Week 7: Center Grove

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ReLoad

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The Bombers (6-0) travel west on I-74 to play the Center Grove Trojans (6-0) at Lucas Oil Field this Friday evening.
It will be the first meeting between the 2 schools.
Both teams are ranked #1 in their state and most national high school football polls have both in their Top 10.
Originally both teams were scheduled to play Louisville Trinity (0-5) and Indianapolis Pike (0-6) but contract buyouts and other undisclosed incentives are making this ultimate battle of the Midwest’s best teams possible.
As part of the deal Trinity will travel to Pike (all expenses paid) ensuring someone will get their first win rather than both enduring a 2nd half turbo clock curb stomping.


Hey, an old man can dream of the good old days can't he?
 
 
ReLoad said:
The Bombers (6-0) travel west on I-74 to play the Center Grove Trojans (6-0) at Lucas Oil Field this Friday evening.
It will be the first meeting between the 2 schools.
Both teams are ranked #1 in their state and most national high school football polls have both in their Top 10.
Originally both teams were scheduled to play Louisville Trinity (0-5) and Indianapolis Pike (0-6) but contract buyouts and other undisclosed incentives are making this ultimate battle of the Midwest’s best teams possible.
As part of the deal Trinity will travel to Pike (all expenses paid) ensuring someone will get their first win rather than both enduring a 2nd half turbo clock curb stomping.


Hey, an old man can dream of the good old days can't he?
Click to expand...
One small problem: multiple St. Xavier class reunions are scheduled to coincide with the St. X HOME football game this week.
 
The are multiple similarities between these 2 teams

Both are defending state champs
Both are undefeated
Both have scored and allowed about the same amount of points this season: Center Grove 281-63, X 262-61
Both teams were slightly challenged in the opener: CG d. Warren Central 38-14; StX d. Lakota West 31-14
Both have had 2nd half turbo clocks in the last 5 games
Both are scheduled to play winless teams in this the 7th week.
Both have over 20 future college players on their rosters
Both head coaches have been coaching at the school for over 20 years (Specht 25, Moore 23)
 
QB Comparison

StX #15 Brogan McCaughey Sr. 6'2” 189lb, 3 star dual threat
Recruiting: offers from Kent State, Penn, EKU, Toledo, Yale, Ohio, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan and Akron
Stats: 76 for 108 (70%) for 1,163 yards 17 TDs and 0 INT; 20 carries for 72 yards
Misc: As junior set single game school passing records vs St. Ignatius (yards 556 and completions 31) and state final record for TD passes vs Pick Central of 4, also plays hockey and runs track

CG: #2 Tayven Jackson Sr. 6’5” 195lb, 4 star dual threat
Recruiting: Tennessee commit
Stats: 55 for 87 (63%) for 887 yards 10 TDs and 2 INTs; 28 carries for 62 yards and 1 TD
Misc: Trojans all time leading passer; son of former Indiana Pacers power forward Dale Davis, half brother of 1st team All American Trayce Davis-Jackson Indiana Hoosier basketball junior power forward

EDGE: Bombers (superior accuracy and TD/INT ratio)
 
Offensive Line Comparison

Center Grove
LT #67 Charlie Gardner Jr. 6’4” 263lb
LG #77 Austin Wiese Jr. 6’3” 285lb
C #68 Jake Newlin Sr. 6’2” 275lb Valpo offer
RG #58 Jordan Cox Sr. 6’0” 285lb Wabash offer
RT #79 Sam Buras Sr. 6’7” 315lb 2 star recruit Ball State commit
www.dailyjournal.net

Newlin adds to success of Center Grove offensive line

Center Grove football doesn’t issue stickers as a way to reward persistence. If it did, the helmet worn by senior center Jacob Newlin might appear more red than white. At this time two years ago, binoculars were practically needed to locate Newlin on the Trojans’ offensive depth chart. He...
www.dailyjournal.net www.dailyjournal.net

St. Xavier
LT #74 Cameron Collins Sr. 6’4” 270lb 3 star recruit Air Force commit
LG #66 Evan Fleetwood Sr. 6’3” 280lb
C #61 Nick Uhl Sr. 6'0” 215lb
RG #55 Brody Koch Sr. 6’2” 255lb
RT #75 Brian Parker Sr. 6'5” 285lb 3 star recruit Duke commit

EDGE: Bombers (senior dominated, 2-3 year players)
 
