven opponents 300-105. The Trojan defense will have their hands full tonight as they attempt to be the first to stop this talented offense.
“We’re going into the game being the underdogs, so all week we’ve been preparing both mentally and physically,” linebacker TJ Williams said. “We have to read our keys, pay attention to details and just play hard.”
The coaches have been preparing for this matchup by trying to come up with different personnel groups to match the offensive schemes that Lawrence North puts on the field.
“We’re going to match up with them personnel wise in terms of when they put their speedy receivers on the field, we’re going to try to match them with our defensive backs. We’re going to rush the quarterback, and try to make him feel uncomfortable back there. When they put in their big guys and want to run the ball, we’re going to match that personnel with our own big guys to stuff the run,” defensive coordinator Chad Daniels said. “We feel like they are pretty predictable based on that, so that’s our game plan defensively, just making sure we make the quarterback feel off on his timing and then we really got to take care of their really good running back, we may have to bring in some extra defensive lineman and things like that when they line up to run.”
To build momentum heading into the postseason, the Trojans are looking for a road win against one of the state’s top teams as they aim for their sixth state title under head coach Eric Moore.
