GREENWOOD – The Center Grove Trojans can never be counted out.
On Friday night, the Class 6A No. 7 Trojans proved it during their regular-season finale inside Ray Skillman Stadium behind 28 unanswered points (21 in the second half) to upend 5A No. 2 Bloomington South, 28-14.
Derailed by injuries this season and down 14-0 against Bloomington South (7-2) after the first quarter, Center Grove (7-2) pulled off what the program couldn’t accomplish a week ago at 6A No. 5 Lawrence North.
They completed the comeback with 14 days off until the IHSAA 6A state tournament begins.
Last week, the Trojans trailed Lawrence North, 28-3, entering the fourth quarter before rattling off 17 unanswered points in a 28-20 loss.
With nothing on the line this time except momentum heading into the postseason bye, the Trojans seized victory with splash plays, shutdown defense and a go-ahead fourth-quarter, 98-yard punt return touchdown by senior Brodie Tilton in the fourth.
“It’s just determination, and we got to have it,” Tilton said. “We’ve been in a hole before, and that’s nothing to veer away from. We just got to fight, and we did.”
Bloomington South, which hadn’t lost to an Indiana opponent this season, opened the game as expected.
Senior running back Hayden Clark (25 carries, 60 yards) capped the Panthers’ initial drive with a 2-yard touchdown following a 12-yard fake field goal run by placeholder Jonathon Winstead on fourth-and-9 from Center Grove’s 14.
On the Panthers’ second possession, they marched 59 yards on 12 plays to take a 14-0 lead, as senior quarterback Duncan Combs (17 of 34, 165 passing yards) rushed into the end zone from 11 yards out.
The short drive materialized after a Center Grove lost fumble near midfield, marking the Trojans’ second straight failed offensive series.
Center Grove struggled through its first three possessions with a punt to start and a turnover on downs on fourth-and-3 from the Panthers’ 11 before an 18-yard rushing touchdown by junior Jayden Biggerstaff (13 carries, 86 yards) sliced the deficit 14-7 late in the first half.
“Coach (Eric) Moore was talking (at halftime) about defense making big plays in the locker room, and we kind of felt that it was going to happen, and it did,” Tilton said.
Special teams kept the three-quarter shutout alive to open the second half.
The Panthers let the clock expire to end the first half and possessed the ball to start the second. Facing a fourth-and-10 from Center Grove’s 21-yard line, the Panthers lined up for a 38-yard field goal.
The Trojans blocked the kick, but on the ensuing possession, an interception thrown by sophomore quarterback Evan Wischmeier gave the ball back.
A three-and-out by the CG defense provided Wischmeier another chance, and he found sophomore Roman Youngs.
A two-way starter, Youngs hauled in his first of two-chuck yardage touchdown receptions for 63 yards that tied the game 14-14 with 5:52 left in the third quarter.
His second spanned 77 yards that essentially put the Trojans in control, 28-14, with 5:15 left in the fourth.
Youngs finished with 153 yards on three catches with two touchdowns. Wischmeier completed 9 of 16 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
“Every game, I go in with the mindset of when the coaches need me to make a play, I’m their guy, so when the ball comes to me, I know I have to make a play to help the team win. Every time on both sides of the ball,” Youngs said.
Youngs nearly picked off Combs twice in the second half and was on the field during the Trojans’ loudest defensive stand.
With Bloomington South going for it on fourth-and-1 from CG’s 1-yard line early in the fourth, the Trojans swarmed the line of scrimmage and stood Combs up on a quarterback sneak, keeping the game tied 14-14.
“That was big. Defensively, we knew we were going to stop them,” Youngs said. “We weren’t going to let them score that touchdown. We knew how big that play was.”
Tilton’s special teams play at the 7:28 mark solidified the comeback.
“Bounced off my chest, and I just kind of picked it up, and as I looked up, I saw defenders kind of scrambling all over the place,” Tilton remarked on his 98-yard punt return. “I saw a seam on the right side and just hit it, and I was gone.”
And with it went Bloomington South’s formerly established 14-0 advantage.
“It shows that we just don’t give up. We keep our foot on the gas,” Youngs said. “We never get too low, and we never get too high. We just stay right in the middle and keep our foot on the gas.”
An interception by CG senior Nathan Yoder in the fourth quarter allowed the Trojans’ offense to run off almost three minutes and give Bloomington South little to no time to recover.
“You could tell the game did shift at a certain point there (on the fourth-down stop),” Moore said. “Our guys sort of woke up. I said, 'OK, this is a team I’m used to seeing.' But for about three quarters, that was a team I wasn’t used to seeing.”
Part of Center Grove’s sluggish starts can be attributed to injuries that have sidelined senior wide receiver Drake McClurg, junior quarterback Oscar Sloan, who was in uniform on the sideline, and others.
“The thing about it is we have a lot of sophomores that play on this team, and I think it takes them a while to figure out what’s going on. I also think that our seniors that play are not very experienced, and it takes them a little bit to let the game come to themselves,” Moore said. “We’ve been that way all year.”
Despite the setbacks, Center Grove won six straight after losing to 6A Warren Central, 20-14, on opening night, and they were one touchdown from a comeback against Lawrence North.
“We got hurt in some key spots that really slowed us and got us a little bit off track after we played Warren Central really well. Last play of the game, we’re six inches away from winning, and they’re undefeated,” Moore said.
“Center Grove’s got to worry about not beating itself. We’re good at that sometimes. We go for a half, and then we come out and shake it off and play football. It’s not any kind of nuclear science. It’s just about getting better at what you do. We got to get better every day.”
CENTER GROVE 28, BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 14
Bloomington South (7-2);14;0;0;0;--;14
Center Grove (7-2);0;7;7;14;--;28
BS – Hayden Clark 2 run (Sam Stolberg kick), 9:04
BS – Duncan Combs 11 run (Stolberg kick), 3:19
CG – Jayden Biggerstaff 18 run (Dallas Compropst kick), 1:14
CG – Roman Youngs 63 pass from Evan Wischmeier (Compropst kick), 5:52
CG – Brodie Tilton 98 punt return (Compropst kick), 7:28
CG – Youngs 77 pass from Wischmeier (Compropst kick), 5:15
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'It's not ... nuclear science.' Center Grove is dangerous when playing at its best