Running Back Comparison

Center Grove
#5 RB Drew Wheat Jr. 5’9” 165lb; 66 carries for 558 yards and 7 TDs
#12 WR Micah Coyle Jr. 5’11” 170lb; 39 carries for 320 yards and 4 TDs
#8 RB Dan Weems Jr. 5’11” 205lb ; 63 carries for 299 yards and 4 TDs; offers from Indiana St, EKU, Butler and Dayton

St. Xavier
#20 RB Charles Kellom Sr. 5'11” 195lb; 108 carries for 580 yards and 12 TDs: offers from EKU, Lehigh, Dartmouth, Grand Valley State, Colgate

The Trojans have run the ball 81% of the time whereas the Bombers only 54%.
The Trojans substitute freely at this position with 3 juniors who account for nearly 1,200 yards in 6 games.
In the last 2 Bomber victories vs league opponents Moeller and Elder, Charles Kellom carried 59 times for 374 yards and 5 TDs

EDGE: Even
 
Receiver Comparison

Center Grove
#13 WR Brandon Wheat Sr. 5’9” 175lb; 6 catches for 179 yards and 2 TDs
#10 WR Harrison Stomps Sr. 6’4” 205lb; 11 catches for 155 yards and 1 TD; offer from Wheaton
#47 TE Shane Bennett Sr. 6’3” 205lb; 7 catches for 138 yards and 2 TDs; Indiana State commit
#5 RB Drew Wheat Jr. 5’9” 165lb; 6 catches for 107 yards and 1 TD
#1 WR Kalen Carroll Sr. 6’1” 175lb; 3 star recruit; 4 catches for 82 yards and 1 TD; Cincinnati commit

Bearcat recruit Kalen Carroll is full-time cornerback and part-time receiver.
CG has been so successful on the ground the first 6 weeks, that pass plays only make up 19% of the Trojan offense.

St. Xavier
#8 WR Terrell McFarlin Sr. 6'0” 187lb; 25 catches for 499 yards and 8 TDs; offer from Valparaiso
#18 TE Max Klare Sr. 6’4” 229lb; 3 star recruit; 16 catches for 235 yards and 3 TDs; Duke Commit; also punter
#17 WR Jay Farrar Sr. 5’11” 167lb; 12 catches for 174 yards and 3 TDs
#20 RB Charles Kellom Sr. 5'11” 195lb; 10 catches for 137 yards and 1 TD; offers from EKU, Lehigh, Dartmouth, Grand Valley State, Colgate

The Bombers graduated the most prolific wide receiver tandem (Jalen Patterson and Liam Clifford) from last seasons championship team.
OC Coverdale has McCaughey spreading the ball around using primarily 4 receivers.
McFarlin is the most explosive of the group with 8 TDs and averaging nearly 20 yards per catch.

EDGE: StX
 
Defensive Line Comparison

Center Grove
#91 DE Caden Curry Sr. 6’5” 250lb 4 star recruit; Final 5: Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Oregon and Indiana
#32 DE James Schott 6’4” 220lb 3 star recruit; Miami (OH) commit; had offer from Michigan St.
#99 DT Carl Biddings Sr. 6’2” 285lb Louisville commit
#97 DT Owen Green Sr. 6’2” 270lb offer from Butler

1633027662260.png


This is the strength of the Trojan defense.
Caden Curry is on every Power 5 program wish list
The disruptor leads the team in sacks and tackles for loss and is 2nd in total tackles.
He is rated the #11th best defensive lineman in the country
James Schott, the weak side defensive end headed to Miami of OH is rated the 69th best DLineman in the U.S.

St. Xavier
LE #11 Marque Cummings Sr. 6'1” 215lb
NG #97 Ted Hammond So. 6'5” 250lb; offer from Temple; 3 sport athlete (baseball, football and basketball)
RE #9 Sam Buerkle Sr. 6'4” 249lb Fordham commit

Cummings was moved from the secondary to down lineman where he has excelled his senior season.
He leads the team in sacks, QB pressures and is 3rd in total tackles.
Undersized for the position he makes up with heart and relentless pursuit of the football.
Direct comparison of the 2 teams D lines is made difficult since the Bombers run a 3-3 stack while the Trojans employ a Nickel 40.
A better comparison would be to consider the front 6 for each team

EDGE: Center Grove
 
Linebacker Comparison

Center Grove
#37 LB Trei Specker Sr. 6’4” 215lb; teams leading tackler with 32 with 6 TFL
#33 LB Elijah Matheson Sr. 5’11” 195lb

St. Xavier
#7 OLB (Will) Max Bonner Jr. 6’2” 208lb; Michigan commit (LAX); teams leading tackler
#43 ILB (Sam) Grant Lyons Sr. 6’3” 229lb; Miami (OH); 28 tackles, 4 sacks and 3 Interceptions (1 returned for TD)
#45 OLB (Jet) Sean Reilly Sr. 6’1” 205lb; 21 tackles and 2.5 sacks, 3 sport athlete (LAX, football and wrestling)

EDGE: Bombers
 
Defensive Secondary Comparison

Center Grove
#24 DB Ethan Watt Jr. 5’11’ 180lb; sprint track star
#20 S Mitch Evans Sr. 6’0” 190lb; Indiana commit (baseball)
#30 DB Jalen Thomeson Jr. 5’10” 175lb
#21 CB Gavin Oakes Jr. 5’10” 160lb
#1 CB Kalen Carroll Sr. 6’1” 175lb; 3 star recruit; Cincinnati commit, 2 way player

St. Xavier
FS #29 Brennan Bareswilt Sr. 6’1” 185lb; holder for placekicker; offers from Capital and Centre
Adj #2 Josh Anderson Sr. 6'0” 188lb offer from Centre and Dayton
SS #4 Eli Kirk Sr. 6'0” 191lb offers from Cincinnati, Valparaiso, Findlay, Eastern Illinois
CB #3 Alex Kemper Sr. 6'0"” 177lb offers from Valparaiso and Dayton; punt returner
CB #5 Ryan Nolan Sr. 6’3” 187lb offer from Lawrence Tech; long snapper and back up QB

EDGE: Even
 
ReLoad said:
Receiver Comparison

Center Grove
#13 WR Brandon Wheat Sr. 5’9” 175lb; 6 catches for 179 yards and 2 TDs
#10 WR Harrison Stomps Sr. 6’4” 205lb; 11 catches for 155 yards and 1 TD; offer from Wheaton
Click to expand...
If only these two WRs for Center Grove had been recruited by Wichita State-- they could become the WheatStompers for the WheatShockers...:D:cool:
 
Kickoff in less than 24 hours!
There are so many intriguing matchups in this game.

Can the Bomber run defense (70 yards per game) slow the Trojan rushing game (250 yards per game) and force them into more passing situations than they are accustom to? Will the big Trojan line (average 6'3" 285lb) be too much for X?

Will Ball State recruit Sam Buras (6'7" 315lb) be able to contain X's disruptor Marque Cummings (6'1" 215lb)

Conversely the battles between the Bomber tackles (Collins and Parker, 3 star recruits) and the Trojans defensive ends (Curry and Schott, 4 and 3 star recruits) will be epic.

Will the ever changing and ever adjusting Bomber D be too confusing for Tayven Jackson or will his athleticism just take over and keep the chains moving?

Did Miami of Ohio recruits Schott and Lyons play a role in making this game happen?
Or was it Kirk Herbstreit who now has skin in the StX program who offered his skills of setting up Ohio teams with top notch out of state opponents?

Really looking forward to this game tomorrow
I think this will be a tight game and 3 scores wins it, something like 21-14 or 17-14
Which reminds me, need to compare the kicking games, although I know neither team has done much punting.

GO X!!!
 
Kicker Comparison

StX
Punter Max Klare Sr. : 12 punts for 404 yards (33.7 yards/punt) long of 52 yards and 3 punts downed inside the 20.
PK Mason Rohmiller Sr. : 2/2 FGs and 36/37 PATs (bad snap) for 42 points; FG range 40 yards, Kickoffs occasionally touchbacks

CG
Punter Nolan Foley Jr: 5 punts for 177 yards (35.4 yards/punt) 2 punts downed inside the 20
PK Nolan Foley Jr: 5/6 FGs and 33/35 PATs for 48 points; Kickoffs rarely touchbacks

EDGE: Even
 
bomberinmonroe said:
I think the DB edge goes to X. It's a very experienced group with a bunch of talent, just not a star recruit.
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Get this.....I received a PM from a Brownsburg fan, who the Bombers played in 2019 and 2020, who accuses Center Grove of poaching 2 of their star players.....one is that star recruit CB Kalen Carroll (Cincinnati commit) and DT Carl Biddings (Louisville commit)

So I check the stats from last year's opener vs Brownsburg which was on ESPN that X lost in OT because of the ill advised play call near the end of regulation that led to the tying score, and sure enough both players played in that game for Brownsburg......Carroll was the 2nd leading tackler (9) and Biddings had 2 tackles.

Greater Catholic League

Greater Catholic League
gcls.gclsports.com

He also said this year's team has other players who were poached from other teams.
I found that starting defensive back junior Jalen Thomeson transferred from Mount Vernon.
There may be others.

Is Center Grove the "transfer school” in Indianapolis that poaches other teams players (ala Moeller basketball)?
 
ReLoad said:
Get this.....I received a PM from a Brownsburg fan, who the Bombers played in 2019 and 2020, who accuses Center Grove of poaching 2 of their star players.....one is that star recruit CB Kalen Carroll (Cincinnati commit) and DT Carl Biddings (Louisville commit)

So I check the stats from last year's opener vs Brownsburg which was on ESPN that X lost in OT because of the ill advised play call near the end of regulation that led to the tying score, and sure enough both players played in that game for Brownsburg......Carroll was the 2nd leading tackler (9) and Biddings had 2 tackles.

Greater Catholic League

Greater Catholic League
gcls.gclsports.com

He also said this year's team has other players who were poached from other teams.
I found that starting defensive back junior Jalen Thomeson transferred from Mount Vernon.
There may be others.

Is Center Grove the "transfer school” in Indianapolis that poaches other teams players (ala Moeller basketball)?
Click to expand...
Define "poaching"?
 
4GX said:
Define "poaching"?
Click to expand...
I personally know one of the players and his family. Center Grove didn't go to them, they went to Center Grove ,as well as several other schools trying to find "what they thought/think" was a better situation for their kid to get looks as well as win. Looks like it worked, as the kid has offers now and has committed and he is about to win a state championship. Not saying I agree with it, but we have seen it happen right here in cincinnati. Kids playing for 2-4 high schools in four years. Often the schools get the blame but more often than not it is the parents out shopping their kid around.
 
College#19 said:
These kids played at one high school last season and are now playing at Center Grove this season. Smells Fishy!
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Only if you think anybody besides a kid and his/her parents should have any say where that kid goes to high school and/or what team they play sports for.
 
2020Dad said:
I personally know one of the players and his family. Center Grove didn't go to them, they went to Center Grove ,as well as several other schools trying to find "what they thought/think" was a better situation for their kid to get looks as well as win. Looks like it worked, as the kid has offers now and has committed and he is about to win a state championship. Not saying I agree with it, but we have seen it happen right here in cincinnati. Kids playing for 2-4 high schools in four years. Often the schools get the blame but more often than not it is the parents out shopping their kid around.
Click to expand...
I think the players should be able to go play where they wish. The limitations are (and should be) on the schools, as to what they can and cannot do. I also think that the need to for a kid/family to "shop the player around" to "get looks" is a false premise... There was a kid, a few years ago, at Finneytown (just down the road from X)-- a lineman-- Finneytown could hardly have had a worse team than they did-- and it didn't matter at all to that kid's future prospects-- he had offers from REALLY big names in the "P5" conferences... in football, if you go to those camps in the summer, if you've got it, the coaches see it, and they start making offers, regardless... it's more of an issue, if you play one of the less prominent sports, where the coaches don't have the recruiting budgets and resources and staff to get out and see less prominent players.
 
ElderHSfan02 said:
This is the kind of nonsense that gets a team like X in trouble. If you need proof that karma is real, this is exhibit A. I have much respect for the St. Xavier Bombers, but you guys had this coming with this thread.
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Just win a GCL game, Mr. Elder....Not much to play for tonight...how 'bout Elder tomorrow?
 
Center Grove (8-0) continues to roll with a 43-19 win over North Lawrence.
The 9th ranked team in the country has now outscored opponents 373-88.
Next Friday night is the season finale showdown with Cathedral (8-0).
These are last year's 6A and 5A state champs in Indiana.
Cathedral hasn't been as dominant with 2 of their wins only by 2 scores (Westfield and Brownsburg) and another 2 by 3 scores (Chatard and Columbus North)
Should be a hell of a game on a crappy field (Arsenal Tech High)
 
2020Dad said:
I personally know one of the players and his family. Center Grove didn't go to them, they went to Center Grove ,as well as several other schools trying to find "what they thought/think" was a better situation for their kid to get looks as well as win. Looks like it worked, as the kid has offers now and has committed and he is about to win a state championship. Not saying I agree with it, but we have seen it happen right here in cincinnati. Kids playing for 2-4 high schools in four years. Often the schools get the blame but more often than not it is the parents out shopping their kid around.
Click to expand...
Both players got national exposure in Brownsburg's win last year over X on ESPN.
Following that win they lost to Westfield in overtime in Week 6 and Carmel 21-7 in the 2nd round of the 6A playoffs.
The move is working out since with Center Grove they are on the verge of an undefeated season and are favorites to repeat as 6A champs. Brownsburg is currently 6-2 with losses to Cathedral and Westfield.
Would be interesting to see them meet in this year's playoffs
 
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